Highlights-Valencia Day 4
I made it to Sagunto today by taking the regional train (called _Cercanías_ in Spain). This was a better option than sitting on a stationary bus for hours. RENFE is a good train service. As a bus operator, not so much.
Even smaller napkins?
I just don’t get it. I would need 10 to protect my pants (they need it)
A fire extinguisher in a stone theater?
Really? What’s going to catch on fire? The popcorn?
Notable Items
I learned some things about using an LLM to plan the Sagunto visit.
LLM: “You should stay in Sagunto for 5-6 hours.”
Me: “Are you nuts? It’s just a small town, worth a 2-3 hour visit, at the longest.”
LLM: “You need more time to climb the hill to explore the ruined fort.”
Me: “I’m not climbing a hill in the heat to look at stacks of stone blocks. I’ll just look up at it and think, ‘yup, ruined.’”
LLM: “You should stay longer and linger over lunch.”
Me: “I’m traveling alone, and I don’t linger over lunch unless AirBnB checkout is 10am and my train leaves at 4pm.”
LLM: “You can wander the narrow streets for several hours and marvel over Roman ruins.”
Me: “I was in Rome, and those ruins weren’t marvel worthy. Who’s doing this wandering, you or me?”
Subtracting travel time, I was in Sagunto for 3.5 hours. While there, I glanced up at the fort (Look kids, a ruined fort!), ate a slice of pizza without lingering (who lingers over a pizza slice?), appreciated (not marveled at) some stacked Roman stone blocks (We think this was a section of a temple to the Goddess Diana or it could have been a public toilet.), walked partway up the hill to view the controversial Roman theater restoration (construction may have been controversial during the age of Rome too, but if you complained, you were made a gladiator), and walked, not wandered, through the streets when everything was closed due to Spanish siesta (the LLM didn’t mention this).
I was glad I went to Sagunto (honest) and more glad I stayed less than the LLM recommended. The best part of the visit was the city museum’s detailed explanations of Greek Theater (Amidst the Roman Ruins, who saw that coming? Not the LLM).
The restoration and reconstruction of the Roman theater generated controversy when it was completed in 1994. Why are the complainers always the people not spending their money? The critics argued that the project wasn’t faithful to the original design of the theater. The proponents (those with the money) said, “Yes, but now it's usable.” On my tour, I noted fire extinguishers in the all-stone seating area. Really? What’s going to catch fire, popcorn? Perhaps the seat cushions.