R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 49

Transatlantic 2022 — Valencia; Reaching Sagunto

Iglesia de Santa María in Sagunto, Spain

Our tour left Valencia and traveled north for our next destination, the city of Sagunto, site of the Roman city of Saguntum. And Sagunto has it all — a gothic church (Iglesia de Santa María) begun in 1334 and not completed until centuries later; a wonderful archeological museum (Museo Arqueologico de Sagunto) featuring Roman artifacts; a recently restored 8,000-seat Roman theater, and Sagunto Castle overlooking the city and dating back to the 8th centu...

Fun Photo Friday — Transatlantic 2022; Valencia and Sagunto favorites 3

Wall Niche

Today is the third of four Fun Photo Friday favorites focusing on Valencian and Sagunto, Spain:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Transatlantic 2022 — Valencia; Merchants, Markets, Merchandise, and More

A fun way to photographically remember we were in Valencia

Today I’m going to show you the continuation of our foot tour. This time we’ll be travelling from Mercat Central to Valencia’s jaw-dropping Edificio de Correos, their Post Office Building. Yeah, I used “post office” and “jaw-dropping” in the same sentence. But it’s also referred to as the Palace of Posts and Telegraphs of Valencia, so that should give you a hint as to what’s in store. But first, let’s continue down the streets of Vale...

Transatlantic 2022 — Valencia; Central Market

Last look: Church of Saint John of the Market

Everybody loves a little shopping. And if you’re Ursula, you’re enamored with foreign food markets. Doesn’t make any difference if it’s an outdoor farmers market, a Coop or Spar superstore, or a cavernous monstrosity housing myriad vendors selling everything from produce to hams to seafood to candies. In the case of Valencia, that last one describes Mercat Central de Valencia (Central Market of Valencia), an Art Nouveau hall of immense proportions...

Ukraine Secession Voting begins today in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson

Today I’m going to tag this opinion piece as “humor” even though there is very little that is humorous about this situation other than how the blood lusting “Vlad Tepes” Putin keeps getting kicked squarely in his assets. This latest situation involving a rigged secession vote, the outcome of which was announced by Pravda three days ago (I kid you not), is deadly serious. Vlad “Tepes” is already threatening to throw a nuclear temper tantrum if other nations do not respect the predetermined outcom...

Fun Photo Friday — Transatlantic 2022; Valencia and Sagunto favorites 2

Today I’m including one shot of Sagunto amongst six others of Valencia. See if you can pick out which one does not match the rest:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Transatlantic 2022 — Valencia; Inside the Silk Exchange and Sant Joan del Mercat

Silk Exchange “Palm Tree” columns

Looking at how the Silk Exchange is surrounded by churches, one supposes that the merchants of Valencia feared for their souls. In a moment I’m going to show you another of those churches, but first we’re going to study the incredible details of the Silk Exchange. Above is the Hall of Columns, and those columns are meant to invoke palm trees. Impressive, for sure. But equally impressive are the bas-reliefs decorating the interior walls:

Silk Exchange bas-r...

Transatlantic 2022 — Valencia; Street Walking in Valencia

Today I’m going to take you on a walking tour that started from the Valencia Cathedral. From there we meandered up and down narrow, colorful streets adorned with flowers and flags. For instance, here is Miguelete Belltower (Valencian: Torre del Micale/Castillain Spanish: El Miguelete) at Valencia Cathedral:

Miguelete Belltower, Valencia Cathedral

If you look south you’ll see another nifty belltower in the distance. This is the tower at the Church of Saint Martin (Església de Sant Martí)...

Fun Photo Friday — Transatlantic 2022; Valencia favorites 1

Most Fun Photo Fridays I present around half a dozen photos. Not for this series of four. There is simply too much to see in Valencia and Sagunto to limit myself to six in each of the four Fun Photo Friday favorites of this area. Today I present eight. Click on any image below to enlarge and to bring up today’s slide show featuring seven more images:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Transatlantic 2022 — Valencia; Walking around Valencia Cathedral

So, just how much is there to do in, and in the vicinity of, Valencia? Enough that we’ll be exploring both this city and nearby Sagunto this week and over the course of the next three. Yep, there is just so much in this area to see and photograph. For instance, today we’re going to concentrate on just one incredible structure.

Valencia Cathedral

In Valencian it’s called Església Catedral-Basílica Metropolitana de l’Assumpció de la Mare de Déu de València. Those speaking Spanish refer to...