The scale is large. Those are people out there on the walk across the pool. There is also a life-size dinosaur if you look closely.

Here is a close up of the bridge.

So much for modern. There are a lot of pleasant, older buildings, too.

When we were in Barcelona, we went to the famous market, la Boqueria, on the Ramblas. It is open every Saturday. Except the Saturday we went, when it was shut up tight. Turns out we picked a national (Catalonian) holiday. Valencia reportedly has an even larger market, so we went there.

We’re early, we thought, but a lot of workers look like it’s quitting time, drinking beers at 10 am. The market is enormous, quite a bit bigger than la Boqueria. 

There are nine full aisles like the one above, which look like they are 140 yards in length. There is also a large annex, which is for fish.

OK, a few pictures of food. Here’s one of the ham sellers.

Leafy green produce says Spain.

Both jamon and eggs are treated something like vegetables here.

Here’s one of the purveyors of things marinated. Here, olives.

Seasonal fruits here: persimmons, grapes (they look great hanging in bunches), apples and figs.

These pears look outstanding.

Here is just one of the vendors in the fish annex. Looks like the speciality here is shrimp.

From the market we walked over to another World Heritage site, Lonja de la Seda, the silk exchange, built between 1482 and 1533. The first picture shows a part of the large trading floor, and the next detail of the outside of the buildings.

Valencia has a lot of interesting architecture. Here’s a view of a few buildings and a little park with a fountain.

The city also has trees, which help keep things cool during the hot summer. 

The last thing we did before leaving for Almagro was to visit the zoo. It is mostly devoted to Africa, and well maintained. The lemur exhibit is amazing, as the zoo’s visitors walk with the lemurs. 

After driving to Valencia from Tarragona, we are taking two days to walk around Valencia and see the modern and the old. 

Next—Almagro in Castile la Mancha.