Parc de Benicalap
Not every day is sunny in València, that is true, and we are technically in the middle of winter here, but there are enough beautiful days that getting out to a park is not only easy, it is necessary. I don’t usually write about the non-sunny days and even on some of those that are sunny I am very capable of doing little to nothing. Some days I devote myself to this blog (believe me, being so far behind weighs heavy on my mind) and some days I devote the hours to “boring” chores such as shopping at the Mercat Central and/or local supermarkets, and then cooking. I know, not very exciting, right? But it has to be done and on those days it really feels like I’m just quietly living here. That was pretty much the plan all along: to find out what it’s like to just live here. The fact that I’ve been able to go and see so many cool things has been a bonus. Plus they’ve closed restaurants on us now so eating at home is a must.
On this sunny Sunday, Sagrario and I decided to walk to a new (at least for me) park, some 3km further from the house than Jardins del Turia next door. It is very easy to just go to my usual bench to sit, listen to music, and read but once in a while it’s also important to go a bit further afield. Parc de Benicalap is a large park, in the north-northwestern part of the city, in the neighbourhood of Benicalap. As we walked through streets I hadn’t seen before, the thing that struck me most was the abundance of fruit on the famous orange trees that line the majority of roads here. Some were so laden with fruit I was a bit nervous walking underneath them fearing getting whacked on the head by a falling one. This video of the tree shakers (a version of which was sent to me by my friend Helen) shows how they typically harvest these orange beauties (which are not meant for consumption, except for those sent to the UK to make marmalade, though those could just be the Sevillan ones) but clearly the street I was on had not been visited yet. Good news, I safely arrived at the park without any damage to the old noggin.
Parc Municipal de Benicalap is contained behind a large white wall, typical of most, if not all, urban parks in Spain. If you want to see what’s inside, you must find the entrance and then you can truly feel as if you had entered an oasis. The city magically falls away. I guess the wall idea isn’t so bad, after all.
It being a Sunday, the park was full of people, mostly families enjoying themselves, kids running around, older couples strolling, and lots of dogs walking their humans. We quickly found a quiet spot and settled down: Sagrario in the sun on the grass (she smartly brought along a towel) and I, partially in the shade, on a bench. One of the benefits of bench-sitting is that while I read, I’m also able to watch the people walking by, something that can be really quite fascinating. This time, however, I was able to concentrate on my book more than usual. I guess our spot was quieter than expected (that’s not a bad thing 😉) so I entertained myself by taking yet more photos of the trees and the sky. What can I say? It never gets boring.
At some point we did have to move again; being of a certain age, my body does not do well in one position for an extended period of time so it was time to walk around. This park has a number of picturesque waterfalls as well as an amphitheatre for concerts and other cultural events, tennis courts, a football field, a large outdoor swimming pool, and even an orange grove. There is definitely lots to do here and the park is very well maintained. I can see why people come to enjoy this space: there is something for everyone.
On the way home we stopped at a restaurant offering some takeout and I paid way too much for a bit of rice and chicken curry. But at least I didn’t have to cook again when I got home. I miss being able to go to my favourite places when I don’t feel like cooking … damn you, Covid!
