Valencia, Spain, June 1

 Wow, what a massive city this is!

We decided to get a hop on, hop off bus tour of Valencia since we had no idea where to go or what to see. We got on a free city bus to the Port Visitor Center, and after some initial confusion finding the Port stop (Spanish addresses do NOT align with map addresses.) we boarded a tourist bus and began our tour.

The bus covered a LOT of distance, taking us through dozens of neighborhoods over many square kilometers, with views of parks. A huge zoo, and plenty of architecture from the 14th Century onward.

Valencia is also home to the biggest outdoor stadium in Europe. Those are seats with no railing or even armrests around them on the very top. 

Even with all that, we really only covered a small part of the central city in the 90 minutes we rode.

Eventually we got off in the middle of downtown and walked to the Mercado Central, which bills itself as the largest indoor market in Europe.

Everything imaginable is for sale there. I think this is duck.

There were stalls selling all types of prepared foods, but we wanted to sit down to eat lunch, so we went outside to one of the many Plaza restaurants. Service was quick and prices very reasonable. We had 3 huge sandwiches,

3 tapas plates, 4 bottles of water and 2 beers, all for about $45, including tax and tip, both of which are always included in Europe. Right in the center of town, with questionable people-watching

                  and live piano music!

We didn't get the hose salad. It was probably a little rubbery.

Next we walked down some tiny side streets full of little shops and coffeehouse to the city's Cathedral. It dates from 1300 and is full of art treasures, catacombs, and ornate decoration.

It was getting late so we hailed a cab to take us back to the Port Cruciero at about 16:30.

Dinner was pretty good tonight: Ceviche, roasted eggplant, Mahi Mahi, leg of lamb, and sachertorte were enjoyable and well presented.

Sunset was too cloudy so we went to the Casino, where Amy and Sam both were lucky, winning over $100 between them!

Then we tried Name that Tune again. It was supposed to be tunes from the 70s and 80s, but all were disco/ pop so we only got about half right. It's like the Rolling Stones never existed!

Tomorrow we are at sea all day (like I was playing NtT  tonight.) It's also Amy's birthday. We had no room for anything but cards in our luggage, so we'll give her some presents when we get back.

Our trip is half over already!! No icebergs yet!