An English speaking guide had been arranged to show people around the Military Museum in Cartagena, and there was a healthy amount of interest from the rally members. We went in on the motorbike but had so much choice of parking we dithered and ended up riding around the city outskirts for ages trying to decide the best place to park!
As usual, we ended up at the first place we spotted leaving us minutes to change out of our biking gear, lock it all up and get to the museum for 10.30am. Luckily we met up with some gents also making their way there and nobody else seemed to be in too much of a hurry to get going at 10.30!
Sadly, we forgot to ask our tour guide his name but he was excellent and kept us entertained for well over two hours. He was a chap from the North East who used to work in the ship building industry in Tyneside, and now he helps to restore all things military. He was so passionate about what he does that he kept us interested the whole time, plus other members of the tour imparted knowledge that added to the day.
The museum has the largest collection of guns in Spain, ranging from cannonballs through to those who hold modern day shells. It is also mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records for holding the largest model collection of military vehicles (think Dinky/Airfix type) from many countries, ranging from tanks, ships, helicopters, transporters and the list goes on…
For anyone interested, it is free to enter but they would definitely welcome donations as it is run without any funding. It adheres to the usual closing times so don’t turn up just before 2pm or you’ll be sorely disappointed! Within the museum there is also a Chapel where they still hold services, along with the statues of their Patron Saints for the respective regiments.
Our guide told us that the Spanish are slowly coming to understand the importance of their history and remembering it, so the museum is starting to get more artefacts and people interested in preserving items. As he said though, their rule under Franco is still very raw in people’s minds – many still want to forget the horrors so don’t want to discuss it – maybe time will heal…
