Valencia! And moving on!

Di enjoying the Mediterranean

Well, after a lazy-ish day on our first day in Valencia, we have spent the last few days out and about exploring Valencia. However the kids feel they have had enough history lessons for a while, and we have stuck to the very modern parts of Valencia. There are a few blocks of amazing looking architectural structures, very clean looking buildings with water features and landscaping to compliment them. One of these buildings was the science centre which was also where the conference that Glen attended was.

The kids and I went into the science centre for an afternoon, and it was truly amazing. It was like Science Alive, and the museum, with the "Body in Action" exhibit that was at the Canterbury museum last year, all rolled in to one - and even better! It was 4 floors of hands on learning and entertainment. The kids really enjoyed the "marvel superheroes" section, where they could actually get to do a few action moves and see how they are done in the movies. There was just so much to do there - and one of the coolest things we saw was a chicken hatching out of its egg. They had 4 incubators full of eggs and newly hatched chickens, and we were lucky enough to get there just as one of them was breaking out of its shell!

The following day we went to the aquarium, which is known here as the Oceanografic, and its the best one we've seen yet. There were so many species of sealife there, as well as an aviary. The whole place (which was huge) was divided into different zones, (Mediterranean, Antarctic, wetlands, etc etc), and we saw some huge sharks, penguins, flamingos, seals, dolphins - along with a dolphin show, hundreds of species of fish from all over the world, but I think that the one thing that truly amazed us was the Beluga Whale. They had 3 of them there and they were beautiful looking creatures. They looked so graceful as they swam around, and oddly enough, they all looked so happy. (the shape of their mouths give the impression that they're smiling!)

We also had a look round a couple of shopping malls (the kids have been very keen to spend some of their money) and got a few bits and pieces. A shock though to step outside into 35 degree heat! Yes, 35 degrees on our last day in Valencia! And the swimming pool at our campground STILL isn't open! Apparently the summer season here hasn't started yet!

The kids at the Museo de las Ciencias (Science Museum), Valencia

And now moving on.....

We left Valencia this morning a little later than we hoped, as the eftpos machine wouldn't work, followed by the local ATM being out of order, and having to take a 15km detour to get some cash out to pay our camp fees! A frustrating end, to a frustrating campground!

Anyway, we headed north and stopped at Tarragona for lunch. What a stunning place. Its an absolutely beautiful city (about half the population of Chch), and we were all pleasantly surprised with the character of the place. The beach was very inviting, however our main reason for stopping was to look at the Roman Amphitheatre. Its 2000 years old and we couldn't access all parts of it, due to restoration work, but it was truly amazing to visit.

We then headed on to Barcelona, to our next campground, and this place is fantastic. Its a pity we are only here for one night, however we don't have to check out till 8pm tomorrow if we wish to stay on for the day! The staff are all incredibly helpful and speak good English, the swimming pool is great and OPEN, and bar/restaurant/cafe/supermarket are all open and really good. There is also lots of space for the kids to run around, a playground, soccer goals, farmyard etc, plus a free shuttle service into central Barcelona, so its pretty cool!

We had dinner at the restaurant here tonight and the service was fantastic. Stefan couldn't finish his desert and the other 3 literally fell over each other charging towards his leftovers - the poor waiter couldn't maintain his composure and was rolling round in fits of laughter at them. When he brought us the account, he also brought us some shot glasses and a bottle of schnapps - all complimentary - wow!

Anyway, tomorrow we are spending the morning in central Barcelona, meeting some of Glen's friends (who are here from Canada) for lunch, then heading on to Perpignan.

Bye for now...