Kibworth & Smeeton WI
Valencia
In February Brian Johnson transported us to Spain with his talk: ‘Valencia – A Surprising City’. Brian has family there so is a frequent visitor and knows the city well. His love of Valencia shone through this really interesting talk.
Valencia began as a small settlement of fishing cottages on the coast. Nowadays it is the third largest city in Spain and the fifth busiest container port in Europe. It boasts beautiful and historic buildings, but also stunning modern architecture. People have not tended to think of Valencia for holidays. Yet just outside the city are beautiful beaches and sand dunes. Not so much English is spoken as in the more well-known and popular cities and resorts, but that is gradually changing.
Architecture
Architectural delights include the striking North Gate to the medieval city and the Merchant Hall. The beautiful cathedral, according to legend, contains the Holy Grail. Although bull-fighting is dying out, the bullrings are preserved as historic structures. The Mercado (market), a must-see attraction which sells everything, has colourful food stalls displaying sea foods, fruit and vegetables. Paella originated here, called ‘poor man’s food’ because it consisted of anything which could be foraged. Paella rice is grown just to the west of Valencia.
The City of Arts and Sciences boasts modern, impressive architecture and clever iron sculptures. Such as a fisherman and a grand piano, which are illuminated at night and cast gorgeous reflections onto the
water. Oceanographic is a huge aquarium with performing dolphins outside and wonderful aquatic life inside. Transport is efficient, with a modern bus service and metro system. The architecture of the
traditional railway station has eye-catching tiles depicting typical Valencian scenes decorating its walls.
Recently we saw traumatic scenes of flooding in Valencia. In 1957 there was a similar disaster, which led to the decision to remodel parts of the city and to re-route the Turia river. The old river bed became a beautiful park and the green lung of the city. The original bridges were retained and the area between each has a different character. It’s a lovely place to walk, cycle, use the sports facilities and enjoy the
fountains.
Festivals
Valencia is famous for ‘Las Fallas’ a series of festivals from 1-19 March, which originated when left over wood and old furniture were burned to celebrate the feast day of St Patrick, patron saint of carpenters, on 19 March. Nowadays there are many different Fallas, with enormous wooden or papier-mâché sculptures paraded through the lit up streets. They are then burned on spectacular bonfires on the evening of 19 March to honour St Patrick and to herald the arrival of Spring.
Judy Tilly
Afterwards we all sang ‘Jerusalem’ and our president spoke about our lovely friend and long-standing member Judy Tilley, who passed away a few days before our meeting. Beverley brought some lovely photos sent by Judy’s son John, which she framed for us all to see. Members were invited to reflect and to share with us all, if they wished, their memories of Judy in a poignant tribute to her. We send our condolences to Judy’s family.
March Meeting
Following our March meeting , ‘Memory, Are You Worried about It?’ held as usual at 7.30pm at KCH, we will have a complete change of mood with ‘Musical Entertainment With Tesserae’.
Pat Sharman
For more on Valencia you could visit Valencia Tourism website.
New sports facility at Leicester Grammar School
Coronavirus journal – Living in a coronavirus pandemic
