Valencia City of Arts & Sciences

When I first saw photos of the City of Arts & Sciences in Valencia, I immediately said to myself that I should go there.

In 2019, I booked a trip to this magnificent city for the end of March 2020. We all know what happened then.  Covid-19 came and blocked everything in the world.  So, I had to cancel, but luckily, I managed to get my money back for the flights and accommodation.

 Years passed quickly and I finally managed to go in 2023.  I was relieved at the fact that I could make it at last.  As soon as I checked into my accommodation, I headed for the City of Arts and Sciences. When I arrived, I couldn’t believe my eyes, the place was more beautiful when seeing it in person than in the photos I had seen.  But suddenly, I was disappointed, as there were parts of it closed to the public.  What I had in mind suddenly evaporated into thin air. I also thought that this place was jinxed for me.  I went around and shot

 in a half-hearted way.  After a long day, I went back to the place where I was staying and started thinking about what was the next thing I could do.

 The following day, I got up and went back to the city.  This time I was in the right frame of mind and believed that I would get some good shots no matter what. This time, I decided to visit the aquarium that is also part of this city.  Here, I also managed to get some good photos.  I spent another whole day here and started to get some good photos; even though the event that was there was still running and some places were still closed to the public.

 Sunday, I went back to the city in the morning, and, when I arrived, I was relieved, as the place was cleared from the event’s stuff.  The places were once again open to the public.  I was over the moon,  I walked and walked and shot a lot. On this day, I entered the Science Museum, where one can also find good spots to shoot.

 When it got dark, the place was more magnificent, although some parts were a bit too dark as the lights weren't working.  I managed to get some amazing shots as the place turned into, a sort of other place.

I returned on Monday which was my last full day here.  Every day that I went, I found a good composition, or the light was different because the sun was moving and the shade was also moving.  I always revisit places at different times of the day, as the light changes all the time.  In this way, I also got to know this city by heart, and by the end of it, I was really happy with my stay and the material that I got.

Tuesday was the day to head back home.  I took the train to the airport and got my flight home. When I got home, I was so excited that I switched on my iMac and downloaded all the images that I took to the hard disk, but I didn’t look at them, I just uploaded them into Lightroom and switched everything off.  I always leave images that I took from a shoot a few days before I look at them. I do this to look at them with fresh eyes, and the excitement, almost gone or faded.

After a couple of days, I decided to go through the images, and I was really happy with the results. I discovered a few pictures that, although I thought they were decent, looked better.  All in all, the trip was much better than what I had expected.  Maybe one day I will revisit this magnificent place.  I definitely recommend Valencia to all Street Photographers enthusiasts.