Sunday was a pretty amazing day. On my way to visit several museums, which generally have free admission on the weekends (why don’t we do more of that?), I happened upon a festival of Spanish dancing–folkdancing, I think, with castanets aplenty. Wonderful! I made it back to the Silk Exchange (Lonja de la Seda), the 15th Century Gothic structure named as a UNESCO heritage building, and wandered around the halls and gardens. Then I headed to L’Almoina, a museum which allows you to walk over glass to see excavated structures from as far back as the Roman origins of Valencia (138 BC). Finally I made my way to the Museo de Belles Artes, a huge fine arts museum housed in what was once a seminary. This month, the museum is highlighting the works of Joaquin Sorolla, a hometown boy known for his Valencian beach scenes and paintings of the fishermen and farmers of Valencia. The students were either in Lanzarote or hiking to a castle on Sunday, so I plan to encourage them to visit these places.
As I walked around the city, I couldn’t help but notice how many people were out on a Sunday afternoon, walking (more like strolling), playing with their children, talking to friends, having something to drink, or just hanging out (why don’t we do more of that?).
Dancers in La Plaza de la Virgen
La Lonja de la Seda, a major mercantile center of the 16th -19th centuries.
Part of the ceiling in a meeting room.
The spirals in the columns added strength to bear the weight of the ceiling.
L'Almoina: Under this modern building and reflecting pool lies an excavation of ruins over 2,000 years old.
We weren't allowed to take photos, so I got this vantage point, looking up through the pool, from the internet.
You can stand on plexiglass and look directly into the ruins from many different centuries.
Museo de Bellas Artes de Valencia, housed in the St. Pius V Palace, built in the 17th-18th centuries.
The museum houses over 2,000 works of art, including paintings by El Greco, Velázquez, Murillo and Goya.
One of the most famous works, a self-portrait by Diego Velázquez.
There was an exhibition of the works of Joaquin Sarolla.
Many of his paintings depicted life at the Valencian seashore.
People out and about in Valencia on a Sunday afternoon.
