Campervan Road Trip in Spain: The Hidden Gems of Valencia

[Music] today we're visiting Valencia and then we're driving back to Madrid I'm writing writing writing writing in my RV wherever I want to be guys I'm free in [Music] my greetings once again from Spain today the road will take us to Valencia as we start winding down our Vine life Road triping Spain after much research we found out most of the campgrounds are south of the city at a beach town called el saler which is about 12 km from the city center not exactly walking distance but close enough to be accessible by public transit or ride sharing or even taxi we decided to go for this one called ARA Echo El saler after two weeks of Van life in Spain we have discovered this is our preferred type of Campground now let's hope the weather cooperates well here we are this is where we're staying yeah this is where we're staying very quiet RV park almost empty which is kind of the way I prefer them when it is like this it's uh I believe it is all powered by solar so they only give you 4 amps which at 248 volts is the equivalent of 8 amps for us or almost like 900 watts we don't have AC we don't have coffee maker we don't have anything so should be enough I just wanted to show you back here a Class A from the Netherlands let me tell you these are some of the largest rigs we've seen here in Europe I mean take a look at this Diesel Pusher it is huge and that's the service area over there yeah this is a German one but I don't know I wouldn't be I wouldn't want to drive a rig like that here in Europe for sure and this is the the area where we would empty the gray and the cassette toilet back there very cool very nice folks that run it so far there's a bus stop across the street so let's go into Valencia and This Is Us near the bathroom near the entrance very [Music] cool now we wait and wait def definitely not as good a service as in Madrid it is raining and we don't have an umbrella today the weather does not want to [Music] cooperate and we're in business it took us some uh you know searching and researching but we found a small shop there and they had butow was umbrellas well this is where the bus left us I believe this is called uh laar or the the the Gate of the ocean but in our case it is the Gate of the Del let's go to the center there it [Music] is the weather is one of those things you can't control so we'll roll with the punches there's actually hope in the forecast [Music] mailia they're from Australia this these trees busy busy busy City and I had such a great view of the cathedral and now I don't and there it [Music] is this is called the Fountain of the Ducks so let's step into this church it is open as we've seen over the past couple of weeks almost any random Church in Spain is going to be beautiful and this one is no exception it is the Church of St Thomas and St Philip and netti a Baro Temple dating back to 1736 all that golden details and this is not even the cathedral this is just a church we happen to stumble upon [Music] one final look at the Nave and we continue hm where's the organ I think it was by the front we're walking towards pla de laa the queen Square which is where the cathedral is located and even though the rain is an inconvenience the wet pavement does give the city a uniquely photogenic look next we're going to try a drink called orchata de chufa very typical of Valencia made from dried and sweeten tiger nuts and this place or Chia Danel has been in business since 1949 and it comes highly recommended to try our orchata for the first time this is the traditional orchata sweet bread stick is called a fon I like it well I don't know whether that was good or bad because I have nothing I I had a chat back in 1988 when I visited but it's been a long time I don't really remember what I tasted like but this one tasted light so it may not be the best one Let's uh let's check out the cathedral yeah I recall it being a little thicker buts oh right on time right on Queue this mostly Gothic cathedral was built between the 13th and 15th centuries not surprisingly at the site of a former musque and before that a visigoth temple I'm starting to see a pattern here it is 9 Euro to visit the cathedral and 250 to climb up to the campanario the bell tower it is called miguelete we're going to do the ladder in order to get a bird's eye view of the city well I opted not to go into the cathedral but to do the tower we go it's only uh two and 250 we've got some pretty good views along the way through these windows yeah let's continue going I wonder what that is I can't really tell that was a clim those interesting structures in the distance well that's the city of Arts and Sciences we will visit later today weather permitting [Music] there's the plaza down there everything is wet interesting Fountain the main character actually symbolizing the Tar River which used to run through the center of the city but was diverted to prevent flooding [Music] it is starting to rain a little harder once again well certainly a commanding view but it's starting to rain again so we're going to head back down where's the exit now I'm lost it turns out we have to wait in the rain for the green light the stairs are one way only I'm so glad I B that umbrella ella it is time [Music] come to think of it we probably should have visited the interior of the cathedral as well but to be honest I was more interested in the view let's continue it looks like the weather might be improving let's keep going so this cow has been a recurring theme in our TR here so check it out with an umbrella check it out mojito ice cream got to love the presentation it does really make you want to grab a scoop right or two authentic paa valenciana this may have been the better one but here we are that Tower we just so as I was mentioned the paa belongs to this church Santa Katarina it seems to be closed apparently apparently 1: p.m. mass is going on right now so we're going to have to come back maybe I should get a hat sombreros Alberto since 1820 everything he here has been here for over 100 years [Music] Plaza redon here dates back to 1840 redona being the valencian word for round makes sense valencian Catalan is a peculiar language it is for the most part understandable by Spanish speakers some of it sounds kind of Italian some of it sounds more similar to French [Music] [Music] I Valencia we have to try that before we go we're going to keep on walking finally getting away from the main plaza and that's mostly what we're going to do today walk get the vibe of the city see what lurks behind every corner in other words we're lost we're a little disoriented here how come we ended up back at the plaza if it feels like we're going around in circles that's because it is true we're kind of disoriented but I'm confident that we're going in the right direction now we do have a plan several points of interest we've done a little bit of research but not nearly enough I mean it's been a long trip and this is our last City in Spain well we're going back to Madrid after this but we've already been there this is the famous Mercat Central Central Market one of the biggest of its kind in Europe some even claim the largest fresh food market in the entire continent built between 1914 and 1928 we actually want to try this place called Central bar run by Valencia's most famous chef he even has a Micheline restaurant so we got to try [Music] [Music] it that is the good stuff H maybe back in 1988 what I had here was the crema the orchata because if I recall it did seem thicker compared to what we had earlier today oh yeah that's the good [Music] stuff ooh here we have Mexican [Music] products it would be so great to live near a market like this I mean it is very busy though there is a very long line for Central bar here so I don't think we're going to do it all these famous places are almost impossible Lomo deot 100% IO that's my favorite it is kind of pricey even here but it literally melts in your mouth all right let's look for something else to eat somewhere else I was really looking forward to that Central bar here at the C Mercat Central but H too much of a line and you know me and lines and I'm thinking all these places are going to be very touristic so we're going to continue I want to try something called AWA the Valencia literally valencian water it's a it's a cocktail that was invented here so let's do it this large open area is called pla deun City Hall Square it feels like a big city Square very Grand like something you would find at a capital like Madrid well this is the valencian capital after all such great [Music] architecture this would be the Valencia City Hall the seat of the local [Music] government the building with a tower the Palace of communications coros aanka [Music] now that we've walked all the way around the square let's look for that valencian work [Music] this is it we get some olives to nibble on as you do and here it is we're having our agwa de Valencia which is supposed to be a mix of orange juice Cava Jin vodka and sugar I guess a close cussin to the screwdriver it was invented here oh yeah a Valencia seems to be a local drink and that place Cafe Madrid that's um allegedly when where they invented it now we're going to another place hopefully they're still open by the time we get there otherwise we'll just eat at the first place we find which is what we usually do right the market is now closed and for some reason Google wants me to go through the middle of the market we must go around well I guess folks here in Valencia they take that Siesta seriously the Marat Central they just closed I think for a couple hours and then they reopen it's it's a it's a foreign concept but for us but you know I guess here is it's a thing amazing I mean the restaurants are still open but I think the kitchens are about to close in all of them so if we can't eat we have some food in the RV we obviously did some research for Valencia but it's been 3 weeks since we did that research back in Miami three action-packed wigs so we've forgotten some of the nuances the intricacies of that research like the fact that everything is closed at this time of the day we are no longer in the touristic area and it is it's like a ghost town out here I have a bunch of stuff marked on my map one of which is this restaurant called noo Oslo it is supposed to be open so we're just going to walk that [Music] way we got the Day special some free stuff and I got the what is it in gtill meatballs and some kind of fish oh gra very good St something tells me we should have come to this place for like breakfast but smos smar is like like their early lunch kind of thing but um yeah I saw this place on a YouTube video somewhere and that's where we came and it was good at least it was of the tourist P the tourist track for sure it is actually pronounced es Moret and it is supposed to be like a post breakfast meal not quite lunch and it usually consists of a sandwich so we did it totally wrong very tempting yeah Argentine empanadas are really good I could use some coffee now needless to say of all of these cities we've visited except for Madrid maybe they definitely deserved a little more time a lot more time perhaps as we start unwinding this trip I reflect on what we've done and whoops I did it again we rush through things as we usually do it has certainly been a sample of Spanish culture and this is just the South coming up the quart towers built in the 15th century as part of the original City walls the bullet holes are from a French Siege of the city back in 1808 the tower was also a military prison until as recently as 1932 very cool to see here in the middle of the city [Music] apparently it dates back to the to the 1400s and it's uh it was part of the of the city walls of the valencian city walls now I don't know where to [Music] go these are very nice Gardens here [Music] it would seem donot is carrying a bust of fantes I don't know well this is the park that goes all around the city we are now down by this Gardens located where the Tia River used to flow before it got diverted South waiting for the [Music] bus we've been through here before but now we've got blue skies [Music] well this area we're at right now is called the city of Arts and Sciences at all all these you know unique architecture buildings that uh we're going to check out Palace of Arts this Arts it's the Opera House very cool looking Performing Art Center here one of several buildings with this futuristic architecture by Santiago calatrava who was born here in Valencia he is known for these types of designs and there is more coming up ahead I feel this one may have a little bit of Gaudi influence with some of these surfaces being like mosaics plain white this one is one of the newer structures here built in 2005 here we have some Modern Art don't really know what it's called [Music] em Mis fertic another calatrava work it is supposed to represent a human eye it houses a huge IMAX theater a planetarium and a laser show and supposedly has excellent Acoustics this one on the right is called lumco and it is a botanical garden with plants indigenous to Valencia [Music] next structure is a science museum meant to resemble a whale skeleton it is another katava work of course and here's looking back towards the opera house there's going to be a concert here tonight we later found out it was new yorican singer Mark Anthony yeah definitely a concert going on here today this is Pont lasut delore valencian for the dam of gold bridge this one is called Agora and it's basically an arena the sphere behind it is an Avary part of the aquarium and yeah that's all we're tired we're taking an Uber back well good morning it is time to go [Music] away we go that guy waiting for us was kind of in a hurry I don't know what's we've got mosquitoes inside the band um we're going to try and park near Valencia maybe you know just explore another part of town and then we're slowly oh first we're going to the area where the solar eclipse is going to happen in 2 years and then we're slowly making our way towards [Music] Madrid I think all we're really going to do is park at the area we were originally thinking of parking at instead of the RV park it would have been Urban boond ducking stealth camping well perhaps not so stealth with this van and that's where the paa restaurant is the one we wanted to try we even had a reservation for [Music] it here we are by the beach we must be getting close I see some RVs and camper events so this must be [Music] it was the area where we want to park originally and as you can see there are a lot of RVs Caravans in that parking lot because we wanted to eat at Kasa carela which is right there they're famous for their paa but we change our mind it's a very nice Beach area here which would have been walking distance I mean right across from the RV I believe this beach is officially called Playa de la malva Rosa it seems very nice we've got some buildings very in the distance and there we are right there here's looking South and here we have the police lots of Caravans lots of arvs in this area very cool very centrally located not to mention free but I like it better where we stayed at [Music] [Music] we're going to go all the way to alos or alcalade just to see what it looks like how mountainous ities because the solar eclipse is going to happen late in the day here and uh it would really suck if the sun was behind the mountain it is early days still more research will definitely go into this here's our exit [Music] very cute little town here but there are many mountains in the direction the Sun is going to be West so I think this is as far as we're going to go [Music] there's the sign [Music] alad there are supposed to be camping in this town but I exited the traffic traffic circle at the wrong Street and now we're going deeper into town I was supposed to make a right here but it says clearance 270 we are 275 so no can do let's make a left instead these narrow streets were made before Camper vans were invented I barely have enough angle to [Music] turn we made [Music] it okay so this is the town's parking lot we could definitely overnight here if needed tell you what I've seen enough let's go to Madrid which means we have to backtrack almost all the way to Valencia before going England I have no idea where we're going to stay I mean we might try another espia Discovery side we're not supposed to return to camper van until the day after tomorrow I know curiosity got the best of me let's explore the coast a little more camping River Mar seems nice and here we have a sculpture called the horn we're going to hug the coast a little going towards castellon de la Plana although there's no view of the sea not here anyway it seems nice the beach lined up with high-rise conduit window they even have a water park who knew and all the roundabouts have these huge sculptures by the way we're less than 3 hours from Barcelona here if we wanted to go that way wait we're going to save Barcelona for a different trip [Music] oh check this out nice Beach town [Music] it's starting to rain so let's take a quick break maybe not so quick we took a fairly long break here at this town called Ben cassin you know to it's been raining a lot and now we're going to try another H espia Discovery site it's a winery there are several wineries in this area about two 2 and 1 half hours away uh actually 2 hours away we might have lunch somewhere along the way because cuz I don't think they have food it's only like why [Music] this looks like a nice rest area more like a service plaza actually we're going to stop and have [Music] lunch all right we're stopped here at this uh service plaza called El Plano so let's see what a service plaza looks like on the the highways of Spain of Valencia actually of the commun the Valencia commun [Applause] valenciana they have a pretty good selection like real [Music] food we're having aluas this blood sausage regular Teresa sausage seems pretty good of that with a view yeah that was a good experience that was one of the last things I wanted to experience here on the Spanish highways and uh as you see the restaurant is like this bridge over the the highway and it's not fast food you know it's like actual food you know like I I almost felt like sampling one of each because it all seem really good they even have paa I guess is raining once again oh yeah this is the Caravan parking and back home it would be Unthinkable to tow a travel trailer with a passenger vehicle small passenger vehicle like a small SUV but I guess they make them much lighter here anyway we have a little over an hour to go to to our espa Discovery number two all the great weather we had at the beginning of this trip well it's been less than ideal that's for [Music] sure all of a sudden a glimmer of hope blue skies going over the P it looks like a totally different day and it looks like we might have great weather for the rest of our time here [Music] ooh beautiful country [Music] here yes I'm glad we got off the highway and decided to look for this Winery there are several [Music] actually here we enter a town called Los Marcos here we exit a town called Los Marcos if you blinked by any chance you missed it and the winery is supposed to be right here bodas proa I don't see a sign or anywhere to park let's go back [Music] maybe it is through here I mean it doesn't look like a business that is open to the [Music] public I don't know what to do it looks like a working Winery just not one open to the public oh well let's go somewhere else there's another Winery close by let's see if it is open H much better bodegas nus this one even has a hotel by the way Bodega is the Spanish word for Winery and very nice they even have EV Chargers I went by the office and indeed we can overnight here but there's not a whole lot going on so I think we're going to keep going well this one is open now we know it exists but we're going to continue to Wards Madrid I mean it's kind of early and uh we can still do another two hours and get closer maybe tomorrow we can explore some some places around Madrid I don't know we'll see yeah I don't feel say apple is clearly on a mission to check with AI a lot of these features thank you very much I don't feel like you know stopping this early in the day let's continue I see some menacing clouds on the horizon we may not be out of it yet [Music] [Music] we're arriving at a town called MOA Del palankar in the quena province in the Castile La Mancha autonomous Community there's supposed to be an area the autocaravanas somewhere around here and it is all flooded [Music] oh I think this is it could it be it is going to be a sight with a view of a mural well good morning we've got a sunrise this is our penultimate night in the camper van and this place really filled up last night good morning I'm going to say something good about clunker here it's motorized so on when a chilly morning like today our first chilly morning since we've been in in in Spain really was like 50° not that chilly but you know after all these days of intense heat it's nice not having to get out of the house to come into the car you know it's just one big thing and where's my key we go and yeah um it's it's not been without challenges but I think now we can say we've survived almost 3 weeks rving in Spain biggest challenge was it's 11 de C according to to the car here uh was probably at the beginning the heat because um you know it's been hot and we are not strangers to heat you know we're from South Florida but in South Florida everywhere we have something uh great invention called air conditioner and this thing has air conditioner in the cabin here but not in the house and uh you know we couldn't idle a diesel engine you know all night long if we wanted to to stay warm I mean cool but so and uh besides that you know let's um let's enjoy one last day we're going to the do an area in the outskirts of Madrid so um yeah it's we're about 3 hours away and then tomorrow morning we return the clonker let's hit the road and yeah I have some more thoughts about you know conclusions about um rving in Spain what we've liked and we what we haven't liked and we'll be talking about those throughout the trip [Music] this truck is going so slow I've been trying to pass him for [Music] ages V the point let's [Music] stop it's a dam it is called the alaron dam [Music] there's that truck I'm going to have to pass him again which by the way this uh cynic Lookouts are not as common on the on the Spanish highways uh I mean not as common as as U we're used to them you know we've been to the most scenic H places and that's no good there's smoke coming out of the car in front maybe because of the cold weather huh Ian running hot or anything like that anyway about the do you know the first time I drove a ducato was in 2018 and I was coming from old Kia so it I thought it was like a super cool you know uh vehicle and it still is it's fun to drive but the where you put the you know I guess we're spoiled we've gotten so used to having Android auto and or carplay and you know all the modern amenities so and this thing where you have to put the phone is kind of far away from you so that's but and it's noisy the cabin is very noisy so it's hard to listen to podcast or listen to music um but other than that I mean it at six at 6 M long it's still a little large to park it [Music] anywhere but it's not bad we've been able to to park almost everywhere we' wanted to just not parallel park on the side of the street you know for that you need a 5 footer I mean 5 m long uh break I I was going to say something else but I forgot so it looks like it's going to be a C [Music] drive okay now about the language and the ecography I mean we speak the same language as you know it's Latin America Spanish is generally but the it's it's a whole totally different dialect maybe we are the ones speaking the dialect in that America I mean they invented the language here right this It Go differently but my point is there are certain words that are different like I think vertical clearance is called galio or something like that never heard of that word before the shoulder is called called aren I mean we you see the words of the highway SS and are like I wonder what arang is that kind of thing and little words here and there that that we have different meanings but for the most part we've been able to communicate with everybody no problem you know it's just is the same language but certain words are different um which has been a challenge sometimes but most of the time has been [Music] yep we're fit let's have some breakfast [Music] this is Sano Ham and The Omelette and a sandwich well what can I say I really like these rest stops with cafeterias on the Spanish highways oh we're still about uh we're about an hour from Madrid but we're going our destination is kind of on the other side of Madrid that's where we we're going to see one more thing on the Spanish highways on the next one we're going back to Madrid thus concluding this epic overseas Saga starting with one of the greatest things to do as a day trip from Madrid esal and then we'll enjoy the city itself one last time until then thank you so much much for watching and see you on the [Music] road I'm riding riding in my RV

2024-11-05 08:03

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