Due to the popularity of this trip to see the Warriors of Xi'an, which were on loan to Valencia's Museu de les Ciències Principe Felipe, from China, two coaches were laid on for this event.
Unfortunately, even though the departure from Calpe was bought forward to 8 am, most of the people on the second coach, who joined the extensive queue a bit later, were unable to get in to see the exhibition. The exhibition of 140 items, was most interesting with 10 large soldiers together with many small ones, horses, animals and several other artifacts which were first discovered by two farmers in 1974, and which were previously unknown. These were part of the mausoleum of Emperor Quin Shihauang (246-210 bc). The concern of Emperor Quin Shihauang to reinforce his eternal resting place led him to create this great work of art, which is yet to be discovered in its entirety.
The discovery consisted of upward of 8,000 warriors, none of which are the same, with differing facial expressions and uniforms. The magnitude of this find has prompted it to be declared the 8th Wonder of the World. On the one hand, the Emperor upheld the practice of previous dynasties that consisted in burying men and animals alive, and at the same tiime, he constructed a great replica of his army, two archeologically documented pratices that are found side by side.
It was arranged that the coaches picked everyone up shortly before midday to go on a visit to the port. This included a boat trip around the port, which in glorious sunshine was most enjoyable. This port dates back many centuries and is today a large container port and will also shortly be host to the America's Cup. The America's Cup has prompted the planning of a lot of new development in the area which will be taking place soon.
Following on from the boat trip we were then taken to a restaurant along the seafront of Valencia's beautiful sandy beach, where we all enjoyed an excellent lunch which had been billed as vegetarian or meat paella. In the event it was more and more tapas - and so little space left for the paellas! An impromptu male voice choir provided entertainment quickly followed by a ladies choir.
