NCPS News

Home

News

News Index

Report

About us

The Trip to Valencia

Twenty two members and friends made the trip to Valencia on Monday 9th May for their 3-night stay at the Catalonia Excelsior Hotel.. My Lonely Planet guide to Valencia and the Costa Blanca puts the Excelsior in the “Places to stay – Top End” category; to be beaten only by the next-door Astoria Palace (apparently the favourite hotel for visiting dignitaries). How was it, then, that Alan and Val Wild spent their first night there? They were remarkably coy when questioned on the subject.

Our hotel was in the centre of the Old City ; exactly right for a NCPS would-be photographer. The ready supply of maps on the hotel desk was a boon. From the map we saw that the old city was surrounded, on two sides, by a broad green linear park, the original course of the river. A ring road, which followed the line of the old city walls, completed the encirclement. Most of the notable old buildings and two preserved “City Gates” were contained within this area. But following the course of the old river almost to the sea brought one to the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, an amalgam of ultra modern buildings.

On the Tuesday morning Bill, Milly and John took a taxi to this complex. The entrance building welcomes one into “L’Oceanographic” , claimed to be Europe’s largest Marine centre. From here you could submerge into a spectacular tour of the world’s seas. At one end of this complex was a huge (26m diameter) sphere – a giant birdcage full of brightly coloured birds above, with a wetlands marshy base containing fish and turtles. We thought we were doomed to look through the outer wire mesh until a group of girl visitors showed us how to get inside, down the ramp to the base.

Into a second building, down the stairs and an underwater tunnel, 70 metres long gave us the feel of being well under the ocean with a close up view of dozens of exotic species. In two panoramic aquariums, each 24 metres long, we saw representations of coral reefs from the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific regions. The bottom of a boat protruded from the roof to confirm that we were indeed under water. Time defeated us so that we didn’t see the giant igloo or the beluga whales; nor yet the Antarctic penguins. Altogether the site comprised ‘nine buildings, each with a different theme; each representing a different marine ecosystem..

At lunch-time the menu of the Oceanos restaurant presented a linguistic challenge, until the waitress, noting our earnest discussions, brought us the English menu. Smiles of relief all round!

After lunch we headed for the Museo de las Ciencias Principe Felipe – described in the guide book as “a sci-fi whale’s ribcage” To reach it we walked through the Umbracle – a giant inverted toast rack, a hundred metres long, containing climbing plants, shrubs and palm trees. To the left, as we approached the science museum was the Reptilian “hemispheric” apparently hunched over a glassy pool, and housing a planetarium and an IMAX cinema. It became clear that the science museum was primarily aimed at the interested youth. Bill had to bend down to play with many of the interactive exhibits. With evening meal-time fast approaching we set off up the old riverbed, now called the Jardins del Turia. Having reached “Gulliver”, Bill and Milly hailed a taxi, whilst John continued his way by foot.

The general plan was to meet in the hotel at 7.45pm, as we had done on the Monday evening, and proceed as a group to a suitable eating place. On this first evening we had gone Spanish. This second evening we went Italian – to be served by Leonardo, himself. Whereas Bill had felt a bit disgruntled at being served undercooked meat last on a cold plate in the Spanish restaurant, he was entirely gruntled at being served first with an excellent Lasagne in the Italian restaurant. Inevitably, when it came to choosing the Wednesday night restaurant there was a divergence of opinion as to which was the best. Thirteen members revisited the Italian restaurant with the remainder presumably seeking a new Spanish joint. And who said thirteen was an unlucky number? Lucky old Tony Redford (well he is now a Senior Citizen, isn’t he?) had a lighted candle to blow out (on his sweet!) and we all sang “Happy Birthday to You”. He managed to blow out the candle at his second attempt. When it comes to working out the bill Dave Akers is quickest on the draw with his mobile “do anything” phone. But this sleight of hand makes some of us queasy. It was agreed that if we divided by 10 instead of 13 the mathematics would be comprehensible to all. Thus it was that the Italian crowd decided to give Colin, Dorothy and Tony a free meal by way of presents and thank-you’s. Joyce Streets spent next day trying to equalize the financial load to all members. Thank you Joyce.

One agreeable aspect of our group trips is that, though we do the sight-seeing in couples or small groups, we inevitably keep meeting others of the party on our perambulations. Thus it was that on our cross-city walk to the Botanical gardens we came across Hugh and Joyce, and then Jill and Rod.

Bill

Jill Hargreaves writes:

Not sure why Bill asked me for my account of the trip as he was there and we kept meeting him! Anyway here goes:-

Valencia is Spain’s 3rd largest city and like them all it has old/new, smart/poor areas but here they can be found next door to each other – literally! ; and certainly, a great variety of architecture. Much building work is in progress as the city has been chosen as the venue for the America’s Cup in 2007. On the narrow streets, as well as cars, motorbikes and delivery vans, there were tipper trucks and the ubiquitous horse and carriage all vying for the same space! Much police time seemed to be taken up trying to sort out the traffic and dealing with drivers who had lost part of their car – especially bumpers!

The ride on the Tourist Bus was interesting – we heard the English commentary when the dial was switched to German! It needs updating as reference was made to the millennium! We did go down some of the streets more than once but we had an overview of the main sights and could decide whether to visit them. As the rain began the driver pulled the roof over us.

When we started to wander around we discovered that the city is quite compact and buildings that seemed a distance away on the bus where in fact quite near the hotel!! We enjoyed our walk along what used to be the river Turia – until a flood in the 1960’s encouraged the diversion of the river, leaving the bed as a 5km. long park crossed by many bridges. Here it was very quiet and peaceful with a number of water features and fountains. Many orange trees bearing fruit and the palm trees had interesting barks. The Music Museum reminded me of one of the greenhouses at Kew. While resting we saw Margery and Frank go by on the small train. Apparently they boarded at the science complex thinking they would be able to alight near the city centre but it didn’t stop until it returned to its starting point!! A lovely row of bottlebrush bushes in full bloom.

We sampled and enjoyed the local drink – Horchata – made from crushed tiger nuts and milk. Also ate a delicious Spanish omelette. Need to find out what the beautiful blossom trees were near the café. We didn’t take any photos of the giant Gulliver – a children’s play structure.

Santiago Calatrava – the Valencian architect - designed the futuristic glass and white metal buildings of the City of Arts and Sciences. Certainly different! The eye-ball shaped Hemisferic houses an IMAX cinema and a planetarium; while L’Oceanographic is the aquarium. There was a row of blue mosaic tiled structures alongside the plant house and to me they looked like posh urinals! The facade of the station – Estacion del Norte is adorned with sculpted oranges and its interior with murals and stained glass depicting regional life. It is next to the bullring.

The fruit and vegetables in the central market were enormous. At the Redonda – market stalls in a circle – there was a sewing group. La Lonja – the old silk exchange – is a fine building with a Gothic crenallated facade and twisted columns. It is Valencia’s Unesco World Heritage Site in the old town. I liked the star – shaped pool in the small garden.

Some peace and quiet were to be found in the Botanical Gardens. Interesting specimens, especially the cacti in flower, bird of paradise and the Dracanunculus vulgaris. I thought magnolia trees were not very big but here they were enormous with a girth of at least 9ft. We took a bus ride to the port and wish we hadn’t! Just another building site!! But the walk along the gazania beds was pleasant.

I know a few Spanish words but I do feel that the residents of Valencia need to learn more English if they are to communicate with all the people visiting the city in 2007. We enjoyed exploring this city and I feel I’ve captured some of its characteristics - ancient and modern!!

Jill

No-one has yet mentioned the cathedral Tower. The cathedral was built on the site of a Roman temple to Diana, and later a Mosque. The octagonal tower is a focal point with a spectator gallery running around the top. For a cost of 2euros each Gordon, John and Bill set out to test the assertion that there were 203 steps to the top. Bill thought there were indeed 203 steps in the actual tower, but another 4 steps from the cathedral floor to reach the tower. John and Gordon were too out of breath to either confirm or deny Bill’s counting.

The gallery presented a good over-view of the City though a certain mistiness prevented a view of the port or the inland hills. We did clearly see Joyce Robson and Milly enjoying their wait on the seats in the little garden below. And afterwards three of us discovered the origin of the phrase “death by chocolate” when the “drinking chocolate” Bill thought he had ordered turned out to be a viscous liquid chocolate to be consumed only via a linear “dunkin donut”

Probably our best lunchtime meal was at the back of a small bar somewhere beyond the Botanical Gardens. Seeing nothing but the bar we were about to move on when a young lady ushered us back and into an eating room at the back.. She kept saying “fan”, We didn’t see any fans, but the wall was lined with photographs of the Valencia football teams over the years, and all the chairs were red or white plastic. The solitary occupant was having soup, so we had the same. He then had what looked like sausage and chips – John and I did likewise, though the darker sausage turned out to be Black-pudding. (Milly stuck to Pollo). The pudding turned out to be ++++++++++ and we finished with coffees; all for a total of 20 euros. So we became her Fan!

Bill

Tony and Dorothy add:

Valencia will have coughed up many interesting pictures to act as memory-jerkers for those of us lucky enough to have made the trip. Perfect weather and some incredibly varied subject matter leant themselves to what we like doing best as club photographers – filling the viewfinder with potentially artistic masterpieces whilst mooching around and allowing our senses to be washed over by all those wonderfully foreign sights, sounds and smells which are so hard to come by in Stockport and its environs.

I will leave it to others to wax lyrical about their adventures in Valencia. Permit me to strike a more personal note and say that my fondest memories will certainly include a discordant chorus of “Happy Birthday” rendered by our wine-soaked NCPS friends at Wednesday evening’s dinner – not to mention the accompanying apple pie with extra large dollop of cream surmounted by the single candle lit by our beaming Sicilian waiter, Mario. What better way to round off a 55th birthday (I vividly recall celebrating my 50th in similar fashion during an NCPS trip to the Yorkshire Dales – can that be only 5 years ago when it seems more like 15?)

Again, we were touched by the warmth and generosity of the whole group, to the extent that Mrs.R immediately volunteered to concoct one of her famous Tiramisus for a reunion party at No.53 later in the summer (when we can all show off our Valencia pictures) (was she touched or was she drunk – or both?). Anyway, Tuesday 16th August is the date, so please make a note - it is the week following the completion of the summer walkabout programme.

Our thanks for a conscientiously organised event go to Colin – who also suffered a tuneless version of “Happy Birthday” on account of him becoming a year older later in the week. We couldn’t justify holding him to account for the delay to our return flight to Manchester. In any case, we badly want him to organise the next NCPS trip to somewhere nice.

Tony and Dorothy R

What was this delay Tony mentions? Well ahead of the sheduled time of departure the sky went dark and a storm passed over. For the next two hours we were left looking at the board announcing more information in 30 minutes. When Jet2.com finally arrived the pilot explained that after three unsuccessful attempts to land at Valencia, he had flown on to Alicante to wait out the electric storm and to refuel. He said the hail-stones were sizeable above Valencia.

Having missed our landing slot in Manchester we flew several circuits of Derbyshire before finally coming into Manchester at about 7.00pm

Bill Chadband

Back

Home News News Index Report About us Syllabus Exhibition Results Service Newsletter Galleries Links		The Trip to Valencia
		Twenty two members and friends made the trip to Valencia on Monday 9th May for their 3-night stay at the Catalonia Excelsior Hotel.. My Lonely Planet guide to Valencia and the Costa Blanca puts the Excelsior in the “Places to stay – Top End” category; to be beaten only by the next-door Astoria Palace (apparently the favourite hotel for visiting dignitaries). How was it, then, that Alan and Val Wild spent their first night there? They were remarkably coy when questioned on the subject. Our hotel was in the centre of the Old City ; exactly right for a NCPS would-be photographer. The ready supply of maps on the hotel desk was a boon. From the map we saw that the old city was surrounded, on two sides, by a broad green linear park, the original course of the river. A ring road, which followed the line of the old city walls, completed the encirclement. Most of the notable old buildings and two preserved “City Gates” were contained within this area. But following the course of the old river almost to the sea brought one to the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, an amalgam of ultra modern buildings. On the Tuesday morning Bill, Milly and John took a taxi to this complex. The entrance building welcomes one into “L’Oceanographic” , claimed to be Europe’s largest Marine centre. From here you could submerge into a spectacular tour of the world’s seas. At one end of this complex was a huge (26m diameter) sphere – a giant birdcage full of brightly coloured birds above, with a wetlands marshy base containing fish and turtles. We thought we were doomed to look through the outer wire mesh until a group of girl visitors showed us how to get inside, down the ramp to the base. Into a second building, down the stairs and an underwater tunnel, 70 metres long gave us the feel of being well under the ocean with a close up view of dozens of exotic species. In two panoramic aquariums, each 24 metres long, we saw representations of coral reefs from the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific regions. The bottom of a boat protruded from the roof to confirm that we were indeed under water. Time defeated us so that we didn’t see the giant igloo or the beluga whales; nor yet the Antarctic penguins. Altogether the site comprised ‘nine buildings, each with a different theme; each representing a different marine ecosystem.. At lunch-time the menu of the Oceanos restaurant presented a linguistic challenge, until the waitress, noting our earnest discussions, brought us the English menu. Smiles of relief all round! After lunch we headed for the Museo de las Ciencias Principe Felipe – described in the guide book as “a sci-fi whale’s ribcage” To reach it we walked through the Umbracle – a giant inverted toast rack, a hundred metres long, containing climbing plants, shrubs and palm trees. To the left, as we approached the science museum was the Reptilian “hemispheric” apparently hunched over a glassy pool, and housing a planetarium and an IMAX cinema. It became clear that the science museum was primarily aimed at the interested youth. Bill had to bend down to play with many of the interactive exhibits. With evening meal-time fast approaching we set off up the old riverbed, now called the Jardins del Turia. Having reached “Gulliver”, Bill and Milly hailed a taxi, whilst John continued his way by foot. The general plan was to meet in the hotel at 7.45pm, as we had done on the Monday evening, and proceed as a group to a suitable eating place. On this first evening we had gone Spanish. This second evening we went Italian – to be served by Leonardo, himself. Whereas Bill had felt a bit disgruntled at being served undercooked meat last on a cold plate in the Spanish restaurant, he was entirely gruntled at being served first with an excellent Lasagne in the Italian restaurant. Inevitably, when it came to choosing the Wednesday night restaurant there was a divergence of opinion as to which was the best. Thirteen members revisited the Italian restaurant with the remainder presumably seeking a new Spanish joint. And who said thirteen was an unlucky number? Lucky old Tony Redford (well he is now a Senior Citizen, isn’t he?) had a lighted candle to blow out (on his sweet!) and we all sang “Happy Birthday to You”. He managed to blow out the candle at his second attempt. When it comes to working out the bill Dave Akers is quickest on the draw with his mobile “do anything” phone. But this sleight of hand makes some of us queasy. It was agreed that if we divided by 10 instead of 13 the mathematics would be comprehensible to all. Thus it was that the Italian crowd decided to give Colin, Dorothy and Tony a free meal by way of presents and thank-you’s. Joyce Streets spent next day trying to equalize the financial load to all members. Thank you Joyce. One agreeable aspect of our group trips is that, though we do the sight-seeing in couples or small groups, we inevitably keep meeting others of the party on our perambulations. Thus it was that on our cross-city walk to the Botanical gardens we came across Hugh and Joyce, and then Jill and Rod. Bill Jill Hargreaves writes: Not sure why Bill asked me for my account of the trip as he was there and we kept meeting him! Anyway here goes:- Valencia is Spain’s 3rd largest city and like them all it has old/new, smart/poor areas but here they can be found next door to each other – literally! ; and certainly, a great variety of architecture. Much building work is in progress as the city has been chosen as the venue for the America’s Cup in 2007. On the narrow streets, as well as cars, motorbikes and delivery vans, there were tipper trucks and the ubiquitous horse and carriage all vying for the same space! Much police time seemed to be taken up trying to sort out the traffic and dealing with drivers who had lost part of their car – especially bumpers! The ride on the Tourist Bus was interesting – we heard the English commentary when the dial was switched to German! It needs updating as reference was made to the millennium! We did go down some of the streets more than once but we had an overview of the main sights and could decide whether to visit them. As the rain began the driver pulled the roof over us. When we started to wander around we discovered that the city is quite compact and buildings that seemed a distance away on the bus where in fact quite near the hotel!! We enjoyed our walk along what used to be the river Turia – until a flood in the 1960’s encouraged the diversion of the river, leaving the bed as a 5km. long park crossed by many bridges. Here it was very quiet and peaceful with a number of water features and fountains. Many orange trees bearing fruit and the palm trees had interesting barks. The Music Museum reminded me of one of the greenhouses at Kew. While resting we saw Margery and Frank go by on the small train. Apparently they boarded at the science complex thinking they would be able to alight near the city centre but it didn’t stop until it returned to its starting point!! A lovely row of bottlebrush bushes in full bloom. We sampled and enjoyed the local drink – Horchata – made from crushed tiger nuts and milk. Also ate a delicious Spanish omelette. Need to find out what the beautiful blossom trees were near the café. We didn’t take any photos of the giant Gulliver – a children’s play structure. Santiago Calatrava – the Valencian architect - designed the futuristic glass and white metal buildings of the City of Arts and Sciences. Certainly different! The eye-ball shaped Hemisferic houses an IMAX cinema and a planetarium; while L’Oceanographic is the aquarium. There was a row of blue mosaic tiled structures alongside the plant house and to me they looked like posh urinals! The facade of the station – Estacion del Norte is adorned with sculpted oranges and its interior with murals and stained glass depicting regional life. It is next to the bullring. The fruit and vegetables in the central market were enormous. At the Redonda – market stalls in a circle – there was a sewing group. La Lonja – the old silk exchange – is a fine building with a Gothic crenallated facade and twisted columns. It is Valencia’s Unesco World Heritage Site in the old town. I liked the star – shaped pool in the small garden. Some peace and quiet were to be found in the Botanical Gardens. Interesting specimens, especially the cacti in flower, bird of paradise and the Dracanunculus vulgaris. I thought magnolia trees were not very big but here they were enormous with a girth of at least 9ft. We took a bus ride to the port and wish we hadn’t! Just another building site!! But the walk along the gazania beds was pleasant. I know a few Spanish words but I do feel that the residents of Valencia need to learn more English if they are to communicate with all the people visiting the city in 2007. We enjoyed exploring this city and I feel I’ve captured some of its characteristics - ancient and modern!! Jill No-one has yet mentioned the cathedral Tower. The cathedral was built on the site of a Roman temple to Diana, and later a Mosque. The octagonal tower is a focal point with a spectator gallery running around the top. For a cost of 2euros each Gordon, John and Bill set out to test the assertion that there were 203 steps to the top. Bill thought there were indeed 203 steps in the actual tower, but another 4 steps from the cathedral floor to reach the tower. John and Gordon were too out of breath to either confirm or deny Bill’s counting. The gallery presented a good over-view of the City though a certain mistiness prevented a view of the port or the inland hills. We did clearly see Joyce Robson and Milly enjoying their wait on the seats in the little garden below. And afterwards three of us discovered the origin of the phrase “death by chocolate” when the “drinking chocolate” Bill thought he had ordered turned out to be a viscous liquid chocolate to be consumed only via a linear “dunkin donut” Probably our best lunchtime meal was at the back of a small bar somewhere beyond the Botanical Gardens. Seeing nothing but the bar we were about to move on when a young lady ushered us back and into an eating room at the back.. She kept saying “fan”, We didn’t see any fans, but the wall was lined with photographs of the Valencia football teams over the years, and all the chairs were red or white plastic. The solitary occupant was having soup, so we had the same. He then had what looked like sausage and chips – John and I did likewise, though the darker sausage turned out to be Black-pudding. (Milly stuck to Pollo). The pudding turned out to be ++++++++++ and we finished with coffees; all for a total of 20 euros. So we became her Fan! Bill Tony and Dorothy add: Valencia will have coughed up many interesting pictures to act as memory-jerkers for those of us lucky enough to have made the trip. Perfect weather and some incredibly varied subject matter leant themselves to what we like doing best as club photographers – filling the viewfinder with potentially artistic masterpieces whilst mooching around and allowing our senses to be washed over by all those wonderfully foreign sights, sounds and smells which are so hard to come by in Stockport and its environs. I will leave it to others to wax lyrical about their adventures in Valencia. Permit me to strike a more personal note and say that my fondest memories will certainly include a discordant chorus of “Happy Birthday” rendered by our wine-soaked NCPS friends at Wednesday evening’s dinner – not to mention the accompanying apple pie with extra large dollop of cream surmounted by the single candle lit by our beaming Sicilian waiter, Mario. What better way to round off a 55th birthday (I vividly recall celebrating my 50th in similar fashion during an NCPS trip to the Yorkshire Dales – can that be only 5 years ago when it seems more like 15?) Again, we were touched by the warmth and generosity of the whole group, to the extent that Mrs.R immediately volunteered to concoct one of her famous Tiramisus for a reunion party at No.53 later in the summer (when we can all show off our Valencia pictures) (was she touched or was she drunk – or both?). Anyway, Tuesday 16th August is the date, so please make a note - it is the week following the completion of the summer walkabout programme. Our thanks for a conscientiously organised event go to Colin – who also suffered a tuneless version of “Happy Birthday” on account of him becoming a year older later in the week. We couldn’t justify holding him to account for the delay to our return flight to Manchester. In any case, we badly want him to organise the next NCPS trip to somewhere nice. Tony and Dorothy R What was this delay Tony mentions? Well ahead of the sheduled time of departure the sky went dark and a storm passed over. For the next two hours we were left looking at the board announcing more information in 30 minutes. When Jet2.com finally arrived the pilot explained that after three unsuccessful attempts to land at Valencia, he had flown on to Alicante to wait out the electric storm and to refuel. He said the hail-stones were sizeable above Valencia. Having missed our landing slot in Manchester we flew several circuits of Derbyshire before finally coming into Manchester at about 7.00pm Bill Chadband
Back