I have always loved pouring over maps, following with my finger the many streets and avenues of a city, finding interesting places that I might like to visit.  Last night the three of us did just that and made a plan to visit some of the places we found.

Our first stop this morning was the old train station, Estacio del Nord.  It’s massive wooden doors enticed us inside to see the beautiful mosaic ceilings and dazzling wooden columns.  More wood framed the ticket  offices that had probably seen thousands of travels pass by.  Passing by a restaurant, we could enter the actual area that the trains were lined up waiting for its passengers to board.  It was a quiet Sunday morning so we had lots of room to move and look around.

Adjacent to the railway station was the Plaza de Toros..the bull ring.  I had been to a bull fight more than 30 years ago and had walked out in the middle as it was so gruesome, so I had no desire to ever go back.  The other girls felt the same way.  We did, however, walk around the outside of the building a bit and learned that they do have more than bullfights there.  Coming later in September is a group called El Gusto and we checked it out later in the day and decided it was too expensive for us. We would find something else. We did leave a bit of money for a saxophone player who was busking outside playing some wonderful jazz – my favourite.

We had a bit of a hike to our next stop but it was worth every step.  A beautiful little park in the middle of the city offered us a peaceful resting place amid enormous trees that produced shade from its canopy of branches and leaves.  We sat there for some time admiring their beauty.

I think I found one of my favourite streets since coming to Valencia. Calle De La Paz  was a long, narrow street flanked on both sides by old but some newly renovated apartments and stores. Beautiful doors on many of the buildings called me to take pictures of them and I was happy to do it. Looking all the way down the street, we could see the high tower of St. Nicolas church and just as we got there, the church bells started ringing so we stopped to watch and listen.

All the walking made us hungry so we stopped at a lovely outdoor cafe for lunch.  Joey and I enjoyed a pizza each and Jocelyn, with her sweet tooth, had a chocolate crepe – the lunch of champions!

While we were enjoying our lunch, we noticed a celebration happening at the church beside us.  Men dressed in suits and women in beautiful dresses and lavish hats gathered outside chatting and having coffee and cold drinks.  A car pulled up with a bride inside and all the people ran to greet her as she disembarked from the decorated car.  After she was inside the church, people started leaving to enter by the side door so I snuck over to have a peek inside where the bride was.  She was standing there, beautifully dressed,  being attended to by her bridesmaids, holding onto her dad’s arm. I snapped a couple of pictures.  Jocelyn, on the other hand, decided she should have been included in the guest list and went right on into the church to watch the proceedings.  We thought she might stay and go to the dinner after as well, but she came out a few minutes later and said that the last six rows of pews were full of everyday people like us and not the finely dressed wedding guests.

With our energy renewed, we trudged onward and found an outdoor square where all of the usual stores inside the buildings were closed, but the street vendors had taken over on the streets to sell their wares.  Articles of every kind could be found here.  Fans, posters, shoes and purses, toys, books, and tables piled high with clothing as well as hangers of shirts and blouses blowing in the breeze.  Joce and Joey each found souvenirs to take home but I found nothing.  We had to stop for another break and as there are not many benches or rest areas anywhere, we chose the Central Market steps to rest on and watch people. While the girls were shopping, I saw what looked like a huge tapestry the stretched almost the whole length of a a one-story building.  Upon further investigation, I realized that it was done with thick rope on wire mesh much like chicken wire.  It was truly amazing and beautiful.

Back on the bus again, we headed for home, happy hour, snacks and a game of cards before dinner.  We all felt we had a great day and we can now call ourselves wedding crashers.