Valencia to Xativa, Spain

Across Iberia


scarlet summer
Poppies proliferate in a meadow of "community" from Valencia, between Xátiva and Dénia.
Lights of Ribalta, Lights of Dénia
Lighting on Dénia's waterfront gives more glow to an already colorful twilight.
Net fishing, lots of nets.
Fisherman is preparing to set sail for the waters of the Albufera del Palmar, a few km south of Valencia.
rough mediterranean
Rocky coastline lined with slabs in the vicinity of Cap de La Nau.
El Palmar dock
Fishing boats anchored on a small floating jetty on the El Palmar reservoir.
Casario de Xativa
Uniform house of Xàtiva, invariably white and with tiles that time gave pastel shades.
End of the line
Cyclist takes a break to admire the lakeside landscape of the El Palmar reservoir.
Valencian Walls I
Yellow sun the imposing walls of the castle of Dénia, another city once defended from a hill.
Rough Mediterranean II
Rocky coastline lined with slabs in the vicinity of Cap de La Nau.
Valencian Walls II
Part of the medieval structure of the castle of Xàtiva, in the south of the province of Valencia.
San Felix Church
Towers and domes of the church of San Félix, one of several in the vicinity of Xàtiva.
the weight of the best friend
A resident of the Xàtiva region is anxious to pick up his heavy pet.
Cap de la Nau
Boat skirts the promontory of Cabo de la Nao, one of the most prominent on the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
Casario de Xativa II
A palm tree stands out from the uniform houses of Xàtiva, at the foot of the steep hill on which the town's castle stood.

Leaving aside the modernity of Valencia, we explore the natural and historical settings that the "community" shares with the Mediterranean. The more we travel, the more its bright life seduces us.

Valencia remained covered by a blanket of gray clouds that promised showers at any moment. The promise was soon fulfilled. Banished by the sun and beaten by the rain, the city turned even more gray.

Puente del Mar, one of several over the Turia river, which give access to the old hull, appears lost in the mist, crossed from time to time by locals and strangers that the figures of the Virgin and San Pascual permanently bless . Crossing the river to the west, we reach Plaza Porta del Mar. From then on, Valencia reveals its majestic historical center and its most impressive centuries-old testimonies: the Cervelló Palace, the Church of Santo Tomás y San Felipe Neri and the Plaza de la Reina, marked in the distance by the towering towers of the Miguelete Cathedral and the Iglesia y Torre de Santa Catalina.

Despite the gusts and the wind that meanwhile granted a truce, hundreds of visitors flock there, delighted by the unlikely combination of the medieval and religious atmosphere of the monuments with the pagan stronghold of the nearby bars and pubs. While, in the gloomy interior of the so-called Conjunto Catedralício, some outsiders make an effort to respect the usual warnings of silence, on the terraces that are still soaked around, others indulge in a cosmopolitan laughter fed by successive rounds of cañas and tapas.

We left the Plaza de la Reina, walked along Calle San Vicente Martir and avoided getting back into the almost labyrinth of the surrounding alleys and alleys, from which it had taken us too long before to get out.

The night does not take long to set in. We investigate the animation of one or another bar, but we don't take long to pick up at the accommodation. The next morning, we were leaving early, heading south towards Dénia. As for Valencia, as time is running out, we just skim the historic. The futurist or the Third Millennium – as the Valencians like to call it – we leave it for a next visit.

The new day dawned with an intense sun that seemed to make up for the rain damage that had been so far. Enthusiastic about the unexpected meteorological stimulus, we order breakfast and hit the road. 

We leave behind the city's modern and somewhat chaotic surroundings. According to the routes, the next places worthy of attention were located 20 km to the south, all of them in the Natural Park of La Albufera, a large lake formed by the siltation of an entrance to the Mediterranean and by beaches to the north and south. 

But, as Portuguese, and used – as we are all – to more serious beaches, it soon seemed that that somewhat uncharacteristic coastline and almost no waves would hardly impress us. Accordingly, we dedicated ourselves to exploring only the lagoon, subsumed behind a tall, dense grass that hid countless lake birds and also busy fishermen. We reach the end of a small wooden jetty when one of them appears behind the raised cane field in the shape of an improvised gondolier, balanced on a wooden vessel with coiled nets overflowing. We see no signs of fish on board and when the man docks by the jetty we ask him in Spanish, more jokingly than anything else, how the fishing pond was doing.

"Spanish certainly aren't, and if they were, they could only be Galician." respond to us with humor and boldness. “Well, with Portuguese we always talk a little bit in Spanish, there's no problem, even if it's not our language that Spain has already made the most sense, as you're certainly noticing. It's the same with the lagoon. With the exit to the sea closed as it is, there are days when we walk here almost just making a show. Like today, for example.” We realized that the landing of the nets was going to be a piece of work and we left him to his toil and his political and fishing indignation.

Shortly thereafter, we advanced to Dénia and descended to Cabo de la Nau, which marks the easternmost point of the Valencian community, points towards Formentera and the rest of the Balearic archipelago, off the coast.

We travel through the northern part of the province of Alicante when we come to the originally yellowish Moorish castle of Dénia, facing a bay full of boats, some fishing boats, others not for that reason, or if the city were not an important port port of the ferries to and from the Balearics.

We explore the low houses around the walls and climb inside the sandstone fortification. From there, towards the end of the afternoon, we enjoyed the surroundings at 360 degrees. With twilight already imposing its ethereal blue, we returned to the coastal foothills of the slope and joined the bohemian crowd on the seafront, with much more availability than we had, at the outset, in Valencia. Like Dénia, a large part of the charm of the next destination on the map, Xàtiva, was also due to its castle.

The journey between the two places proved to be short again. We made it along a winding and bucolic path, along a sequence of forests, fields, vineyards and orchards only broken by picturesque towns or villages.

Upon arrival, Xàtiva deceived us. The road goes around a large hill, steep enough to prevent the view from below of the medieval scenery from the top. Inevitably happens to us what affects those who do not know those places: we head towards the busiest urban center of the town and completely miss the monument that stands out the most.

Only later, we reach the historic center along a vertiginous path that enters the narrow and shady streets formed by the old houses until it surpasses it in altitude and gives us a magnificent view of the Baixa-Xàtiva.

We continue to climb. We reach the limits of the long walls and the scenery resembles that of the top of the Moorish castle of Sintra.

The presence and periods of conquests and reconquests between Christians and infidels, as well as other later “internal” confrontations, also left imposing traces there. Xativa came to rival in political and ecclesiastical importance with the city of Valencia itself. He was at the origin and in the life of the always powerful and controversial family of the Casa de Borja and the two Borgia popes, Calixto III and Alexander VI. During the latter's reign, in its eagerness for more and more power, the already Italianized family made deadly enemies against the portentous rivals Medici and Sforza, also recognizably the Dominican friar Savonarola, among others. They were so conflicted that over the centuries the outburst of Toffana, one of her many repentant servants, became popular: “I should have stayed in the stables. What a family does this Pope have!”

The Borgias were accused of a bit of everything. Of incest, adultery, theft and systematic bribes. At the same time, they were dynamic patrons of the Renaissance movement. In fact, they continue to give the arts something to do.

They recently inspired a fruitful TV series from the ever-creative producer showtime. And fascinate and addict most players of  Assassins Creed, a long sequel to cross-platform video games in which their adventures and misadventures stand out. By itself, the genesis of the family gives Xàtiva additional importance and meaning. It involves a guided tour of a series of churches, chapels and stately palaces and a more exhaustive discovery of the troubled life of the Borgias. That's what we continue to do. 

Matarraña to Alcanar, Spain

A Medieval Spain

Traveling through the lands of Aragon and Valencia, we come across towers and detached battlements of houses that fill the slopes. Mile after kilometer, these visions prove to be as anachronistic as they are fascinating.

La Palma, Canary IslandsSpain

The Most Mediatic of the Cataclysms to Happen

The BBC reported that the collapse of a volcanic slope on the island of La Palma could generate a mega-tsunami. Whenever the area's volcanic activity increases, the media take the opportunity to scare the world.
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

Fuerteventura's Atlantic Ventura

The Romans knew the Canaries as the lucky islands. Fuerteventura, preserves many of the attributes of that time. Its perfect beaches for the windsurf and kite-surfing or just for bathing, they justify successive “invasions” by the sun-hungry northern peoples. In the volcanic and rugged interior, the bastion of the island's indigenous and colonial cultures remains. We started to unravel it along its long south.
Lanzarote, Canary Islands

To César Manrique what is César Manrique's

By itself, Lanzarote would always be a Canaria by itself, but it is almost impossible to explore it without discovering the restless and activist genius of one of its prodigal sons. César Manrique passed away nearly thirty years ago. The prolific work he left shines on the lava of the volcanic island that saw him born.
El Hierro, Canary Islands

The Volcanic Rim of the Canaries and the Old World

Until Columbus arrived in the Americas, El Hierro was seen as the threshold of the known world and, for a time, the Meridian that delimited it. Half a millennium later, the last western island of the Canaries is teeming with exuberant volcanism.
La Graciosa, Canary Islands

The Most Graceful of the Canary Islands

Until 2018, the smallest of the inhabited Canaries did not count for the archipelago. Arriving in La Graciosa, we discover the insular charm of the now eighth island.
PN Timanfaya, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

PN Timanfaya and the Fire Mountains of Lanzarote

Between 1730 and 1736, out of nowhere, dozens of volcanoes in Lanzarote erupted successively. The massive amount of lava they released buried several villages and forced almost half of the inhabitants to emigrate. The legacy of this cataclysm is the current Martian setting of the exuberant PN Timanfaya.
Tenerife, Canary Islands

The Volcano that Haunts the Atlantic

At 3718m, El Teide is the roof of the Canaries and Spain. Not only. If measured from the ocean floor (7500 m), only two mountains are more pronounced. The Guanche natives considered it the home of Guayota, their devil. Anyone traveling to Tenerife knows that old Teide is everywhere.
La Palma, Canary Islands

The "Isla Bonita" of the Canary Islands

In 1986 Madonna Louise Ciccone launched a hit that popularized the attraction exerted by a island imaginary. Ambergris Caye, in Belize, reaped benefits. On this side of the Atlantic, the palmeros that's how they see their real and stunning Canaria.
Vegueta, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

Around the Heart of the Royal Canaries

The old and majestic Vegueta de Las Palmas district stands out in the long and complex Hispanization of the Canaries. After a long period of noble expeditions, the final conquest of Gran Canaria and the remaining islands of the archipelago began there, under the command of the monarchs of Castile and Aragon.
Tenerife, Canary Islands

East of White Mountain Island

The almost triangular Tenerife has its center dominated by the majestic volcano Teide. At its eastern end, there is another rugged domain, even so, the place of the island's capital and other unavoidable villages, with mysterious forests and incredible abrupt coastlines.
Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

Grand Canary Islands

It is only the third largest island in the archipelago. It so impressed European navigators and settlers that they got used to treating it as the supreme.
Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

José Saramago's Basalt Raft

In 1993, frustrated by the Portuguese government's disregard for his work “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ”, Saramago moved with his wife Pilar del Río to Lanzarote. Back on this somewhat extraterrestrial Canary Island, we visited his home. And the refuge from the portuguese censorship that haunted the writer.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beach
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
Hippopotamus moves in the flooded expanse of the Elephant Plain.
safari
Maputo National Park, Mozambique

The Wild Mozambique between the Maputo River and the Indian Ocean

The abundance of animals, especially elephants, led to the creation of a Hunting Reserve in 1932. After the hardships of the Mozambican Civil War, the Maputo PN protects prodigious ecosystems in which fauna proliferates. With emphasis on the pachyderms that have recently become too many.
Hikers on the Ice Lake Trail, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 7th - Braga - Ice Lake, Nepal

Annapurna Circuit – The Painful Acclimatization of the Ice Lake

On the way up to the Ghyaru village, we had a first and unexpected show of how ecstatic the Annapurna Circuit can be tasted. Nine kilometers later, in Braga, due to the need to acclimatize, we climbed from 3.470m from Braga to 4.600m from Lake Kicho Tal. We only felt some expected tiredness and the increase in the wonder of the Annapurna Mountains.
holy plain, Bagan, Myanmar
Architecture & Design
Bagan, Myanmar

The Plain of Pagodas, Temples and other Heavenly Redemptions

Burmese religiosity has always been based on a commitment to redemption. In Bagan, wealthy and fearful believers continue to erect pagodas in hopes of winning the benevolence of the gods.
Full Dog Mushing
Aventura
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Ceremonies and Festivities
Cape Coast, Ghana

The Divine Purification Festival

The story goes that, once, a plague devastated the population of Cape Coast of today Ghana. Only the prayers of the survivors and the cleansing of evil carried out by the gods will have put an end to the scourge. Since then, the natives have returned the blessing of the 77 deities of the traditional Oguaa region with the frenzied Fetu Afahye festival.
The Oswald Hoffman House, architectural heritage of Inhambane.
Cities
Inhambane, Mozambique

The Current Capital of a Land of Good People

It is a fact that such a generous welcome led Vasco da Gama to praise the region. From 1731 onwards, the Portuguese developed Inhambane until 1975, when they bequeathed it to the Mozambicans. The city remains the urban and historical heart of one of Mozambique's most revered provinces.
Obese resident of Tupola Tapaau, a small island in Western Samoa.
Lunch time
Tonga, Western Samoa, Polynesia

XXL Pacific

For centuries, the natives of the Polynesian islands subsisted on land and sea. Until the intrusion of colonial powers and the subsequent introduction of fatty pieces of meat, fast food and sugary drinks have spawned a plague of diabetes and obesity. Today, while much of Tonga's national GDP, Western Samoa and neighbors is wasted on these “western poisons”, fishermen barely manage to sell their fish.
Eswatini, Ezulwini Valley, Mantenga Cultural Village
Culture
Ezulwini Valley, eSwatini

Around the Royal and Heavenly Valley of Eswatini

Stretching for almost 30km, the Ezulwini Valley is the heart and soul of old Swaziland. Lobamba is located there, the traditional capital and seat of the monarchy, a short distance from the de facto capital, Mbabane. Green and panoramic, deeply historical and cultural, the valley still remains the tourist heart of the kingdom of eSwatini.
Spectator, Melbourne Cricket Ground-Rules footbal, Melbourne, Australia
Sport
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Traveling
Boat Trips

For Those Becoming Internet Sick

Hop on and let yourself go on unmissable boat trips like the Philippine archipelago of Bacuit and the frozen sea of ​​the Finnish Gulf of Bothnia.
Ethnic
Nelson to Wharariki, Abel Tasman NP, New Zealand

The Maori coastline on which Europeans landed

Abel Janszoon Tasman explored more of the newly mapped and mythical "Terra australis" when a mistake soured the contact with natives of an unknown island. The episode inaugurated the colonial history of the New Zealand. Today, both the divine coast on which the episode took place and the surrounding seas evoke the Dutch navigator.
Rainbow in the Grand Canyon, an example of prodigious photographic light
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 1)

And Light was made on Earth. Know how to use it.

The theme of light in photography is inexhaustible. In this article, we give you some basic notions about your behavior, to start with, just and only in terms of geolocation, the time of day and the time of year.
Cocoa, Chocolate, Sao Tome Principe, Agua Izé farm
History
São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Montserrat island, Plymouth, Soufriere volcano, buried houses
Islands
Plymouth, Montserrat

From Ashes to Ashes

Built at the foot of Mount Soufrière Hills, atop magmatic deposits, the solitary city on the Caribbean island of Montserrat has grown doomed. As feared, in 1995, the volcano also entered a long eruptive period. Plymouth is the only capital in a political territory that remains buried and abandoned.
St. Trinity Church, Kazbegi, Georgia, Caucasus
Winter White
Kazbegi, Georgia

God in the Caucasus Heights

In the 4000th century, Orthodox religious took their inspiration from a hermitage that a monk had erected at an altitude of 5047 m and perched a church between the summit of Mount Kazbek (XNUMXm) and the village at the foot. More and more visitors flock to these mystical stops on the edge of Russia. Like them, to get there, we submit to the whims of the reckless Georgia Military Road.
Cove, Big Sur, California, United States
Literature
Big Sur, USA

The Coast of All Refuges

Over 150km, the Californian coast is subjected to a vastness of mountains, ocean and fog. In this epic setting, hundreds of tormented souls follow in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and Henri Miller.
Crocodiles, Queensland Tropical Australia Wild
Nature
Cairns to Cape Tribulation, Australia

Tropical Queensland: An Australia Too Wild

Cyclones and floods are just the meteorological expression of Queensland's tropical harshness. When it's not the weather, it's the deadly fauna of the region that keeps its inhabitants on their toes.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Fluvial coming and going
Natural Parks
Iriomote, Japan

The Small Tropical Japanese Amazon of Iriomote

Impenetrable rainforests and mangroves fill Iriomote under a pressure cooker climate. Here, foreign visitors are as rare as the yamaneko, an elusive endemic lynx.
Vesikko submarine
UNESCO World Heritage
Helsinki, Finland

Finland's once Swedish Fortress

Detached in a small archipelago at the entrance to Helsinki, Suomenlinna was built by the Swedish kingdom's political-military designs. For more than a century, the Russia stopped her. Since 1917, the Suomi people have venerated it as the historic bastion of their thorny independence.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Bay Watch cabin, Miami beach, beach, Florida, United States,
Beaches
Miami beach, USA

The Beach of All Vanities

Few coasts concentrate, at the same time, so much heat and displays of fame, wealth and glory. Located in the extreme southeast of the USA, Miami Beach is accessible via six bridges that connect it to the rest of Florida. It is meager for the number of souls who desire it.
Maksim, Sami people, Inari, Finland-2
Religion
Inari, Finland

The Guardians of Boreal Europe

Long discriminated against by Scandinavian, Finnish and Russian settlers, the Sami people regain their autonomy and pride themselves on their nationality.
Executives sleep subway seat, sleep, sleep, subway, train, Tokyo, Japan
On Rails
Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo's Hypno-Passengers

Japan is served by millions of executives slaughtered with infernal work rates and sparse vacations. Every minute of respite on the way to work or home serves them for their inemuri, napping in public.
Society
Military

Defenders of Their Homelands

Even in times of peace, we detect military personnel everywhere. On duty, in cities, they fulfill routine missions that require rigor and patience.
Women with long hair from Huang Luo, Guangxi, China
Daily life
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
Hippopotamus in Anôr Lagoon, Orango Island, Bijagós, Guinea Bissau
Wildlife
Kéré Island to Orango, Bijagos, Guinea Bissau

In Search of the Lacustrine-Marine and Sacred Bijagós Hippos

They are the most lethal mammals in Africa and, in the Bijagós archipelago, preserved and venerated. Due to our particular admiration, we joined an expedition in their quest. Departing from the island of Kéré and ending up inland from Orango.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.