March 2018 Issue #15 March 2018 Issue #15, 4GUYS | Page 29

Despite our best intentions, our planning barely amounts to more than one
half-hearted Google search, the results of which are largely forgotten by the time
we board the plane. It being late September, the weather’s warm without being too
hot. With no particular itinerary, we leave our hotel – the elegant art deco Westin
Valencia – and make our way into the old town, across the Pont de les Flors (Flow-
er Bridge), which is kept in full bloom throughout the year.
After refuelling in the former market Mercado de Colón, we head towards Valen-
cia’s cathedral. Although it doesn’t have the reputation of Gaudí’s iconic Sagrada
Família in Barcelona or Madrid’s striking Almudena, it supposedly contains the orig-
inal Holy Grail, and is a towering presence that dominates the central square.
For those with a head for heights, climb bell tower El Miguelete’s 207 steps to see
the city laid out: the perfect backdrop if you want to pose for Instagram pictures
(#blessed).
As Spain’s third city, Valencia is often
overlooked by tourists who are drawn to
the grandeur of Madrid or the glamour of
Barcelona. But it’s a progressive cosmop-
olis of its own, as we discover when din-
ing in the city’s newest hangout, Marina
Beach Club.
Recommended by the concierge at our
hotel, it was, apparently, the place to be
in summer 2016 with tanned, taut bods
lounging around the infinity pool by day,
then partying to the sound of deep house
by night.
We go for dinner on the restaurant ter-
race, then join the throng of hardcore
revellers for a couple of drinks before it
all gets too much. Our luck doesn’t hold
when trying to track down any of the city’s
gay bars the next night: the ones we do
find have either closed down or just aren’t
open – it is a Sunday after all. Although
we’re not the type of couple to ever hold
hands, in liberal Valencia we feel comfort-
able wherever we go.
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