City of Arts and Sciences

Friday, February 8, 2019 – Nothing thrilling to report. Well, the weather has been fabulous: sunny, low to mid-20s. We went for afternoon walks to the City of Arts and Sciences the last couple of days. We’ve visited many times over the years, but it never fails to impress. It’s an architectural Fantasyland. On the Wednesday walk, we made two new discoveries.

Arne Quinze sculpture in front of Hemispheric, Palau Reina Sofia in background

Palau Reina Sofia and underside of Pont de Montolivet

When we came in January, we were disappointed to find there was no outdoor sculpture display on the raised Umbracle walkway across from the Science Museum – as there has been most times we've come in the past. Now there is. The show is called “My Secret Garden,” by Belgian artist Arne Quinze. His sculptures are wavy, ten-foot-tall forms made of plastic-covered metal painted in vivid colours. They’re supposedly inspired by the artist’s garden, although they didn’t look particularly plant-like to me. I liked them. Karen was less enthusiastic. Two are mounted in the pool between the Science Museum and the Hemispheric. The rest are up on the Umbracle promenade.

Arne Quinze's "My Secret Garden"

Reflection in pool of Ágora and Pont l'Assut de l'Or

Before we went up to Umbracle, we walked under the wonderful Pont l'Assut de l'Or (Bridge of the Golden Dam – designed by Salvator Calatrava and sometimes fittingly referred to as the Harp Bridge) – and down into the Turia park. We walked along a path we're pretty sure has been considerably extended since we were last here. It now goes a half kilometer past the City of Arts and Sciences and ends at the railway tracks heading north out of the city along the coast. The sea is another half kilometer or so past the tracks. There are gardens all along this path, there's a parallel bike path and exercise equipment. We saw a personal trainer working with his somewhat sheepish client at one exercise spot. At the tracks, we turned back and walked along a parallel path higher up on the old river bank.

Pont l'Assut de l'Or

We noticed one of the buildings, the Ágora, appeared to be undergoing extensive refurbishment, even though none of the City dates from earlier than the 1990s. We realized we didn't know anything about it or what it was for. I had thought it was an observatory. It looks like it could be an observatory. Karen did some research later. It turns out it's a multi-purpose facility for cultural, sports and convention events. It was first used, when it opened in 2009, for a professional tennis tournament. (Why would you put tennis indoors in a climate like this?) Apparently it hasn't been used much since but has recently been rescued by Caixabank, one of the big banks – or its philanthropic arm – which is why it's now being refurbished. 

Arne Quinze's "My Secret Garden"

We checked out Umbracle on the way back and then walked out of the City, past the Palau Reina Sofia, the opera hall. It's one of the most fanciful and massive of the buildings, also designed by Calatrava. 

Palau Reina Sofia

Palau Reina Sofia

Arne Quinze's "My Secret Garden"

We found a sunny bench a little further along in the park and sat reading for 45 minutes. Then we walked up to the Bridge of the Custodian Angel, grabbed bikes and rode home along Peris y Valero.

The bubble man, and client

Yesterday, Thursday, we walked to El Corte Inglés, the big department store. We headed for the one right across from the City of Arts and Sciences. There's one much closer, in the centre, but it's always jammed with shoppers. It was another gorgeous sunny day, with pixel boards reporting temperatures of 25C. On the Bridge of the Custodian Angel, I noticed for the first time the decorations on the bases of the lamp posts.  (Well, maybe I'd just forgotten them...) They feature a quartet of imaginary beasts of a genus I’m not sure I’ve seen before. I would describe them as winged mer-lions.

Bridge of the Custodian Angel: winged mer-lions

We were in the market for a wee sun hat for Louis. He arrives in less than a week, with his mum and dad. We also needed some champagne flutes to replace the two my drunken wife broke. We found both things, although as always with this store, they were expensive. The hat, a denim ball cap with a designer label on the front, has been derided by Louis’ mother who feels it will make him look like “a redneck.” We think it will look adorable. Fine, Caitlin says, he’ll wear it “ironically.”

I wonder if any business school in North America has done a case study on El Corte Inglés. It seems remarkably successful compared to most department stores in recent years. The company has outlets all across Spain. There are at least three we know of in Valencia, all huge – the smallest is bigger than the downtown Toronto Eatons – and very rich looking. One factor: no competition, or none that we’ve ever seen. Certainly none of the big American, British or French chains are here. Ikea is, but it's everywhere.

Karen by the Science Museum

After our shopping spree, we wandered down into to the City of Arts and Sciences and sat in one of the outdoor cafes in front of the Science museum. The cafe was closed, although the City seemed quite busy this day. Karen spotted a few tour buses which probably accounted for the crowds. In any case, it was a nice sunny spot and we sat and read for 40 minutes or so. Of course I took more pictures. 

Pont l'Assut de l'Or

When it was starting to cool a bit – although not by much – we walked up to Avenida de la Plata, grabbed bikes and rode home. I was struck again by what a fabulous city this is for cycling. And they are building more bike lanes as we speak, always either off the road, or separated from car traffic by pylons. That's the way to do it.