This little piggy went to market, this little piggy cost a bloody fortune.

It’s Monday today, so our last day in Valencia before we leave tomorrow for the Andalusian city of Cordoba. In fact, the rest of our trip will be spent in this region of Spain known for its unique culture a blend of Christian, Jewish and Islamic, with a bit of Spanish gypsy thrown in for good measure. Many would argue this region best reflects the true essence of Spain, a mixture of North African Moor and Western culture.

One of the entrances into the old city and a ponte over what used to be the river Turia.

We’ve been pretty much on the go since we arrived in Madrid a week ago and the hectic pace is starting to show, we both wake up in the morning with tired legs and feet. It doesn’t get dark here until after 9.00 pm, so the temptation has been to explore all day and well into the night, a pace I doubt we can sustain for the remaining sixteen days. However, as true Spaniards, we are getting our afternoon siestas, which we really look forward to (we sound like a couple of old geriatrics, which we probably are; I’m actually dribbling from the mouth writing this.)

Yesterday we walked all the way from our apartment into the new city, with its array of very futuristic buildings. The city has evolved so that you can achieve this, a trip of six kilometres, never once leaving parkland. Because it was a Sunday, many Valencians were out playing competitive sport, including the ubiquitous game of soccer and, surprisingly, a game of women’s rugby, which we watched for half an hour or so. It was a beautiful walk, made even more relaxing by the availability of the bus to bring us back.

Palau de les Arts (Opera House).

The Hemispheric and the Museo de las Sciencias (Science Museum).

We also went to the beach yesterday afternoon, although we sat rather than swam. The weather in Valencia has been a bit of a contrast to that of Madrid, quite warm but very cloudy, which has made it a little humid. Not even many of the locals were in the water, which tells you it’s not quite hot enough for a plunge. We’ll try again today, but it’s not the end of the world if we don’t; we’ve still got Malaga on the coast a little down the track, and it should be much warmer.

Authentic paellas. Paella Valencia contains chicken, rabbit and snails - yum.

Today, we’ll be back to the central market, the Mercado Central, and perhaps undertake a little more exploration of the old city. Last night we had dinner in a little plaza which contains the narrowest building in Europe, literally two metres across. One wonders how anyone could live in such a dwelling, but live they must, and there were around five or six stories of this building. I can only assume some very tall and slender inhabitants.

Europe's narrowest building; can you spot it?

We also want to try some of the cured jamon, which Spain is world famous for. You can spend up to 70 euro a kilogram for the reasonable jamon, that's around $100, but over $500 per kilo for the very best, Jamon Iberico, some of which will have been ageing in caves for up to five years or more. The Spanish are very proud of their jamon and we are going to buy some today for tasting, although I doubt we'll be splurging on the very best Iberico, the black pigs which are fed a diet of acorns. I think we'd need a second job back home just to afford a small handful.

jamon hanging in the market.

Ourlunch: chorizo, iberico jamon, olives, sheep's cheese, sangria and olives, all from Spain, and runners from K-Mart.