By contract, the orchestra's members get time off based on the amount of performing they do, so even whirlwind tours have some breaks. Today was a free day for the orchestra. The musicians used it to sleep in, dine out, tour, and explore. Bassist Thomas Sperl walked about 5 miles round trip to the Mediterranean beach. Then he walked some more later in the day.

It was a free day for me, too. After being shepherded from airplanes through airports onto busses to hotels and rehearsals and concerts and back again for nearly two weeks, it was something of a treat to spend an afternoon wandering aimlessly through the historic section of Valencia.

Though most of the city wall is gone, the gates to the old city still stand. That section, across the river from the orchestra's hotel and concert hall, now hosts a large portion of Valencia's commerce.

I say "across the river," but that's not quite accurate. I should say "across the bridge," because the river isn't there any more. In 1957, the River Turia flooded, inundating the city. After that, the city diverted the river. They've built parks in the dry river bed. The bridges remain; in fact, they even built a new bridge over the nonexistent river just a few years ago.

When I set out to see the sights, my first stop was a bookstore so I could buy a guidebook. Elsewhere in Europe, I've been able to find English guidebooks in bookstores and at kiosks. No such luck here. So the tourist sights I saw were those I stumbled on.

For all that, I didn't fare too badly; a map from the hotel helped. I saw the Plaza del Toros (but no bullfight). I also found the Valencia Cathedral on the Plaza de la Virgen, which houses the Santo Caliz, believed to be the Holy Grail. Like the musicians who tried yesterday, I didn't get to see the chalice; the building is closed for renovation. On my way back from the old section, I stumbled across the Torres de Quart and Torres de Serranos, the city gates built in the 15th century.

I dined on the traditional Spanish saffron rice dish, paella. Later I stopped for Spanish hot chocolate. The Spainards brought both cocoa beans and the drink from Mexico. As they make it, it's so thick that it's best taken with a spoon. Powdered instant cocoa mix just won't do once you've tried this.

Tomorrow, we leave for Paris and two concerts.  The second one will include the European premiere of the recently reconstructed Emerson Concerto by Charles Ives.

David Roden
WKSU Assistant Program Director