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| Underground viewing of Aquarium |
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| All glass tunnels with a view |
We had a free day before we heading back to Barcelona so Porcelanosa brought us to the nearby city Valencia. It's actually the third biggest city in Spain and it wasn't always the beautiful city it is now. The government infused a lot of money into this city and development really helped it to take off. We spent the day at the Aquarium within the City of Arts and Sciences, a large scale urban recreation complex designed by famed architect Santiago Calatrava. This development took 2 years and is a key driver in the revitalization of the area. There is a huge controversy because the original budget of $300 million, spiraled to a final price tag of $1.2 billion (euro). Santiago's fees were 12.5% so I guess not all Architect's have to be starving artists. But if you leave behind all that controversy, the whole development is truly magnificent. It includes a large world class aquarium, a science museum, planetarium, opera house, lots of outdoor courtyard space, and a very beautiful cable suspension bridge.
We had a lot of fun in the aquarium just walking around and being amazed by nature again. Its humbling that no matter how great our manmade structures are, nothing could ever compares to the wonders of nature. I learned so much from the aquarium that I felt like a 6 year old again. I learnt for the first time that a tiger shark will have 3 or 4 babies. But the last two babies will be eaten by the first two when they're inside of the mothers womb. This is their way of feeding their unborn. Truly amazing in a weird and wonderful way.
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| Another big lunch with the group |
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| 3 types of Paella |
After the aquarium and walking around, admiring the other buildings within the recreation complex, we went for yet another huge lunch of meat and Paella. These Porcelanosa hosts really know how to treat you right.
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| The main square of Valencia |
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