Cartegena, Spain - April 11th

I’ll start off by saying I thought Cartegena was a beautiful city.  I really enjoyed our visit to this city with a population of about a quarter of a million.  It lies in the southeastern part of Spain and it is Spain’s principal naval establishment and the site of an annual international maritime festival. 

Once again, we had magnificent weather in this port, which has an average temperature of 69 degrees.  There were a few excursions available to places outside of the city, such as Lorca and Elche, but we decided to stay in Cartegena, which, I think Michael will agree, was a wonderful choice. 

The ship usually provides a map of each port but I found it to be totally useless which gave me the opportunity to speak with a very handsome young man, with incredibly blue eyes (and I told him so), at the information booth who graciously gave me a much better map of the city.  Off we went!

Walking just a little ways from our ship, we very quickly arrived at Plaza del Ayuntamiento, the main street, and stopped to take photos of a towering monument called the Plaza of the Monument to the Heroes of Santiago de Cuba and Cavite.  Lots of military (I’m not sure if they were Spanish Navy or Army) were gathered in front of this monument for some reason – perhaps simply as a place to meet up with others. 

As we strolled down this avenue, we came upon several sculptures – most quite whimsical.  One in particular was of a seated figure in a white suit and red ascot.  The sculpture was headless with a Captain’s hat resting above the neck area by two rods.  I approached the sculpture to take a closer look and take a photo only to be startled when one of the arms lifted up and waved to me.  Obviously, there was a person inside the suit all the time and we didn’t know it.   Very clever! 

There was also a sculpture of a seated weary traveler on one of the benches with its head in hand leaning forward and looking down to the piece of baggage between its legs.  Of course, Michael and I took turns taking pictures of each other while we tried to duplicate the same pose sitting next to it on the bench. 

One of the Holy Week celebrations in Cartegena is called La Semana Santa and during this time, people don costumes which look very much like KKK capes and hoods but in different colors.  While looking for a magnet, one of the souvenir shops had a row of these colorful cape and hooded figures in the window with a sign “Holy Week in Cartegena – Not KKK.”  This was obviously intended for Americans and we bought one as a magnet which was a good remembrance of this port.

This was another city that was beautifully planned and we came upon a lovely fountain with a merry-go-round.  With his mother nearby, we saw a little toddler on one of the horses going round and round and Michael commented, “too bad he doesn’t realize that life doesn’t get better – maybe different, but not better.” 

One of the things I like most about cruising is that whenever you go into a port in a faraway land, you will always meet someone you know from the ship.  It’s such a pleasant experience to actually see someone you know among the dozens and dozens of people you pass along the street in a strange city.  It’s very comforting and reassuring.

I went into the beautiful Church of Santo Domingo to light a candle only to find that this church, like several others we’ve seen, actually used electronic candles – not real flames!  As our maître ‘d pointed out, something is missing from the act of “lighting” a candle in memory of someone when you drop a coin in and a little fake candle lights up.  Just not the same thing….

Lunch is always a difficult thing for us to do off the ship because Michael is never hungry, doesn’t care what he eats, so the “burden” is on me to find something since I’m the one with the taste buds.  Cartegena was no exception but Michael actually selected VIPS where, for a reasonable price, we had a tasty lunch.  No local cuisine but our bellies were full and we were happily content to walk back to the ship.  (Although I enjoy just about all the offerings on the ship, I do get a little bit tired of the lunches which I limit to a nice salad with lots of carrots, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, and whatever other fixin’s there are available on any given day and a piece of roasted or grilled chicken.  I am seriously missing my kale and home-made honey mustard dressing.) 

On the way back and something we hadn’t seen on the harbor front before we turned onto the Plaza del Ayuntamiento was a “Monument for Victims of Terrorism – April 2009” which was an enormous bronze or iron sculpture of a naked man sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees and his head looking down.  I’m sure a quick google would show a picture of this very sad figure. 

Walking back to the ship in mid-afternoon, the palm tree-lined harbor waterfront was delightful.  Stopping to sit on a bench and looking out at the water, a warm breeze enveloped us as we enjoyed the panoramic view our location provided.  The masts of the boats berthed in the harbor in the foreground with the Pacific Princess in the background was quite tranquil and a lovely end to our day in Cartegena. 

Michael’s Observations:    Ditto.