Artfully Ann's Adventures

Travel - May 14 – Tuesday – Cartagena (“kar ta HAY na” as we hear it), Spain

Having an after dinner drink at the Silk Den bar was not a good idea…either that or it was the Sangria at the Museum of Music.  In either case, last night was not a good one.  I didn’t sleep much and decided to forgo visiting Cartagena.  John went along and roamed the waterfront and a mall similar to the mall I described in Malaga.

The ship didn’t stop in Cartagena long.  We arrived in port about 7 AM and left at about noon.  Needless to say, I didn’t miss much.  I guess it is a place we will have to come back to.

I did have a few pieces of information to share about Cartagena, and I thought I’d pass them along.  Cartagena is a city and major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, on the Mediterranean coast, in south-eastern Spain. Where our shipped docked, we saw many military ships across the harbor.  The harbor also was ringed by a number of old fortifications from centuries back.

As of January, 2011, it had a population of 218,210 inhabitants, being the region’s second largest municipality.  There is a lot to this town that was hidden from view.  The area’s past is rich in military and mining history dating back to before Christ.   I’m sure it would be worth a much longer visit.

It is the first of a number of cities which eventually have been named Cartagena, most notably Cartagena de Indias (Cartagena of the Indies) in Colombia.  Thanks to Wikipedia for some of the information in my blog.

We are off to Barcelona (bar THA lo na”) (John is clearly having fun with these pronunciations!) , Spain and hopefully in better health…  Thanks to John for his editing and helpful comments.  I don't know what I would do without him!!!

We leave all our new friends in Barcelona as this is the end of the first cruise.  Tomorrow we pick up a whole new group of people.  This should be interesting!

Stay tuned to more Artfully Ann’s Adventures. Adios for now!