Wednesday 24th November 2010

Spent Tuesday doing chores around the van and catching up on washing etc. Lynn and I went for a bike ride in the afternoon to find a better way back from the bus stop in Playa Honda, it was actually really easy, just walk towards the water and turn left, a short stretch of beach and you’re back in the camp and at our end! We also had a nose around a newish housing estate. Nearly all terraced and narrow, but three bedroomed for slightly cheaper than at home, plus 5 minute walk and you’re on the beach!

Today we returned to Cartagena and had a look at some of the historic sites. The bus was late so we didn’t get there until late morning, but at least after a grey start the sun had come out. We had a look round a modern art exhibition which I think is sponsored by the EU and moves every two years, I got the impression that some of it was meant to challenge the way we produce and view art? I did try and find the portrait of Einstein made out of shapes but failed miserably!


Our next stop was a Roman Casa, which was found when excavating some buildings. You can see and walk on the original Roman road and step in through what was the front door. Some walls still remain along with incredible flooring and murals from the walls. The great thing is being able to walk around  the house on a glass raised floor and really get the feeling of being inside the original house.

By now we were getting hungry and decided to walk back towards the quay area. They are doing a lot of rebuilding and it seems they shore up the front of four story building and then demolish the rear! You’re walking down a narrow street and on either side of you are just the building fronts literally two foot deep and then an empty space behind. It reminded us of the film lots at Universal studios! Anyway we returned to the restaurant we used the other day and sat in the sun again having lunch. At the end of the meal the owner brought over the bill and the sweet lemon liqueur, but this time he just left the bottle with three glasses! Happy days!! Sometime later and feeling very happy we set off to find the department store we had found on the internet to buy our luggage for the trip home. We had searched everywhere but couldn’t find any, nor had we come across many larger stores so we were pinning our hopes on this one!

After a long walk across the city (not sure why it took so long but Lynn was navigating and was very happy!), we found the store which was like a posh Debenhams. We did a little xmas shopping and then bought a couple of holdalls for the flights back home, the luggage was very expensive! As we left the store Lynn informed us that we only had 45 mins to catch the bus and it had taken us that long to cover a shorter distance. So we set off at a quick pace despite the rain making the pavement very slippery, this mock marble looks great in the sun but is like ice when wet! I have to say with flawless navigation from Lynn we reached the bus depot with just enough time to buy the tickets and run for the bus, catching it just before it left!