My ever generous and thoughtful friend, D, brought this delightful 1930s cake stand when she visited last week. It depicts a flamenco dancer. You may recall that I was much attracted to the dance on my recent visit to Valencia and D and I are seriously considering joining a class in the autumn.
In the meantime, I'll just use it for cake.
This is the Plaza Redonda (the 'round square'), with its central fountain surrounded by a ring of tiny stalls selling ceramics, haberdashery and clothes, including these colourful flamenco dresses.
The streets are full of stalls selling everything from shoes and jewellery to paella pans.
We settled for some beautiful apricots and peaches, bigger and tastier than any we have eaten in England.
These tomatoes, as big as oranges, are a local speciality.
I had to wait until the market closed and the crowds dispersed before I could get any shots of the outside of the building. My pictures do a disservice to this lovely city, which has really clean streets; the army of sweepers and cleaners was already at work behind me and the square was litter-free in minutes.
The Mercado Central is one of the biggest market halls in Europe, covering more than 8,000 square metres. In true Valencian style, it is grand in size and decoration, mixing art-nouveau design with traditional ceramics, wrought iron and stained glass.
Here is a close-up of that ceramic frieze.
I wanted to ask this young man if the pattern of his trousers was inspired by the ceramics but my ancient 'O' level Spanish proved inadequate.
Walking along the dry riverbed in Valencia, I couldn't help thinking about the drought-dried bed of the Kabul River described in A Thousand Splendid Suns. That was the scene of public executions and brutal punishments by the Taliban.
Crossing the riverbed on a tour bus I could only manage to capture the top of the 14th century Serranos Towers.
We saw building work going on all around the city. I am pleased to say that it was mostly the restoration and refurbishment of beautiful old buildings
, there was very little evidence of the old being demolished. A city that can boast such architectural treasures as the Palace of the Marquis of Dos Aguas (now the museum of ceramics)
The architecture of Valencia is stunning but I will limit myself to pictures of a few of the many fountains I saw as I walked around:
The river Turia used to run through the city but it often flooded with disastrous results. After a particularly devastating flood in 1957, the city authorities decided to divert the river three kilometres towards the south. This massive project began in 1964 and was completed in 1973. The 10 kilometres of dry riverbed have been developed as parks, gardens, play areas and sports arenas. I was particularly fascinated by the bridges which can now be seen in their full splendour, no longer half below water. Here are just a few of the many:
Everything in Valencia is done on a grand scale and two of the latest bold projects involve water. First, the City of Arts and Science, is a series of museums designed by Santiago Calatrava. My pictures show the Oceanographic Park, L'Hemispheric (an enormous Imax) and the Museum of Science. 
The opera house is also in this complex but I can't locate the photos I took so I'll keep those for another post, along with pictures of the Marina Real.
It was a short break but we packed a lot in and I will post a few facts and photos when I get myself organised. My overall impression of Valencia is one of boldness - in planning, design and structures. I took lots of photos of the buildings, the gardens, the wonderful ceramics and the new Marina Real development. More about all of that in the next few days; in the meantime, I wonder what I have been missing while I was enjoying my horchata and fartons in the Horchateria de Santa Catalina? 
One very pleasant surprise on opening my email was to find a message from Michele of HedgelandsGlassLassGems, saying that she had nominated me for a blog award! Michele said some very nice things about Random Distractions, for which I am most grateful.
Now, of course, I ought to nominate five more people for the award but, having been away while all of this was happening, I missed out: all of my favourite bloggers have been nominated already. If your blog appears on my side bar, then you know I think you add 'beauty, love and joy' to the world of blogging, I could add humour, intelligence and interest to that list. 
