Where was I? Ah, yes. Strolling semi-aimlessly around València, Spain’s old city center.

But València didn’t make my list of 18 potential new homes purely for its Old-World ambience. One modern feature of the city that appealed immediately to me is the Jardin del Turia, a long, narrow greenbelt running through the center of València. It was created in the 1970s I believe, when, following a disastrous flood of the River Turia, the city government decided to divert the flow of the river. They laid in a park with miles of bike and walking paths, soccer fields, and so on in the old river bed, retaining all of the old bridges spanning the river. For somebody like me who likes running and cycling, it’s a major attraction.

(The following day, 6 May, I ran a few miles through this park. It was my first time running in six weeks, following a painful heel injury in mid-March that I self-diagnosed as plantar fasciitis. I still felt a bit of pain, but it didn’t get worse as the run went on, so I’m hopeful I’ll eventually make a full recovery. And on 7 May, I rode a València bike-share bicycle through the Jardin del Turia and along several of the city’s numerous bike paths. Runner- and cyclist-friendly city box checked!)

I was again feeling a bit sleepy, so I took a couple of naps in the park. I place a premium on eating and sleeping outdoors on this trip. In between catnaps, I enjoyed gazing on the striking modern buildings in the Jardin del Turia, namely València’s opera house, its science museum and IMAX theater, and the aquarium.

Exiting the park, and, as I frequently am on this trip, in search of a public restroom, I wandered into a big shopping mall.

Then I wandered back into the city, heading in the general direction of the nearest subway station. On the way, I passed through València’s equivalent of Times Square, along Carrer de Colón in a modern section of the city.

Having blown my $30-a-day food budget on lunch, I got a cheap sandwich meal at a fast food place for dinner and then took the València Metro back to Benimaclet.

This was hands-down my favorite day of my entire trip so far. I would love to live here!

But, to step down from cloud nine for a moment, I did notice some things about València that I didn’t care for. For one thing, a lot of people smoke here. Now I can understand if it’s mostly older people, say baby boomers, since smoking was more or less universal (for men at least) when they were growing up, the health risks of smoking were not as well publicized then, and once you start, it’s very difficult to stop, or so I’m told. But an awful lot of young people smoke here too. Way more than in the U.S., Taiwan, or Sri Lanka. And while Spain bans smoking in indoor public spaces like everywhere else, it allows smokers to puff away immediately outside. Most U.S. cities ban smoking within, say, 50 feet of building entrances. In Spain, 50 millimeters away suffices. When I’m sitting at an outdoor table in a touristy area, it’s not too noticeable, as usually only a handful of people nearby have cigarettes in their mouths. But if I sit at an outdoor table at more local restaurants, cafés, and bars, I’m frequently enveloped by a choking cloud of cigarette smoke. It’s disgusting.

Also, there is graffiti everywhere in València. Some of it shows a high degree of artistic skill and adds to the overall ambience, but most of it is just ugly scrawl. Now I’m not bothered by graffiti per se (unless it’s my property that’s been vandalized), but, I think like most Americans, I associate graffiti with areas where other, more serious crimes take place. I haven’t felt unsafe anywhere in my travels in Spain so far, but I am filing this phenomenon away for future reference.

These quibbles aside, though, I am truly loving life here so far. ¡Viva España!