Valencia, Spain - "free" walking tour

 Well today was a busy day, we are currently all crashed on the couch, resting, so I am not sure how long this post will be and I may complete it tomorrow.

Up before the sun in order to have coffee and breakfast before leaving the house at 9.

 

We drove approx 20 minutes, in rush hour, and many roundabouts, to Rafelbunyol which is the town at the far end of the metro system and

drove around for a quite a while until we found a parking spot a few blocks away from the train station.

We each bought a SUMA 10 card which gives us 10 trips for 8 Euro, across the metro, buses and trams.

We started out through orchards and small towns and then underground into the city. Chris was tour guide and we got off at the point where we could take a tram to the spot we were supposed to meet for the walking tour.  

Unfortunately we got on the wrong tram, realized and then ended up walking to the meeting place.

 

We learned from our guide that the orange trees on the city streets are a variety of bitter oranges - they tolerate the urban environment, smell nice, and people don't take them, leaving them to decorate the streets. When the oranges fall they are collected by city workers and taken out to the orchards to fertilize the sweet oranges.

We haven't experienced any anti tourist behavior but I can imagine the summers are intense.

Crossed the bridge over Turia Park

and right on time (we could hear the clocks chime 10) met our guide and group

at the Serrano Gate, one of 2 remaining gates of the Christian Wall around the old city. Originally there were 12 gates.

The Turia River surrounded the city when Rome initially founded it, but it flooded regularly and was diverted further South and the river bed turned into a large urban park.

It was a two hour tour

with us stopping at places of interest and the guide providing some background history and some stories and legends.

For instance; why the bat, seen at the top of the coat of arms, is the animal symbol of Valencia.

 The bat is a central, revered symbol in Valencia, representing victory, honor, and the city's 13th-century Reconquista. According to local legend, a bat warned King James I of a surprise attack by Muslim forces, allowing his troops to win a crucial battle. It now features on the city’s coat of arms and football crests from AI Summary.

We were a group of 22; the largest percentage where Canadians, then Brits, Dutch, Irish, Australian and 2 Americans.

 

This is the Governers House. Valencia is a city and is the capital of the community (like a state or province) of Valencia. Here our guide spoke of the poor government reaction to the last great flood that decimated the area of southern Valencia (where the Turia River now flows) and how eventually the governor was forced to resign.

 Torrential rain dumped an entire year's worth of water on Valencia in barely eight hours on 29 October 2024, the Turia spilled over its banks, submerging citrus groves, highways and whole neighbourhoods. Around 200 people died and the areas recovery took months.

I will continue this tomorrow. Although my watch indicates we only did 11,000 steps, it felt like a lot more.