The weather here is now consistent with the days warming to the mid 20s, and sunshine everyday. It can be a bit dewy in the mornings but by 10am it has all cleared away and the warmth of the sun has done its job.
Therefore, we donned our biking gear and rode into Cartagena today with the aim of doing a bit of sight seeing and shopping. We parked in our usual spot just opposite the harbour and right by the City Hall, so it’s easier to remember where we parked it! For those of you coming to the city on motorcycles/scooters there are plenty of places to park. We had to take off our biking clothing though as it is way too hot to wander round in it, but everything fits into the panniers nicely.
Our main aim today was to visit the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre and to walk along some of the city wall. From our parking spot we walked past the city hall (pictured above with the Christmas Tree outside in lights) and took a right. This then led onto the city wall where we had brilliant views out across the harbour.
As we walked around the wall we came across a sign to Parque Torres (garden), one of the highest points in Cartagena from where you can see the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre. We thought the Parque was closed but have since learnt it is open seven days a week – it is the Castillo de Concepcion, the visitor centre that was closed on Mondays.
There is a museum dedicated to the Theatre that sounds like it would be very good to visit as they reconstruct the city (virtually) so you’re able to see how the city would most likely have been thousands of years ago.
At this festive time of year, Cartagena create a massive Nativity scene in San Francisco Plaza that depicts the whole Christmas story. It must be at least 60ft long and 20ft wide, with moving figures, ‘real’ vegetable plots (lettuce and sprouts!) and every aspect of the story depicted. The amount of effort that must have gone into getting it all ready must have been immense but it is well worth going to see.
Before we left we wanted to visit the beautiful statue in the harbour of a man with his hands between in his knees. We’ve since found the sculptor is a man called Victor Ochoa who unveiled this stunning piece in 2009 in memory of all victims of terrorism. It is about 4 metres tall and you could look at it for hours as it evokes many emotions, whatever your background.
Cartagena truly is a wonderful city to visit and we hope to visit again before we leave Spain.
