October 6, the train to Cartagena was mostly uneventful, a 5.5 hour ride to Madrid, 2 hours in Madrid and another 5 hours to Cartagena. Except for, getting on the train in Santiago, 2 quite inebriated young couples jostled their way to seats across from us. At first we thought they were Spanish as they all spoke fluent Spanish, but later we realized they were from the US, maybe Cuban, but no matter. We were concerned as they were quite noisy and with beers in hand we were afraid we were in for a raucous trip. But no, once the train got going and they had some food and fell asleep (passed out). The girls fell asleep immediately, one boy fell asleep in mid sandwich, the other guy fell asleep mid beer which he eventually poured down his arm and the seat when he went to scratch his shoulder. He never knew he spilled that beer as it was all dry by the time they woke up in Madrid. Somewhat entertaining for us, oh to be young and fancy free.
Cartagena is an enchanting city, Blair was here last year as he left on his Atlantic voyage from this port. He has wanted to show Sharon around since that time. The city certainly lives up to the hype. Across from our hotel is part of the Punic wall. There is always a museum to go with it. It is quite unobtrusive as are all the museums here, it is not about the building but the contents or ruins they house. But because this city was established in 2 BCE there are layers of the cultures that inhabited from Roman ruins to Franco's bunkers.
We started out the day by walking on the promenade along the docks, very impressive, containers, industry, naval base, palm trees, mega yachts and of course Blair's favourite, all kinds of sailboats. So Blair was a happy camper. On impulse we took a harbour tour in a 70" Catamaran which gave a really nice view of all the forts on the hills and walls built by the various cultures.
This city (a very good easily held port) has been held at various times by the Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Muslims and Christians. The influences can be seen everywhere. In fact the first place Blair took Sharon was the Teatro Romano, a Roman theatre that was unearthed in 1987. An amazing place where you can see the different levels of time. Starting on the top a church built in the 17 or 18 century, then a medieval church, under that a Muslim home and finally the theatre under that. The museum is set up wonderfully all enclosed as you pass through the layers then you walk out onto a vista as you see below, impressive to say the least! View from top of theatre.
After breaks for lunch and some shopping we went to the excavation site of the Roman baths. Again, what is so impressive is how these sites blend into the city, oh and did I mention that the streets are paved in marble! (Well not all but lots).


No comments:
Post a Comment