Last Stop in Spain - Cartagena

Cartagena, Spain – April 11, 2014

   Like the previous two days, we got up at 9 AM to eat a big breakfast before heading to town. We did not catch anything on TV about Cartagena so we had to rely on the little brochure provided by cruise line and the information desk just outside of the ship. We got off the ship around 11 AM. It was cloudy, about 70 degrees and pleasant day for walking around town.
  The lady and the information desk recommended going to the castle that sits on top of the hill right across from the port. She also recommended a playground atop another hill after the castle. We were directed to a lift to the castle. We were thinking the “lift” was a sky-ride or a chair-lift type of thing but when we got there, it turned out that it was truly a “lift” or as we would call it “an elevator”. The charge was 2 euros for an adult and 1 euro for Stevie to ride up (Hannah got to go for free). I think this was the first time any one of us paid for the use of an elevator. At the top of the structure was a narrow metal and glass bridge that connected the elevator tower with the top of the hill.

The lift tower with the walkway

On the walkway

   The nice thing was that they developed a set of side-walks that lead up to the top that Hannah could ride in the stroller. Of course, you could also walk up the stairs. When we reached the open area in front of the castle, we got a nice view of the city. We could see the Roman theater from the 1st century just below us. The castle itself was built in the 13th century and was occupied until the 18th century. After that it was not maintained and it was obvious that several repairs were done only recently combining modern architecture and materials with the old.
  The most interesting feature of the castle were the water cisterns that are now open to the public to walk inside.

1st century Roman theater discovered in 1988

New theater right next to the old one

The hill among all the buildings has a nice playground but we are running out of time to make it there

Inside the water cisterns

 

 

Downtown Cartagena

Stevie was expecting the big giant to jump out at him

Dinosaur eggs

Memorial for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Spain in 2004

   This area of Spain was quite similar to the prior stops we have made, very dry, almost desert-like. The landscape reminds me of Wyoming.
  The funny thing is that everywhere we go, people from the ship recognize us and comment on Hannah’s excellent swimming skills.
  We got back on the ship around 1:30 PM and ate lunch. After lunch we rested in the room and got ready to swim.
  We stayed at the pool until about 6 PM, took showers and ate dinner on Lido deck. The kids had pizza (they make gluten & dairy-free pizza for Stevie). After dinner, we dropped the kids of at Club HAL and we went to the Casino to play Black Jack for a while. After about an hour we went to check on the kids. Stevie was ready to do something else, Hannah refused to leave because her friends were at the club. We walked on the promenade deck and played shuffleboard. We checked on Hannah twice to see if she wants go back to the room. The answer was no so we went to the library to play chess. We picked Hannah up at 10 PM when she had no other option because Club HAL closes at 10.
It is hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of the cruise. Time just flies when you are having fun.