There’s an old saying that the excellent is the enemy of the good. So it was today which was a good day. But it pales in comparison to some of the other days this trip.
We were in Valencia, Spain, the third most populous city in the country. I’d been looking forward to today because I was scheduled to visit a cave that appeared to be an outstanding place to visit. Alas, the cave was not the highlight of the day.
The highlight was visiting the City of Arts and Sciences. A large complex with very modern architecture and lovely aqua pools. The arts buildings include a theater and an opera house; the sciences buildings include a planetarium, an aquarium, an aviary, and a science museum. There are several bridges, walkways, and other visually interesting structures. There’s even a parabolic “wall” where it’s possible to hold a conversation between two people at the opposite ends. A fascinating location, one that I wish I’d had more time to explore.
Next we went to the cave. The unique thing about the cave was that it’s got the longest underground river in Europe. There were some modest formations, but many were broken or otherwise in disrepair. The majority of the tour was in 14-person rowboats, with a local guide using a pole to maneuver the boat. Unfortunately, the guides were leveraging their pole against the rocks and formations which was painful to see. Our guide, like many others, spoke very limited English so was unable to provide any valuable commentary, though he did point out a number of the places where dynamite had been used to open things up (and perhaps destroy some of the formations). We did hear bat making sounds but I didn’t see any bats. I know I wasn’t the only person disappointed by the cave, but I suppose it was comforting that several people had been pleased with the cave experience.
Then I made a strategic mistake, I followed a group to a potentially interesting cache (that after a long walk and a long search was not found) which resulted in me getting a bit hangry. I decided to head back to the ship, and Alison (Sister Long Legs) chose to join me. We struggled to find a cab, then found one that took us back to the cruise port….but not the right one. It was a bit of a comedy of errors, but eventually we learned that there was a free yellow shuttle bus that would take us back to our ship.
Yes, Valencia oranges are named after this city. Today was a good day. And the excellent is the enemy of the good. Perhaps tomorrow’s visit to Barcelona will rejoin the ranks of the excellent.
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