We think we overdid it a bit today as we headed out at 8:30 this morning and didn’t get home until around 6:30.  Even though we spent most of it on a few bus rides around town, we walked a lot – yes, I got my 10,000 steps in and of course, the dreaded stairs at the end of the day.

We began by taking the city bus to the Central Market which was the largest indoor market I’ve ever been to.  Hundreds of vendors sold anything from flowers to spices, candy to pastries and every part of a pig that it has including the whole head.  Vegetarians turn away when you see the pictures!  We The smells were overwhelming at times, especially in the huge fish market.  I had to leave! We enjoyed one of the Valencia local drinks called  Horchata – a delicious mixture made of milk, honey and tiger nuts and no Micki, no tigers were harmed in the making of it.  They are actually a type of legume and the drink is very high in protein. It didn’t agree with Joey and we spent some frantic time finding the washroom in a place where public ones are rare – a flashback from Italy a few years back!  She was OK after a short while and enjoyed the rest of the day.

We toured the city from east to west on the hop-on-hop-off bus and were on a mission to find a few things that we needed including a juice pitcher, hand towels and a few other things we thought were missing in our otherwise well-equipped kitchen. Not an easy task as it turned out.  All we found was a huge mall with 6 floors of nothing but fashion.  So disappointing.  Where do the locals get their “stuff”?  Joey startled me when she shouted out, “Look at that man carrying a bucket and pail and  drain board.  Where the heck did he get them”?   I told her I bet she’d never thought she’d get that worked up over a man with a bucket and pail in his hands.  We laughed for a long time about that one.

The rides around town gave us a good overview of the city and gave us many choices of places we would like to return to. I was taken by how diverse this city is with its ancient buildings interspersed with very modern ones right next door. There are no single family dwellings here only older, brick walk-up apartments and newer glass and steel high rises.

Water was such a necessity today as the temperature rose to 37 degrees and we got dehydrated very quickly. The water here has a distinct taste and we don’t much like it so I’m glad I brought my flavouring with me – we’ll have to find more.

As far as food goes, we haven’t eaten many local dishes yet.  Subway isn’t the same the world over, however.  I had a small sub and it came with great globs of white soft cheese and french fries. I only could eat 1/2 the cheese as it overwhelmed the sandwich.  Still, I haven’t had any ice cream or pastries and think I am losing weight as my pants keep falling down my hips.  Not a bad thing until they fall down around my ankles.

Tomorrow we are off to a museum or two so we can stay indoors in air conditioned comfort as it is supposed to go to 39. Wish us luck!