Dungroamin 2018
The holiday that smells but has no taste
Monday 11th June
Having been thwarted in our plan to visit the market on Sunday, we hatched a new plan to go there today. Whilst waiting for the bus, we had a quick walk around the nearby part of the Jardines del Turia where we spotted some green parrots feeding on the ground, or were they green red–starts or green black–starts? We then boarded a bus to take us into the centre of town where we completed our mission of visiting the magnificant food emporium – otherwise known as the market. We wandered around wondering why we had made such an effort to see the place. Jerry decided it was so he could buy some nuts, which he then tried to get the rest of us to eat.
One of the bridges on the Jardines del Turia.
Parakeets in the Jardines del Turia.
Our hotel.
A picture from the bus; the architects round here have some strange ideas for decorating roundabouts. Why do liquorice allsorts come to mind?
Another picture from the bus.
And another.
We left the market and after a bit of aimless wandering came across a café advertising craft beer, which seemed a good idea at the time, for those who wanted beer. However, once we had settled in, we found that the coffee machine was broken; the proprietor said he could still serve us coffee, it would just take a little longer. The image comes to mind of a Nescafé advert, with the proprietor making the noises of a coffee perculator, as he manually brews the coffee. But we did get some coffees, albeit a little on the small side.
Next stop was the cathedral on our way back to the centre, where we got on a blue bus to the old railway station, which has some very ornate features on the walls and ceilings. We misseed the onward bus that we had intended to get, so instead found somewhere to have some lunch.
The market is now open.
The girls are waiting for their promised coffees.
The cathedral.
Inside the cathedral.
Some of the buildings seen from the bus.
Could this be a bell tower to climb?
The old railway station even looks good on the outside.
As well as the inside.
It has ornate columns.
And decorated ceilings.
“It's definitely over there.”
“Ooh, I don't know, are you sure?”
A beautiful plant, not sure what the structure is.
Eventually back on the bus, we reached the Science Museum which is in an area of very modern architect–designed buildings including the Opera House, where we took plenty of photographs. Zorbing was taking place on one of the ponds, but there was no uptake from our party for this particular form of entertainment. Maybe it was the 35°C temperature?
We caught the blue bus back to stop 12, where we could swap onto the red route to get back to the hotel. Whilst we were waiting at the bus stop, we were entertained by a Cattle Egret catching lizards in the nearby hedgerow.
Back at the hotel, a cold drink in the bar was the order of the day, before a late seista in preparation for the evening's activities (i.e. eating and drinking).
The Opera House.
This structure is very imposing, but it seems to have little function but to set off a few trees. Could usefully be turned into a row of phone booths.
There is an underground car park, so this could be a vent shaft.
There is a covered walkway on one side, but someone forgot to put any glass in the roof.
It might look good, but what does it do?
Another view of the Opera House.
It could be something out of Robot Wars.
The Cattle Egret with his dinner.
We decided to eat in the hotel downstairs restaurant, maybe having had enough of the great outdoors during our daytime excursions. One dish called cod tripe was definitely fishy whilst Joanie and Barbara's creamed rice came in a big cauldron. Pete selected his choice of wine and pointing to the wine list said to the waiter, “We'll have two of them, please”. The waiter confirmed “Yes sir, two glasses of the red”, to which the response came, “No two bottles!”
We slept well.