Barrio de Tormos in La Saidia, Distrito 5 Valencia. The neighbourhood we chose for our
Valencian home.
Myself and my wife first got a flavour of La Saidia when borrowing a friend’s apartment, nicely placed between Parque Marchalenes and the Jardin del Turia riverbed park.
Myself and my wife first got a flavour of La Saidia when borrowing a friend’s apartment, nicely placed between Parque Marchalenes and the Jardin del Turia riverbed park.
We were looking to buy a place in Valencia, and our budget kept our
sights set on sensibly-priced La Saidia property. And it felt a bit like home
after only a short time.
During the day, the area closest to the Jardin del Turia is bustling and noisy. There are cafés and bars, car workshops and petrol stations, supermarkets,
shops and a busy main road skirting the old riverbed. Buses and taxis race to the east and west.
A short walk to the north, however, perhaps only as far as the eastern part of Calle Malaga, and the area starts to feel a little more peaceful. Crossing palm-lined Calle Reus and then the lines of the Tranvia, calm descends, at least by Valencian standards.
The traffic dashing towards the riverbed on Avenida Constitucion may occasionally try to cut through the calm, but wandering through Plaza Covadonga towards our apartment, all is quiet.
Having said this, we are only occasional residents here. We have yet to properly experience a major festival or celebration in the barrio. There's no way it can be this quiet all the time, not in a city that has a deeply passionate relationship with fireworks.
Once in Tormos, I’m reminded of what we wanted from a Valencian home.
We wanted Valencia, not a generic holiday experience with chips. We wanted to be part of the barrio. We hope (eventually) to sit down at the café on the corner and at least be acknowledged as “vecinos”, if not actually warmly embraced.
Although warm embraces are very much a Spanish thing.
We want to be surrounded by living, working, shopping, eating, sleeping, arguing, laughing Valencianos, going about their day-to-day lives. With their little dogs. We want to chat with our neighbours around the benches at the end of the street in the evenings. We want to buy in their shops, eat and drink in their bars, wander in their parks, wait at their tram-stops.
And we want to make all of these things our own as well.
And the wonderful thing is, we can go into the beautiful historic centre, or the enigmatic Barrio del Carmen, or to the wonderful beach and port areas when we want to.
Don't get me wrong here. We’ve had blissful, happy, sun-drenched family, and "just the two of us" holidays in beautiful resorts all over Europe. There’s a place for all of that. But we’re not on holiday now, at least not like that.
It’s our home, although not as often as we would like just yet.
Tormos feels right for us.
The Bus Turistic doesn’t come here. The tourist horses and carriages clop
down our street around 10 each morning, but they’re on their way to the centre,
and don’t give too many rides around Tormos. The walking tours race after their
umbrella-waving guides only
2km to the south, but they’re a world away when we’re in Tormos.
It’s easy to love all of Valencia, but even easier when a small part of it feels like home.
 |
| The eastern part of Calle Malaga on another bright morning. |
A short walk to the north, however, perhaps only as far as the eastern part of Calle Malaga, and the area starts to feel a little more peaceful. Crossing palm-lined Calle Reus and then the lines of the Tranvia, calm descends, at least by Valencian standards.
 |
| Plaza Covadonga heading north into Tormos. |
The traffic dashing towards the riverbed on Avenida Constitucion may occasionally try to cut through the calm, but wandering through Plaza Covadonga towards our apartment, all is quiet.
Having said this, we are only occasional residents here. We have yet to properly experience a major festival or celebration in the barrio. There's no way it can be this quiet all the time, not in a city that has a deeply passionate relationship with fireworks.
Once in Tormos, I’m reminded of what we wanted from a Valencian home.
We wanted Valencia, not a generic holiday experience with chips. We wanted to be part of the barrio. We hope (eventually) to sit down at the café on the corner and at least be acknowledged as “vecinos”, if not actually warmly embraced.
Although warm embraces are very much a Spanish thing.
We want to be surrounded by living, working, shopping, eating, sleeping, arguing, laughing Valencianos, going about their day-to-day lives. With their little dogs. We want to chat with our neighbours around the benches at the end of the street in the evenings. We want to buy in their shops, eat and drink in their bars, wander in their parks, wait at their tram-stops.
 |
| Part of the magnificent (but strangely much-maligned) port area of Valencia - La Marina Real Juan Carlos I. Just a tram-ride away. |
And we want to make all of these things our own as well.
Don't get me wrong here. We’ve had blissful, happy, sun-drenched family, and "just the two of us" holidays in beautiful resorts all over Europe. There’s a place for all of that. But we’re not on holiday now, at least not like that.
It’s our home, although not as often as we would like just yet.
Tormos feels right for us.
 |
| On the way to the centre every morning. |
It’s easy to love all of Valencia, but even easier when a small part of it feels like home.
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