10-29 Cartagena, Spain

Today was a most relaxing day.  We had no tour planned.  We slept late and left the ship around noon to see this town.  We had a beautiful view of the harbor from our balcony. 

Dramatically encircled by mountains, Cartagena is a principal naval base of Spain.  On either side of the entrance to the harbor, there are the remains of old walls.  On top of either side of the mountain are the remains of a castle and a fortress.  The castle is called Concepcion Castle  and provides excellent views of the city and and harbor to the 18th century wall that surrounds the city. Tours took you to these sites, but we opted to just “chill out” in the town. 

Cartagena was originally settled in 223 BC and flourished under Roman, Muslim, and Arab rule.  It offers a vast cultural legacy.

We were docked within walking distance of the town, so we walked to the promenade street paralleling the sea called Paseo de Alfonso XII.  It was a beautiful, wide promenade.  After picking up a decent street map of this town, we started walking.  We first saw the native son Isaac Peral’s small, unassuming  submarine U-boat which was the first ever built close to the Sailor’s Memorial. 

We made our way to the main pedestrian street in town called Calle Mayor.  It too was a wide pedestrian way.  We found an outdoor cafe and did our Internet stuff while we could.  Even watched part of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and his interview with President Obama.  Made us feel right at home!

After that we mainly wandered with no specific plan.  It was siesta time, so most of the shops were closed.  The elaborate City Hall was on the corner of the first square.  What I found interesting were the multi-colored buildings all with beautiful iron balconies along the streets.  We walked all the way to Plaza de Espana which is a big circular park with streets coming off of it and a big fountain in the middle of it.

We meandered back around through narrow streets until we came back near the place we started.  Amazingly, right in the middle of this town is the old Roman amphitheater built in 001 BC.  It is rather interesting how the city is built all around it.  Sitting on the seats inside, you can see the apartments with laundry hanging out to dry next to you!  From the top, we had great views of the water promenade, our ship, and the sea.

Back on the ship, we saw another spectacular sunset with some of the most vivid colors ever!  We enjoyed this little town, and also enjoyed an easy port day without a tour!