Back to Valencia – Part One

The weather took a turn for the worse as we left Benicàssim, with heavy rain having caused severe flooding in the Valencia area the day before.

After stopping to fill up with LPG, we arrived at a very busy Valencia Camper Park. It was the final weekend of the Moto Grand Prix (motorcycling) season at nearby Cheste, so the site was full of Moto GP fans from all over. It’s a huge sport in Spain.

The day before we arrived, much of the site had flooded with water knee-deep, but luckily for us it had mostly subsided, with just a few puddles about the place. The rain continued for a few days though, leaving us wishing that the rain in Spain would fall mainly on the plain and not on our van.

Carol went for a wander around the campsite and spotted a guy with a motorhome repair van fixing someone’s moho, so I went to see him to get him to look at the tap on our kitchen sink which had packed up for the third time. He couldn’t fix it, so we arranged for him to come and fit a new one on Monday, and we now have a fully functioning tap.

On Sunday we took the metro into the city centre. It’s a 27 minute ride and costs just €3.20 return each, so terrific value. We went for a wander to re-familiarise ourselves with the old town, and it felt great to be back in a city that we like so much.

Back at the campsite we got chatting to Michelle and Mike from Lincolnshire who happen to have a van that’s almost the same as ours, and we spent a fun couple of evenings with them chatting and sharing travel stories.

We returned to town on Monday, and after Carol’s appointment at the hairdresser we spent the rest of the day walking around the shopping area and the ‘Antiguo Cauce del Río Túria’, which is a massive park which was created in the bed of the River Túria after the course of the river was diverted following massive floods in the 1950’s. It’s a huge green space running through the city, popular with cyclists and runners. After a warm and sunny start, the rain returned later in the afternoon and we headed back to the campsite.

With the weather still hit and miss, we went back into town yesterday and visited the science museum and whiled away a few hours there. When the sun’s out it’s warm enough to wander around in a t-shirt, and we’ve been getting funny looks from many locals, who are walking around in puffa jackets, hats and scarves.

Tomorrow both of our daughters will be arriving in Valencia, so we’re super excited to be spending a few days with them.

Mike