Valencia Photo Gallery - Part 3

From Plaza de Tetuan, I explored the side streets and crossed the historic centre from east to west. There were plenty of eye candy historic buildings with intricate design details. It's always nice to wander the side streets at random to find some surprises. Iglesia Santa Catalina's interesting tower stands at the end of Calle La Paz. It didn't seem a long walk away. Iglesia de Santo Tomas It was time for lunch upon arrival at Plaza de la Reina. The seafood paella was freshly cooked and quite fulfilling. Of course, I had to pair it with a fresh orange juice. Rice features prominently in local cuisine. Grown locally thanks to the Moorish canal system, paellas are believed to have originated form here. It is a lunch dish and can be served dry or in broth. Fish paellas are usually wet and won't add meat into the mix. The Cathedral stands on the site of a Roman temple that became a mosque. Built across the 13th to 15th centuries, its style is a mix that includes Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque. While it charges admission to view the interior up close. I was only interested in Miguelete, the tower, but at least they're nice enough to allow visitors to see the interior from the entrance for free. If you haven't gone up the 2 defense towers, do make sure you climb this one for a panoramic view. 207 steps later, I had a marvelous view of the city. The tower is over 50m high and was built from 1381 to 1424. Here is the view to the north : One of the defense towers stands proud in the distance, with the safe side facing me. East South Calatrava's modern marvels and the port are too far to walk from the historic centre even though they don't look too distant in this photo. Plaza de la Reina is well-manicured although there are too many buses and cars in the way to connect to the restaurants and attractions lining it. West