Second day camping – mildly more awake after earplugged night – spent in the city’s truly amazing science and culture park.
If ever there was a statement of a local authority’s intent to create legacy, this is it. And the newest building is already 13 years old, though it doesn’t look it. Admirable in almost every way.
Then there’s the riverbed. Back in 1957, the city elders got together with the surrounding farmers and agreed to reroute the river Turia, cause of frequent floods, into seven different channels. So now the Turia’s riverbed features a swathe of green that goes right through the city and provides gardens, leisure parks and space for those futuristic buildings, aka The Science Park, surrounded by about two feet depth of water. Beautiful, indeed.
We spent all of one day in parts of the Science Park, mostly in its so impressive Science Centre, the most eye catching of these new buildings. And the night saw us in The Jimmy Glass Jazz Bar, listening to not that good a quartet; the highlight was when the guitarist turned round and complained to a section of the audience that he could hear more of them than of his own music. If that had happened in one of my promoted gigs, the guitarist would have been asked to leave. If he’d been brilliant, I might have suggested otherwise, but he really wasn’t like a Keith Jarrett other than in temperament.
Today we’ve been sunbathing on the beach because it’s due to be cloudy tomorrow. It is blue sky 29° today. And tonight we’re off to Cafe Mercedes Jazz to see another band, which we hope is better than last night’s. We did have some extraordinary Rioja last night and a couple of beers at midnight, out in one of the street cafes where our bedroom, part of a seven floor hostel of rooms, is located. Indoors suffering today.
Chris & Kath's Travel Time 