You know how sometimes you’re in a very beautiful spot in the middle of a very beautiful city, and you just suddenly wish you weren’t there?
Sometimes it’s because you’ve scheduled that slightly-too-long trip and are ready to be home.
Sometimes it’s because the place isn’t what you expected and disappointment sets in.
Most of the time it’s because wherever you are is just way too frickin’ overrun with other people.
In those moments, maybe you think “If I just had a place I could pop into… just for a minute… to recharge… to refresh. A place with greenery that’s quiet and not teeming with tourists and *sigh* just a little bit lovely?“
It feels like this was why Jardín de la Generalitat was built.
Butting right up against Valencia’s Plaça de la Mare de Déu (Virgin Square), so close you could say it’s actually part of the square, somehow it isn’t.
Though its fences are see-through and you can watch people pass by right outside of them, that’s exactly what it feels like when you’re sitting there – watching other people pass by.
As you sit. And chill.
And take a breath.
And then another breath. And think to yourself, “Okay, Valencia, I admit, this is pretty damn nice…
“Plus, your oranges are pretty…
“…if not particularly palatable.”
(I only recently learned that these delightful looking oranges are, in fact, full of bitterness. For shame. – Shawna)
Yup, Just A Little Park
So, is it really just a little park I’m making all this fuss about?
Yup. Jardín de la Generalitat is just a little park with a small number of benches, some nice trees, and a few well-designed, but very short paths.
(There’s really not that far you can go. Twenty steps and you’re pretty much across this thing.)
And that’s exactly what makes it so perfect.
I don’t know if it’s the psychology of being able to see the bustle right outside of it, but knowing you don’t have to be a part of it, or if the shrubbery actually deadens the sound that much, but the times we have sat here it’s been quiet and calm.
(It’s actually really relaxing…and hopefully no one reading this tells anyone else about it! – Shawna)
Nice.
And if you’ve done a lot of traveling in cities, you know how rare that is to find.
