Oriana - Days 13 & 14 - Valencia

Day 13 – at sea

This was a miserable day weather-wise – with very rough seas and high winds so not allowed out on deck. Spent most of the time reading. Had lunch in the Main Dining Room and went to the individual quiz but that is about all.

Day 14 – Valencia

I was booked on a tour here. Unfortunately by the time Oriana docked we were about an hour late. There was a lot of confusion as to where tour passengers should wait. I saw from the prom deck that the coaches were on the quayside so ignored the huge long queues to get off at the airbridge and went down to deck 4 where I asked if this was going to be a passenger gangway. It was – but when they opened the gunport door part of the airbridge support was outside so once again, anticipating the tour manager, I dashed up one flight and along to the forward gangway on deck four, getting there just before all the others – some very angry indeed and yelling at the crew to the extent that a security officer turned up!

Once ashore and on the coach we drove through Valencia to the market where we got off and had 15 mins free time before starting a short walk through the old city.

We picked up the coach again at the old city gate and drove to the arts and sciences centre for a brief photo stop before heading out of the city to Albufera. Here there is a huge fresh-water lake with reed beds.

We all boarded a shallow flat-bottomed boat and set off to float amongst the beds watching for birds. I saw several nesting herons, mallards, coots and a bright orange stooped bird I still need to identify. It was lovely with the hot sun beating down and the peace of the lake.  On our return we walked to a nearby restaurant for a paella lunch, preceded by salad and potatoes roasted in garlic, oil and pimentos. There was ample wine and local water to go with it all, before we boarded the coach to return to the port. All in all an excellent tour. Although it had been shortened by an hour so we all got £10 back. We sailed at 3.30 – our last sailaway. It was a casual evening so I opened my free champagne and drank half while getting ready to go to Oriana Loosely Dancing – very entertaining.