On Saturday, we went to a shoe factory with an outlet store in Elche called “Salvador Artesano”. The shoe factory is located in an industrial park area of the city. The entrance to the factory is unassuming and it did not look like a large factory.
Entrance to Shoe Factory
The inside of the outlet area of the factory is massive. We could see shoes, boots, and purses for the whole length of the factory building. Shelley enjoyed walking around the displays looking at the vast assortment of shoes.
Shelley checking out the shoes
There were two levels to the shoe factory. The lower level had new shoes, boots, and handbags. The second level had discounted shoes and older model shoes.
View from second-floor level of factory outlet
We looked at the factory outlet section for about an hour before heading to the cash.
Shelley going to the cashier
Once we paid for our shoes we headed out of the factory outlet.
Shelley with her new shoes and hand bag
Unfortunately, the factory floor was not working on Saturday. We looked at the factory section through some glass windows. It was interesting to note that the majority of the shoes being made are still done mostly by hand.
Factory floor work area, where hand crafted shoes are made
Once we got home Shelley tried on her new shoes. It was a great day and lots of fun .
We stopped into city hall in Valencia which is a beautiful large building. There was police security at the entrance and we were required to go through security before entering into city hall. Once we were through security we were free to roam the corridors in the public areas of City hall.
The main staircase of city hall is made with marble and is very beautiful and impressive. When we looked at the staircase you could see marble railings, marble stairs and above the landing area, there is a large stained glass ceiling which allowed defused light into the area.
Marble steps and railings in central staircase of city hall, ValenciaCentral staircase at city hall, Valencia
The ceiling above the central staircase contains a beautiful stained glass ceiling.
Stained glass ceiling over central staircase in city hall, Valencia
We climbed the staircase to the second floor and to our left there was a large banquet style room. We went into the room and saw some large chandeliers and a beautiful painted ceiling.
Banquet room city hall Valencia.
The banquet room was over two storeys high with ornate decorations.
view of the banquet end wall
There was a section of city hall dedicated as the historic municipal museum.
We checked out the museum area. There were numerous artifacts and historic items from the Valencia municipality on display.
Some of the historic displays within city hall, Valenciastatue on display in city hall, ValenciaAntique cabinet on display
We went into a room which had large paintings on the wall.
Shelley in the museum room with large painting.Painting of former king of Spain
We then entered another room which was quite spectacular. On display were religious articles and an ancient book which was on display behind a glass containment.
Room in city hall, Valenciareligious display in city hall, Valencia
In the centre of the room was also an area that contained a glass floor. We could see the floor area below.
Glass floor area in city hall, Valencia
After we toured the interior of city hall we headed out to the second floor balcony.
Shelley and Ray on balcony of city hall, Valencia
The view from the balcony was beautiful, it provided a complete view of the square. Check it out.
On our way out of city hall we stopped on the stair landing and watched as a police officer help a tourist family. He took a photo of the group and made sure they were all staged just right for the perfect picture. He was extremely helpful, friendly and it was a nice way to end our tour of city hall.
On Tuesday night we went to a cooking class conducted by Chef Luca Phillips in Alicante. We began the evening by having nice glass of red wine and an introduction to the delicious selection of mediterranean dishes we were going to prepare.
There were five dishes in total, caponata, sardines, marinated tomatoes, romesco sauce, and a shaved fennel, orange and rocket salad with lemon dressing.
We put on our cooking apron along with our name tag, washed our hands and awaited our tasks. Each person taking part had their own work space. Chef Luca went through the preparation with us and demonstrated how to slice or cut the ingredients before we started.
The Chef then put us into small groups to prepare the food. Once we began preparing the ingredients Chef Luca would come around and ensure we were doing ok and answer any questions. Some of the preparations was more challenging than others. One group was required to de-boned the sardines and prepare them for the “sandwich”.
sardines being de-boned for the meal
Shelley and I were both relived that we were not picked for that particular job!
Shelley preparing her ingredients
The chef did the majority of the stove cooking aspects which allowed us to observe and ask questions.
Chef Luca explaining the sardine “sandwich” dish
Once we were finished the preparation of ingredients, we combined them into the dishes. It was interesting to see how some ingredients interacted with others ingredients. The chef explained the importance of salt or acidic foods and how they worked in combination with other ingredients.
Chef Luca adding an ingredient to the plate.
The group worked well together and the plates turned out nicely. We admired our handiwork on display prior to enjoying the fruit of our labour.
Finished plates prior to enjoying them
We then sampled the dishes and socialized for the next hour or so. We enjoyed the very tasty dishes and Ray even eat the sardine sandwich which was very good. Overall a very enjoyable event.
We decided to spend a day at the Oceanography in Valencia. We headed out and took a taxi to the Oceanography. When we arrived at the Oceanography the place was busy with lots of children on school excursions. We bought our tickets and headed into the oceanography park grounds.
The facilities were impressive and very well-organized and the park is very large. There are over 500 different marine species in the Oceanography. We walked through the park which is divided into sections representing an area of the oceans or seas in the world.
The grounds of the Oceanography
Our first stop was at the arctic area which is housed indoors below grade. The temperature was nice and cool which was a nice break from the heat of the day. Inside the complex we saw some penguins, sea lions and seals and a beluga whale.
Beluga WhalePenguins in arctic exhibit
We walked our way around the grounds checking out each exhibit. There was a marshland exhibit which had flamingos and crocodiles.
Crocodiles at the Oceanography Valencia.
Next we came to the Butterfly House called “Marioposario”. We went in and checked out the different breeds of butterflies. One in particular was a beautiful blue winged larger butterfly.
Blue winged butterfly
We then headed to the next exhibit which was housed underground. There was a large body of water which had glass walls around it and a glass tunnel which we could walk through.
Entrance into glass tunnel area of Meditarriean exhibit.
It was neat to see the fish swimming around you as if you were underwater.
Shark in Oceanography of ValenciaSilver fishShark swimming over the glass tunnel in Oceanography of Valencia
There was a large assortment of fish including sharks, manta rays, eels and lots of different types of fish.
In a another section there was an area with some unique looking creatures including seahorses and jellyfish.
Jellyfish at Oceanography in ValenciaSea Horse type creature at Oceanography in ValenciaJellyfish swimming in sequence
There was a section designed with an underwater tower that is on two levels. According to the Oceanography it represents the most emblematic ecosystems in the world.
underwater tower that is structured into two levels, and is the most emblematic ecosystems of the planet. oceanography in Valencia
We traveled the full length of the larger tunnel admiring the unique species of fish.
View of the larger submerged glass tunnel at Oceanography
We saw some amazing sea creatures and fish. There were sharks, manta rays and much more. We did up a video with some of the spectacular things we saw.
A great place to visit and we are very glad we spent the day exploring this wonderful attraction.
When we were in Valencia we decided to take a break and go watch a movie. We found a cinema which was about 1/2 hour walk from our hotel. We headed out and walked to the cinema. When we arrived there was a selection of movies playing and only one playing that was in english. We did not want to see that particular english movie and so we picked a spanish movie called “El Toro” which means the bull.
Spanish movie “el toro”
I went up and ordered the two tickets for El Toro and was proud at how well I spoke Spanish. We got our tickets and headed for the cinema #16 for El Toro. As we approached the usher to take our tickets he looked at them and said something in Spanish and we looked at him confused. He must have thought wow these guys are going to a spanish movie and can’t even understand me! He said in broken english to wait a few minutes until the cinema was available. Feeling a little dishearten at our Spanish ability we sat and waited for the cinema to open.
Shelley went and bought some popcorn and a drink while we waited and then we were able to go and get our seats. When we got inside the cinema we were the only ones there. There was no one else in the entire cinema, we sat down and enjoyed the Spanish movie.
Shelley with our popcorn and drinks
The movie was very good and we were able to follow along with our limited Spanish. Four months ago when we first arrived in Spain there was no way we could have watched a movie and understood it. Our Spanish is improving slowly everyday it is a difficult process at times but rewarding.
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