Valencia, Spain

We arrived in Valencia in the late afternoon so there was still time to check out the city.  Valencia is one of the most beautiful cities we visited in Spain.  So much to see!  Our hotel was close to the city center so we walked in the direction of the train station, which was an amazingly beautiful building itself!

Directly across from the train station is the Plaza de Tores, or bullring, and it totally dominates the downtown plaza.

This is the red door where they send the bulls into the ring to fight.

We headed further into the city, which was filled with huge, gorgeous buildings dating from the early 1800's back to the 1400's.

 We arrived at the Plaza de Reina, which opened into a huge park area with restaurants and street cafes, and the cathedral toward the back of the plaza.

 We thought perhaps the cathedral was being restored because there was scaffolding set up all around one corner.  turns out there was a huge music festival going on and they were setting up a stage and light show.

The doors to the cathedral were HUGE and very ornately carved.

 Behind the cathedral was another small plaza, and the street directly behind the cathedral had a walkway from the priest's residence over to the cathedral.

 The plaza behind the cathedral also had a museum filled with relics that had been discovered inside the cathedral when they were doing renovations.

 Another shot of the front of the cathedral.

Gary ran into his cheering section behind the cathedral...

 The Plaza de Reina was a great place to hang out because there was so much to see.  Lots of gorgeous buildings...

 all painted and spruced up...

 fountains filled with water...

 and even the sidewalks are marble!

 Best of all, we stopped at a little street cafe for hot chocolate and churros.  This is NOT your basic Nestle's Quik!  This stuff is thick, rich, hot and totally addictive.  Dunking the hot churros into the hot chocolate is sheer perfection as far as treats go!

 We ended our evening with some friends of Gary's from his mission.  Mari and Antonio Sanchez and their son Jeiro invited us to their apartment for dinner, which was amazing.  Mari is the younger sister of Pepe (we went to church with him and his family in Granada) and Mari had been baptized as a teenager just before Gary left the Granada area.  Gary also knew Antonio back then - he was an investigator.  So Antonio joined the church just after Gary moved from Granada, and after his mission he and Mari got married. They have an older son serving a mission in Northern Spain, a daughter living in Washington DC and another daughter living in Granada, as well as Jeiro, who is 14.  What a sweet and wonderful family.

 It was such a treat to spend the evening with this family!  This entire trip has been amazing, especially meeting all these great people who have remained strong in their faith and in the Church.