Having our own place in Spain provides a handy jumping-off point to explore the country and this time we travelled north to spend a few days in Valencia, Spain's third city. We stayed in a village which was just a half hour or so train journey from the centre. Valencia itself is a city of contrasts, a wonderful mix of ancient and modern. Our visit started at the railway station (Estación del Norte), a well maintained example of modernisme, the Spanish version of Art Nouveau.
The cathedral was well worth spending some time in, not least because it is home to a chalice which, so it's claimed, is the Holy Grail.
The spectacular City of Arts and Sciences includes an opera house and performing arts centre, a science museum, IMAX cinema, planetarium and oceanographic park.
After a fair bit of sightseeing it was good to get back to our little casa for some welcome R&R.
I read all of the books I'd packed (Stone's Fall, In the Woods, The Birth of Venus and The Snowman) and caught up on Season Three of the fabulous Mad Men series, accompanied (of course) by some very quaffable red stuff.