A few weeks ago, we went to the Santiago Calatrava-designed City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. We’ve passed it on our commuter train journey into the city so many times, we thought it was high time we actually get out and look what was there.
Besides crazy architecture and nice park space, there is water (fountains! waterfalls!) surrounding all the buildings:
- A science museum (which we went to this time)
- A performance space
- An oceanographic museum (which we will definitely be hitting soon)
- The world’s fanciest car parking garage
It’s a pretty neat space, especially considering this is a bit of late-90s urban redevelopment.
You start your visit to the museum with a really cool ant exhibit, where you can follow leafcutter ants above and below. We were so impressed we forgot to take a picture of this one.
Dreamer was particularly impressed with the Foucault pendulum inside the science museum. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the Earth to rotate enough to knock over the next ball. She was enthralled! So many times it was oh so close and then, FINALLY.
Also, they had baby chicks. Can’t see that anywhere else.
I liked the modernist urinals in the bathrooms.
Seriously, though, it was a good science museum. Lots of fun exhibits. Definitely recommended. Took us nearly the whole day to get through it, with a short break for lunch at a Lebanese place across the street (yum!).
But sadly, Dreamer did not get her batido (milkshake) that day. After her initial enthusiasm, I convinced her to wait. When we returned after our museum visit, it was siesta time and the restaurant was closed. What you see above quickly turned to disappointment. You do NOT deny Dreamer a dairy treat.
That was really cool! I wish you had gotten the ant farm too! Maybe next time when you get Dreamer that milkshake!
You’re seeing such cool things! What was special about the parking garage?