Valencia, Spain

Valencia, Spain’s third-largest city, is known for paella (Spanish fried rice) and for hosting the America’s Cup (sailing event). A couple of highlights from my experience here:

First, I really enjoyed visiting the Centro Cultural Bancaja, a free museum sponsored by a bank. In Spain, several banks have foundations which have museums with temporary exhibitions year-round. These exhibitions cover art and science. In this particular institution I visited, there were two excellent exhibitions. The first was Joan Miro’s representation of the female figure. Miro’s art is entertaining as it is similar to children’s art, with scribbles everywhere. The second and my favorite of the two is an exhibition on China, which covered Chinese cities, characters, feng shui, architecture, family and environment.

I also enjoyed visiting the futuristic-looking City of Arts and Sciences. I did not expect Valencia to be at the forefront of architecture. This park contains several notable buildings, the whale-shaped Palace of Arts, the Calatrava-designed bridge, The Hemisphere, The Oceanarium and the Museum of Science.

Lastly, I had to try paella, as this is what Valencia is most famous for. I ate paella Valenciana (chicken) at a bar where they were serving it as a tapas that came with a drink. Delicious!