Valencia - our first family holiday

Enjoying a seafood stew in Valencia, originally uploaded by Racmol.

We left for Valencia on Friday morning, carrying everything Sofia might possibly need for three days in Spain - no chance of getting away with just hand baggage this time.

Sofia made friends with the official in charge of the baggage scanner - he offered to hold her while Jules folded the pushchair and she smiled and laughed and patted his face. 'That went a lot better than I expected!' he said, sounding quite chuffed!

That night we got a cab out to the port and had dinner at a place that specialised in rice - not spectacular but quite edible.

On Saturday we went into the old town and Jules and Annie climbed the tower at the cathedral and then we had great tapas for lunch. In the afternoon we went to IVAM, the modern art museum, where there was a clever installation of neon lights, water and tv screens - hard to describe but very effective.

That night was wet, unbelievably, so we just went out for italian near the hotel - not particularly memorable.

On Sunday we went to the Oceanographic - a large aquarium split over several buildings. Introduced Sofia to beluga whales and walruses, as well as the obligatory dolphin show, but she was really more interested in the other people, who I'm sure she sees as her public! She has an equally large fan club in Spain as in England!

Sunday night we went into the old town for dinner and had our first really good evening meal - here we are eating some of it in the picture. Sunday was a lovely hot day as well so it was a very balmy evening and we ate outside.

Monday was mainly spent getting home - we went to the science museum in the morning because it was close to the hotel, but it wasn't great and we didn't stay long.

Sofia was an excellent travel companion - slept obligingly in her pushchair at dinner time (mostly!) and didn't object to sleeping in the travel cot the hotel provided. In fact the first morning she slept until 9 am and we nearly missed breakfast.

So, yes, we'll be doing it again soon.

Jules and the bike

Jules and the bike, originally uploaded by Racmol.

Just for Harold, here is Jules and his new bike. He refused to get back on and ride up the street again so this will have to do.

And now perhaps we can move on and talk about Valencia.

What's coming out of the oven?

What's coming out of the oven?, originally uploaded by Racmol.