Day 22 San Javier to Cartagena
Grey skies at 8am and all still quiet.
The shopping centre doesn’t open until 10am so just us and the big boys in the carpark. We hear a van sound it’s horn and notice a local bakery is seizing an opportunity to make the most of a mobile market so feel a bit bad that we went to the hyper market last night!
Trying to work out how we can negotiate Cartagena tomorrow is something of a trial. Most car parks are underground with height restrictions that would prevent us access. We find some on search for sites but all seem to have security risks so we look further out and find a private ‘aire’ close to a bus route. Opportunities for overnighting appear to be harder to find in this area and it’s full but the owner agrees to call if anyone leaves today. We decide to head that way anyway and park near the bus route if there’s no other option but as we drive down the motorway she calls to say we have a pitch so we go straight there.
The site is in a rural suburb amongst fields of asparagus, broccoli and lemons. It’s a gravel ‘compound’ and quite cramped but it’s cheap and has basic facilities. Park up, quick chat with our new neighbours who are ex pats living in France for over 20 years but still definitely from Yorkshire.
Bus stop is just ten mins walk with buses every 30 mins (€ 1.20). Takes about 20 mins to get to Placa Espanya.
First stop is s very Spanish square filling with families in weekend mode, where we have a coffee whilst the sun tries to shine.
Then a wander in the vague direction of the amphitheater. The town is just waking up at 10.30ish with shops opening and chairs being put out.
It’s easy to see the associated forum excavations alongside and that’s where we head next! The forum museum (€6) is stunning. It’s entered through a building which houses a numbers of finds on cabinets, but also covers some of the recently excavated Roman building remains. It has the perfect balance of preservation and restoration, adding just enough new materials to make is easy to imagine former function. The museum leads out to the current excavation site which is extensive, well labelled and beautifully displayed. Really impressive stuff.
After we leave we decide to grab something to eat before we hit the amphitheater. It appears asking for a sandwich at 3pm is an affront, and we should be eating a three course meal. To the extent that one waiter pretty much throws a menu at us in disgust at our request. We take the shameful but very convenient option of going in Burger King. The food may be nothing special but the location harbour side is incredible and a great way to relax. There’s a Fred Olsen ship in dock which explains the large groups of well dressed tourists we’ve passed in town, but there’s also a range of naval ships and a lot of yachts. Great place to recharge before round two of ‘museuming’.
Turns out that what looked like a daunting climb to the amphitheatre was very straightforward as it’s entered via a building by the town hall (€6) which slowly winds you up four floors by escalator until you exit via a tunnel into the theatre itself. It’s a great space and possibly would have been more impressive had we not seen others before but what is unusual is it’s relatively recent discovery in the late 80s.
We wander back through the town and come across the Igesis de Santa Maria de Garcia, centre to the Easter programme. Inside there are a number of the processionary floats waiting for their next outing. Whilst we are looking around some young people are practicing carrying pennants and walking in time. All feels quite dramatic. Unfortunately, there’s no major parade today. So after a quality ice cream stop we head back to the van for the evening.
Miles so far: 1087
Steps today: 13,868
Overnight: Area Autocaravannas Cartagena €12
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