Bellas Artes

The lesson about needing to authorize my Metro card to use with Valenbisi as a backup when my phone isn’t working was learned yesterday (Monday) morning, but executing proved difficult - again. When I went to the station around the corner and tried to authorize the card, Valenbisi suggested I’d put in my phone number and/or PIN wrongly and wouldn’t authorize it - even though, as far as I could see, everything was correct. I guess I’ll have to call their help line again.

We hung around the apartment most of the day. Karen didn’t get out at all, spent her day painting and reading. It was another cool day by Valencian standards, with a high of only 8C, but sunny and dead still. 

I decided to go out again in search of after-dark photo ops about 6 pm. That’s when I ran into the problem with the Valenbisi station not wanting to authorize my transit card. The good news: this time, my phone worked just fine for getting a bike. 

I cycled over to the Central Market, dropped the bike and walked into Carmen. I spent an hour wandering aimlessly up and down the narrow streets, down little alleys, into dark squares.

It’s funny, I never feel unsafe there, despite it looking a little grotty in places. I’d feel less safe a few blocks from home in London, Ontario at that time of day. I might feel differently at one o’clock in the morning here, but at this time of day, although it’s dark, the shops are still open and people, including single women and families with children, are out and about. People are sitting outside at the cafes and restaurants. (Yes, despite the “cold.”) Safe as houses.

I walked as far as Plaza de Carmen, then worked my way back to the centre by a zig-zag route. I ended up taking way too many pictures of narrow, lamplit cobbled streets with street art and graffiti on the walls. Only a small sampling here (on the assumption that anybody reading this is probably already tired of my obsession with street art and night scenes.)

When I got back to the Market and tried to get a bike, the Valenbisi app said I didn’t have Internet connectivity. Again. Grrrr! I started walking and tried again at the next station, by which time my phone was connecting again, and I was able to get a bike. 

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Today (Wednesday), I took a morning off from exercise. Karen and I set out a little after noon to walk over to the Museum of Fine Arts, Valencia’s museum of historical art. It’s a good long walk. We went down the Gran Via to Turia park and along it for a kilometre and a half or so to the edge of the Royal Gardens. The museum is on the far edge of the gardens. It took over 45 minutes altogether. 

Crossing the Bridge of Flowers

We usually go to this museum at least once a trip. The permanent collection has some great pieces, although there is also a lot of dross. There rarely are temporary exhibitions, but there was one today. Anima is a show about portraiture, featuring works from the museum’s own collection. Most, I’m guessing, are not generally on display, although some appeared to be fairly recent acquisitions. It was an interesting exhibition, well curated, with some strong works, but lacked any real masterpieces.

Jacob Jordaens, Lady, Jester and Cat

Jose Benilliure Ortiz, self-portrait

Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta,
Portrait of a lady in black

Jacob Jordaens was a 17th century Flemish painter. I'd never heard of him. Jose Benilliure Ortiz was part of a prominent Valencian art family of the late 19th and early 20th century, some of whom attained international fame. Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta was a Spanish realist painter of the late 19th century.

We started our visit by exploring the re-configured entrance rotunda, which includes some pieces we didn’t remember. Everything seems to be a little better displayed too. Maybe they’ve improved the artificial lighting? The ticket booth is also now in the middle of the rotunda instead of just inside the door.

We spent some time looking at the mediaeval and early renaissance stuff on the ground floor as well. This is one place where the museum’s collection really shines. It includes some amazing stuff, including gilded 14th and 15th century altarpieces. We sometimes don't have a lot of patience for old religious subjects, but somehow they engaged us this day.

Unidentified early 15th century altarpiece

Joan Reixac, St James and St Giles Abadt

Portrait of unknown gentleman by Sandro Botticelli

The piece de resistance, though, is - or was - a triptych by Hironimus Bosch, the Triptych of Insults, illustrating the scourging of Christ after he’s condemned by Pontius Pilate. This, to my mind, is the best piece in the museum, and one of my favourite paintings of all time. The last time we came, back in 2020, I was sorely disappointed to find the triptych missing. Apparently it was out for restoration because it’s now back and more amazing than ever. I particularly love the way Christ engages with the viewer, wearing an expression that says, “Do you believe what these assholes are doing?” He’s surrounded by a rogue’s gallery of beautifully drawn and painted characters, harassing and abusing the poor man - er, god. Here’s the way it looks on the wall, and a closer view of the central panel.

We spent a little over an hour and then started for home. Our plan was to ride bikes at least part of the way, but our ongoing issues with Valenbisi continued. This time, Karen’s card wouldn’t work. We got the same message we had before, that her account was blocked because there had been too many failed attempts to log in - this despite the fact we had changed her PIN to a new one the day before yesterday. We ended up walking all the way home.

I called Valenbisi’s generally excellent help line - which has English-speaking operators - and finally got to the bottom of it. The problem with authorizing my card and logging in with Karen’s were both the result of two factors. One, only some stations can authorize Mobilis cards for use with Valenbisi - but nobody had told us this. The closest station to us is one that doesn’t allow authorization of transit cards, and that's where I'd tried. And then we were missing an essential step in changing the PIN on Karen’s card after her account was first blocked. The guy I got on the phone explained it all in fluent, barely-accented English. I went out and successfully set up both cards. So now, even if my phone doesn’t have Internet, I can still get a bike using the card. And Karen’s card is working again. Fingers crossed.