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VISITORS to or residents in the Comunidad Valenciana seeking a day out over the October bank holiday will have plenty of options under one roof at the iconic City of Arts and Sciences – from 4D films of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and of the BBC documentary Shark, through to discovery workshops and a tour of the Oceanogràfic marine animal care and convalescence centre.
Europe's largest aquarium, the Oceanogràfic (second picture), part of the famous Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (CAC) in Valencia city, is set up to reflect sea creatures' natural habitats as closely as possible, so they do not realise they are in captivity, and is spread out in sections covering all the world's major seas and oceans.
Its ARCA marine veterinary centre cares for hundreds of injured or sick creatures per year, travelling out to all the region's coasts when needed to aid dolphins, whales and sharks who are lost or hurt, and collect up turtles trapped in nets after fishermen bring them ashore and call emergency services.
Each time a turtle has recovered enough to fend for itself, ARCA vets release them back into the sea in public 'ceremonies' that never fail to draw in a crowd.
This bank holiday – the weekend of October 9 and 10, and Tuesday, October 12, which is a national day off – opening hours at the Oceanogràfic have been extended, to between 10.00 and 20.00 on Saturday and Sunday and until 18.00 on Tuesday, and rare guided tours of the ARCA centre have been organised so the public can see how animals are nursed back to health.
Also, National Photographic Award winner Isabel Muñoz's fascinating exhibition, Somos Agua ('We Are Water') shows life from a fish's-eye view, and visitors can take a 'back-stage tour' of the Oceanogràfic and get right inside the aquarium.
The Prince Felipe Science Museum is running fun, educational workshops for children, inviting them to be 'scientists for a day' – at 11.30 and 16.00 in Hall 1, kids aged four to eight can join the 'chemistry in action' session; the 'be a scientist for the day' class at 13.00 in Hall 4, and the 'invisible science' workshop at 17.15 in Hall 2, on October 9, 10 and 12.
Similar workshops on all three days will be held for children aged over eight.
The Hemisfèric is a multiplex cinema with multi-dimensional screens where intriguing documentaries of 30 minutes each are shown on a wealth of topics relating to nature and science, including marine depths, outer space, weather phenomena, and plenty more.
One of these scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, jointly produced by BBC Earth and OceanX Media, is Oceans: Our Blue Planet, where viewers discover what lies beneath the surface of everywhere from the frozen Arctic to the tropical seas – dolphins, coral reefs, octopus, sea otters, humpbacked whales, seahorses, swordfish, and other amazing creatures the average person rarely gets to see in real life.
Another planned for these three days is The Enchanted Reef: Kaluoka'hina 3D, the IMAX film Amazon Adventure, and the children's planetarium film Astromenuts.
Hemisfèric shows typically cost about the same as watching a mainstream film at a local cinema, and can be viewed with commentary in several languages, meaning they are great value and an affordable family day out.
Depending upon the schedule – workshops, temporary exhibitions and other events – entry to the Sciences Museum is normally less than €10 a head at full adult rate, with different deals and discounts at different times of year, group rates and family rates, making it an inexpensive trip all round compared with similar themed museums or parks elsewhere.
Just accessing the City of Arts and Sciences complex itself, though, is free of charge, other than parking or the bus or taxi fare from the main station or nearest metro stops, meaning anyone can wander around and admire the unique, futuristic buildings – the Oceanogràfic, the Sciences Museum, the Hemisfèric, the Palau de les Arts operatic theatre, the Umbracle semi-covered gardens, and the Ágora sports hall, all of which have been compared favourably in the past to the likes of Sydney Opera House – rent a rowing boat for the artificial lake, stop for a drink or an ice-cream, and admire the temporary floating sculpture exhibition by renowned artist Leiko Ikemura.
Anyone visiting can simply decide on the day what they want to do or see once they get there, and buy tickets on site, or they can consult options in full on the complex's website, Cac.es.
EACH region in Spain has its own day of the year where it celebrates itself, rather like a birthday but without the age increase involved. Sometimes, a 'regional day' just involves a public holiday, a day off...
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