The Rest of our Valencia Visit

We stayed in Valencia for a few days after Las Fallas to recuperate and finally adjust to local time, for we stayed on EDT during the festival. Even though rain continued, I came to appreciate Valencia much more this trip.  I liked the mild climate, livable neighborhoods, readily available housing, pedestrian streets, public transport, mostly average (non-posh) shops and restaurants... it felt equal, not full of rich-poor chasms in bigger cities.

We took advantage of free museum admissions (modest to start with) on Sunday (Art Museum always free).  Almost of tourist attractions were closed on Monday.  Due to the rain, we skipped Xativa, went to the Botanical Garden (free Earth Day) which turned out to be a highlight, saved Tuesday to visit Roman Sagunt.  The very well restored theater was a first for us.  They even have new museums [https://saguntoturismoblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/31/via-del-portico-y-domus-dels-peixos/comment-page-1/] that were not on our radar, guided tours only, we missed.

Here's a shot of us while waiting for the 18 March, 2pm Mascleta (Explosion).

The Valencia Archaeology Museum, located underground near the Cathedral, features remnants of the Roman forum, baths, and roads.

I enjoy spotting the "ninja" grafitti around town.

Inside La Lonja de la Seda (The Silk Exchange).

The Museu de Belles Arts has the most compelling Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian I have ever seen. The models for Sebastian and Irene must have been young teenagers.

Sun-Ling and I both enjoyed the Botanical Garden even though it was raining. Here's Sun-Ling with white clivias.

And me.

On Monday the City Hall was open to the public so we were able to get onto the balcony and see the "cage" that held the mascletas.

On Tuesday we made a day trip by train, leaving from Valencia Nord (below), to Sagunto to see the Roman Theatre.

Looking towards Sagunto city center.

The restored Teatro Romano is set into the hills behind city.

Above the theater is a huge castle complex with views down to town.

The castle has its own Roman sites ie Forum and Temple of Diana.

One of the new museums in Sagunto lets visitors walk among the ruins of the Roman Road. Very cool. We missed the entry-only-by-guided-tour but had a peek from the ticket office.