Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències
València is the home of one of the most marvellous collections of public architecture in the world: La Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències. I am certain that most of you, if not all, have seen parts of this complex of buildings in a movie or TV series: they are quite unmistakable. George Clooney’s Tomorrowland featured it extensively, as did Westworld (Season 3), and even The Doctor made a visit once. I even thought the futuristic urban plaza in Guardians of the Galaxy was also filmed here but it was some train station in Belgium, so never mind 😉
In any case, it has always been one of my favourite places to visit, and I was lucky to see parts of it on my trip here in 2011. Unfortunately, that was such a quick visit I never really got a good sense of it other than catching glimpses from the tour bus. We did visit L’Oceanogràfic, the aquarium, but that is just a small part of the whole Ciutat. I wasn’t going to wait long before exploring the area this time around.
La Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (The City of Arts and Sciences) is a complex of ultra modern architectural marvels, situated in Jardí del Túria, the ingenious city park that snakes its way through València. This enormous city park was built on the dried-out bed of the Riu Túria, a river that was diverted to prevent flooding back in the 1950s. The park is about 9km long, with walking and cycling paths throughout, children’s playgrounds, dog parks, football and rugby fields, art installations, ponds, gardens, a couple of fast-pitch softball diamonds, cafés, and other leisure-oriented offerings. On any given day, thousands of Valencianos use it for exercise or simply to get from point A to point B in the city, especially by bike. La Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències is spread over roughly a tenth of the whole of Jardí del Túria and as I mentioned before, you get glimpses of its various buildings or bridges from many areas of the city. On the map it’s in the lower part of the park, between the signs for Camins al Grau and Quatre Carreres.
On this particular day I decided to go check out the closest El Corte Inglés (and if I haven’t mentioned these quintessential Spanish department stores before, please remind me to do so as soon as possible!). It wasn’t located terribly close to my new digs but, since it was a beautiful day, I was up for a long walk. El Corte Inglés offers many floors of shopping but what it is also famous for, in all of its locations across the country, are the top floor restaurants/cafeterias. This is where I decided to have a meal and a little rest. Upon finishing my meal, I ventured out to the terrace and that’s when I noticed just how close I was to the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències. It would have been a crime to not get a little closer for a better look.
I didn’t cross the emblematic Assut de l’Or Bridge but rather I went through the green space towards el Museu de les Ciències. I really had no idea what to expect: I didn’t know if the museum was open, I didn’t know if I could go inside, and I certainly didn’t know if I had access to the grounds at all. Seeing very few people in the area didn’t exactly help me in answering any of these questions either. What I was able to do, however, is take a lot of pictures, and as I circled the museum I realized I was in a photographer’s paradise. This place doesn’t seem to have any bad sides (unlike yours truly) and I was able to click and click and click to my heart’s content. As I rounded the eastern corner I found a water pond where the palomas were clearly having a pool party. (I got them on video and as soon as I figure out how to upload that, I will update this post.) Water, it seems, plays a big role in La Ciutat, as I found out: there is even a little lake close to the Hemisfèric (IMAX and 3D theatre) where you can rent little boats and kayaks to paddle around. That area was also where I saw the most people and even that was not many. I have to admit, yet again, that it feels oddly weird to have all these various monuments all to myself; I feel like I’m intruding but not really … sometimes I feel very privileged to not have to share them with anyone else. Plus I can take photos and not worry about having to photoshop out annoying silhouettes later.
After circling el Museu de les Ciències, I went inside (the doors were open) to enquire about the possibility of adding the museum to my upcoming Sunday visit to L’Oceanogràfic–a birthday gift to myself–since I saw a sign suggesting that such tickets were not only possible but also a good deal. Unfortunately for me, however, I discovered that the ticket I got was a special price because of the upcoming weekend holidays, one being Valencia Days on October 9th, the day the people of València celebrate their autonomous region. This is a historical commemoration of the date in 1238 when King Jaime (James) I officially entered the city of Valencia, freeing it from Moorish rule. The other is October 12th, the exact date when Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas, or Día de la Hispanidad as it is known here. Since these two days fell on Friday and Monday, respectively, I think the best thing for everyone was that it was a very long weekend. And a day for discounts at various attractions, it seems. This also meant I couldn’t add the Science Museum to my visit because rules. In any case, the museum is not very expensive to see on its own, or when combined with a movie at the Hemisfèric, so I vowed to come back. I did snap a couple of pictures inside to be sure I remembered to do so.
Just in front of the Hemisfèric there is a sign that says “Valencia” and it is a very popular place to take photographs … just to prove to people you were there, I suppose. Being really bad at selfies, however, I opted for just taking a picture of the sign but I had to wait for a rather large number of couples and families who got to it first and, of course, everyone had to have their shot. It’s amazing how much more patient I have become since coming here, and, by all accounts, my 10-15 minute wait was really insignificant. Imagine if there were no Covid to contend with — the crowds would have been immense, even on a weekday.
Beyond the Hemisfèric sits Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, a stunning building that houses a performance venue for operas, concerts, ballets, flamenco, and much, much more. I’m still working on getting myself inside there and I am glad events are starting to happen, with appropriate safety measures, of course. For now I could only look at it from afar.
As I took the bus home, I also got glimpses of Àgora (an events centre) and L’Oceanogràfic (the aquarium complex), the part of La Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències I was going to visit in a few days. I have a few long days of waiting ahead of me :).
