By Samuel Strait – December 7, 2023 I've spent the last couple of weeks in Valencia, Spain which is Spain's third largest city. The nice thing about Valencia is that most sites to see are in the old Medieval part of the city where public transportation does not exist yet the area is small enough that walking is well within reason. I am currently holed up in a vacation rental in the oldest part of the city where alley's are euphemistically called streets. Calle de les Salines would be barely wide enough to fit a medium sized vehicle. It reminds me a lot like being in Venice, Italy for those that don't get out much. I've taken to going on the evening promenade, as the locals do every night from about 6pm until 9pm then the younger crowd begins their nightly prowl of the clubs and bars in the Ruzafa District till the wee hours of the morning. I've heard it was a "happening place" from the neighbors upstairs. Spain culture does not allow for much to happen before noon the next day. So things tend to be pretty quiet until at least 10 am when the public employees begin their daily cleanup of hosing down the streets and collecting the trash. At the tail end of my stay here the Christmas lights have begun to appear in both the Queen's Square and Ayuntameniento where local government hangs out. We now have an ice skating rink, a lighted carousel, and a huge lighted Christmas tree. I am told by a lady who sells her photographs in the passage to Queen's Square and the Cathedral that winter has come a few days before I was set to go to Ibizia. Apparently it is cold when it gets down in the mid 60's in Valencia. She certainly was set for the weather, three layers and a down jacket, wool hat, and a long flowing scarf. I haven't used my umbrella or my jacket since I have been here, winter huh? Tomorrow I bid farewell to Valencia and catch the night ferry to Ibizia. I have to say that I had heard from my photographer acquaintance that homelessness was a problem in Spain, but I had yet to see one even in the outskirts of Valencia. Beggars yes, but no homeless. She said most of the homeless are immigrants and the government gets them placed in temporary shelters until they find permanent housing. If they don't after a certain period find housing they are sent back to their families, or if immigrants, sent home to the countries that they came from. That appears to have made quite a difference in both Barcelona and Valencia. She did not say who paid for the service, but I'm sure it is just one of the taxes that people pay in Spain. Had a heck of a time finding the ferry terminal, then ended up being shuttled to another company whose ferry will take me to the Balearic Islands and Ibizia. More later.