Museu de Ciències Naturals
Some Sundays are for sleeping in and some are a chance to get up before the city does and do something different. It wasn’t really my idea to be up before the sun and on a tram to a meeting by 8am. On a Sunday. I’m not that crazy. The reasons for this madness are long and complicated and maybe I’ll write about them elsewhere one day; suffice to say, I was meeting someone for a chat and the meeting place was at El Rastro de València, the largest Sunday flea market in the city. It was a bit eery to be out before the city woke up. There were a couple of other people on the streets of La Seu with me: a man walking his dog, a woman opening a coffee shop … that’s pretty much it. It is rather unusual to see the streets so empty but then again, Spaniards are not morning people. It would have been nice if I had taken a photo of the empty streets but I was rushing to the tram stop across the river and I hate being late. I shouldn’t have bothered rushing, though, considering how long I waited for the other party, but meh, as with many things on this day, live and learn. Live and learn.
I spent very little time at the Rastro itself, mainly because I am definitely in no position to buy anything (my suitcases weigh enough already) and I’d hate to find something really cool only to have to leave it behind (see previous point). Instead, I decided to head to my old hostel by the port to meet up with Ewa. It was a bit of a walk from el Rastro to the port but, since it was still pretty early in the morning and I had some frustrated energy to burn off, I hardly felt the distance. Once in my old neighbourhood, Ewa and I had a long chat while sipping first coffee, then claras (it was very warm out by this point) at our favourite coffee shop, and then we hopped back on the tram to go back towards Ciutat Vella.
Instead of getting off close to Porta de Serrans, we got off a bit earlier in order to, once again, walk through the Jardins del Real. The day was so beautiful, the sun so warm, that it would have been a crime to not spend it in a park, and what better park than the Royal Gardens. After visiting the rose garden which was still partly in bloom, we walked along previously unvisited paths, on the western side of the park, where we came across a number of aviaries, the largest of which held a number of peacocks. This made me a bit sad, however, being accustomed to seeing peacocks walking freely in their “natural” habitat of Beacon Hill Park (Victoria); here they were stuck in a rather small enclosure, looking very bored indeed.
I had noticed on my first visit (and, previously, on GoogleMaps) that there was a museum here and, since it was open, now was as good a time as any to poke around inside. Museu de Ciències Naturals (or the Natural Sciences Museum) isn’t a huge place but it does contain a very interesting collection of fossils, mainly from South America, exhibits dedicated to Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the founder of modern neurobiology, and Alexander von Humboldt and his voyage between 1799 and 1804 during which he explored and described the Americas for the first time from a modern scientific point of view. You may recognize his name from the delicious Humboldt squid … though, of course, his contribution to science goes much further than that. There was also a very cool section describing the typical minerals of the Valencian region but, for some weird reason, I don’t seem to have any photos from that part of the museum. Oops — I guess I have a reason to go back.
Outside again, we came upon a pond next to the museum building, one where the sheer variety of water fowl was mind boggling. OK, OK, it wasn’t that amazing, but there were many different types of birds, including a beautiful black swan. They sure made a racket though, but then birds do that, which is probably why people like to hunt them: they’re too noisy! All in all, it was a very fun way to spend the day, and not too shabby when it comes to my step count, either.
I can’t believe it’s almost December … since all the independent communities of Spain, including València, have their borders closed to all but essential travel, it has become impossible for me to continue to Málaga so I’m staying here. I don’t really mind, however, especially since I am starting to fall in love with this city. So, if I’m going to be stuck anywhere, it may as well be here.
