Saturday, 27 April 2024

Southampton, UK

We arrived here last night, ready to start the last part of our 42-day journey:  tomorrow afternoon we board the QM2 for the seven-day trip to New York City. It was a long difficult day of travel from Barcelona, but we had a good night's sleep and today we are ready to meet the (unfortunately) typical English weather in this port city. Robert Browning may have written: "O, to be in England / Now that April 's there," but he was in sunny Italy at the time.

Wednesday, 23 April 2024

Cartagena, Spain

This is my fourth visit to this charming small city, centered on Spain's Mediterranean coast. Although there are only about 200,000 inhabitants, Cartagena is one of the most important of Spain's ports, with the widest and deepest harbor. Although hidden from the casual visitor's vision, the city is host to Spain's largest naval military port. It is also important for the mining of minerals and for agriculture.

The city center has been turned into a pedestrians-only zone lined with elegant early modern buildings and 17th-century churches. On my first visit, as you are all aware by now, I spent 12 days in hospital having a hip replacement. When I returned six month later, I was able to photograph the city and document the preparations for the beginning of Holy Week and the procession of floats. If you wish to see these photos, you can link back at the bottom of the page to 12 April 2017.

This is Will's first visit here and he is pleasantly astonished when he opens our suite's drapes and sees the city spread out and up close to the dock. 

We take part in a morning shore excursion, "The Roman Theatre and Tapas Trail," covering two of Cartagena's most important cultural traditions:  the continuing discovery of Roman ruins (Cartagena was an important naval base for them, too), and the enjoyment of tapas and wine (mostly sangria)--the perfect combination for a perfect morning.

Will Documents the Ruins with His iPhone

After learning about the murderous relationships of the Roman ruling families responsible for building this theatre, the whole tour group is ready for refreshment at five different tapas bars as we make our way from the city center back to the port.

Tapas Trail Stop #1:

The Bar . . .

. .  a Warm Cheese Tapas

Tapas Trail Stop #2:

The Bar . . .

. . . Waiters Serving the Tour Group . . .

. . . Pork Stew Tapas

Tapas Trail Stop #3:

The Waiter . . .

. . . the Bar

Tapas Trail Stop #4:

The Tour Group at the Bar . . .

. . . Potato Bravas Tapas

Tapas Trail  Stop #5:

View of Harbor from Tapas Bar .  . .

. . . Cheese and Egg Tapas with a Tall Sangria

And then we walk very tipsily back to the Quest.