The country of Spain is more diverse than most folks know with jagged mountains, Atlantic northwest, and Mediterranean caves. Their architecture spans the ages at each turn. Roman ruins and cathedrals speak of great civilizations that had risen and fallen. Today the underlying theme of Spain is "festive" with night life that includes the flamenco along with the enjoyment of seafood, paella, tapas, and the ever-present fine wines.
The capital of Spain is Madrid, and the population is 48.6 million people that speak Castilian and Spanish. The top places to visit are Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cordoba, the Pyrenees, The Alhambra, and Seville to name just a few.
What is there to eat, you may ask? Cured meats for starters. They tend to prefer wafer-thin slices of chorizo, and "jamon" or ham. Known for their Spanish hams, Jamon Iberico comes from a black-coated pig, which is a descendant from the wild boars. Olive oil is number one in Spain, and they are the largest producer of the product in the world. Have you ever tried paella? It's a traditional dish of short grain rice, garlic, olive oil, and saffron. It may contain shellfish (a no-no for me) or chicken and sausage if you prefer. Tapas are a nice treat, the bite-size morsels of everything under the sun. They go well with sherry, for instance. Spain also has the largest area of wine cultivation in the world. With an area of 505,370 square kilometers, there is plenty of room for a lot of vineyards.
And today we are in the first port of Spain, Cartagena. A city located on the southern coast of the country, it is one of the popular destinations for tourists. And a frequent stop for cruise ships. We have visited here several times over the years, and have enjoyed it both through tours and on our own. The town is right at the base of the dock and easily navigated on foot.
After a rough night of sailing, we arrived at the break of dawn to Cartagena. We were cleared by the local authorities before 9am, and the tour groups poured off shortly after that. Some of the excursions today were a trolley train through town for 1 ½ hours for $60. Discover Elche was a ride out of town that we did many years ago. That was 6 hours for $90 (no lunch). The Roman Theaters and tapas was 3 ½ hours for $100, and a snack was provided. The same snack was given on the tour to Murcia to see convents and scenery. The best of Cartagena with a snack was 7 hours and $ 120. A Spanish horse ranch and show was 3 hours for $120 with a snack. We bet that was a good tour.
What usually gets us off of the ship shortly after 9:30am are the crew drills that occur quite often while we are in a port. Today it was different because the Captain said they were not allowed to conduct the drill with any speakers outside the ship. So all of the whistles were inside the ship and loud as ever. We left after 10am, and found it was going to be a rather cool day with winds and overcast clouds. We did not see the sun come out all day, although the breeze was not chilly.
There was no cruise terminal here, but there was a convenient info trailer, where we picked up another detailed map of the city. While at the window, we asked the friendly young lady if she could recommend a pizzeria within walking of the ship. Yes, she could, circling the street where we could find La Tagliatelle Restaurant. She said most all of the nice restaurants opened by 1pm, with the exception of those that only opened for dinner. Unless we found another venue along the way, we would search for that restaurant last.
There were a few tables set up with souvenirs on the way out of the pier. Following the crowd from the ship, we turned left to the giant flagpole with the Flag of Spain. Turning right took us past the plaza with the monument to the heroes of Santiago, Cuba, and Cavite. We could hear the beat of many drums and trumpets and discovered there was a procession in progress. This group of military-dressed men with feathered helmets, a marching band, were filing out of the City Hall, probably one of the most impressive buildings in the old city. It has a tall ornate clocktower that went off on the hour and half-hour as well as music. We felt like something special was going to happen later in the day, especially when we began to see some fellows decked out in nice suits as well as some ladies dressed in silk gowns carrying flower bouquets. A wedding perhaps?
The City Hall was located in the Plaza del Ayentamiento where the Museum of the Roman Theatre, an outdoor facility that seated 7000 people in the 1st century BC was also located. Now that's old. Calle Mayor, the main granite stone wide walkway began here. This pedestrian-only street was filled with cafes, bars, shop, boutiques mixed with old houses and a few churches in between. It was much the same as yesterday's walk in the walled town of Gibraltar, except far less businesses were opened today. Spain is known for its late hour activities. Even their mealtimes can extend to late dinners after 9pm.
You could not help but noticed the balconies on the upper apartments. Many of them were latticework iron with a variety of designs. Since there are no backyards as we know them, people resorted to potted plants and shrubs. The blooms of the geraniums and petunias were beautiful on these narrow balconies. Another interesting thing we recall about people that live in these apartments, is that they will rent their balconies for days when there are processions or parades on the main street. The holidays of Easter Week happens to be one of the special events with many processions involving hundreds of participants. And that is coming up soon. The folks that are willing to rent their balconies for viewing will drape a banner over them and post a website or phone number. We saw many of these banners today.
We made one stop at the nut store called Sabor a Espana where one worker was stirring a copper pot with sugar and nuts. You could smell the sugar cooking blocks away since the shop was open to the mall street. They had samples that were served while you watched the cook work. Great idea. We bought an 8 Euro bag of garapinados, or candied almonds to eat in our room. We had seen the same shop in Gibraltar, but it was so packed with customers, we did not go inside.
The crowd had thinned out by now, so we continued walking uphill all the way to Plaza de Espana. This plaza was more park and kiddie playground than anything else. The pedestrian-only shopping mall ended here, so we turned around to go back downhill. One thing we might mention here is the fact that there are few if any public restrooms in these massive plazas. They do exist in the restaurants, but unless you are a paying customer, they are off limits.
So our next stop was at the Italian restaurant, which did not open until 1pm. We happened to be right next to the Roman ruins, so we took photos from the outside, realizing we had been here on a tour many years ago. It's still rubble just like it was back then. Then we ran into friends that were on one of the walking tours that took them to the Castillo de la Concepcion, a hilltop fortress with sweeping views of the city below. This excursion was listed as strenuous, and it appeared that most of the group was beat already. After touring the Roman ruins here, they were on a tapa and wine walk up the Calle Mayor. Bet they were looking forward to that part of the tour.
We were about the first ones to enter the elegant Italian Restaurant La Tagliatella, where we were seated at a table for two. We ordered two draft beers, then added a prosciutto pizza to share. While waiting for our food, our waitress brought a basket of fresh-baked focaccia bread with onions or green olive slices. It was delicious, as were the small plate of green olives that only one of us ate. By the time our pizza arrived, the entire place was full of locals, a sign to us that it was really a good Italian venue just like the info guide said. We finished our meal with a dessert of a chocolate muffin with vanilla ice cream. One thing that was nice here was we were inside the restaurant and not sitting in the outdoor sidewalk cafes. The wind was blowing down the streets and not all of the outdoor venues had any protection from it. By the time we left, there was no seating at any of the cafes indoor or outdoor.
The search for a souvenir visor was not fruitful, but we did find a pair of earrings on one of the artist's tables near the pier. They were a perfect match for a blouse I made a long time ago. All aboard was 4:30pm, but we made it back by 3pm with time to work online. One of us did sit outside on the veranda, but soon realized, it was time for our arctic coats to come out from under the bed. Never thought we would have to use them, but sure glad we had brought them.
Captain Frank came on with his talk as usual shortly before we left the port. He stated that the winds were favorable for leaving the port, and the skies would remain cloudy. The wind was expected to increase to 32 knots with 5.5-foot swells as we got away from the harbor. We now have 779 nautical miles to go to reach Valletta, Malta in two days. That will take a speed of 19 knots to arrive before 12 noon. He could not promise we would see the sun anytime too soon.
For dinner, we ordered one potato croquette and a bowl of piping hot chicken noodle soup with extra noodles (spaghetti, again ). Caesar salads proceeded our mains of breaded lamb chops and one entree of veal pieces with a mushroom gravy and spätzle. Both entrees were like comfort food, which is on the menu almost daily. We like most of them. Dessert was a piece of cherry cake and one scoop of pineapple sorbet. Just right.
There was entertainment with the vocalist, Vicus, who was unable to perform a few nights ago. Guess he recovered to deliver the beloved songs that the guests like.
Good thing there is one sea day tomorrow before the next port of Malta. We really need more than that.
Bill & Mary Ann
