On the 12th May me & my mother flew to San Javier airport in Murcia for a quick weekend break.
After arriving at the tiny airport, we met our transfer driver to take us to the city of Cartagena, not to be confused with the city of the same name in Colombia!
Our hotel for the next few days was the NH, top rated of only 12 hotels in the city. We had a fantastic view from our balcony, with the port on one side and the city on the other.
The location of the hotel is superb, within walking distance to all major sights. The sun was just setting as we arrived, so we quickly checked-in then went out for some tea. I always find that Spain is a very relaxed country and people just seem to be enjoying themselves all the time. The city centre was very peaceful with locals eating tapas. We found a bar and ordered bread, patatas bravas and fried fish. After a day of travelling, we had an early night.
The next day we got up early and caught the bus to the city of Murcia. It is a very aesthetic city with lots of grand buildings and pretty spaces. Our first stop after departing the bus was the Salzillo museum. Salzillo was a Spanish sculptor, a lot of his work being religious scenes. The museum is connected to the Church of Jesus, a charming little church with beautiful detail. There are many religious artefacts in the first part of the museum, moving on to a room of busts before finishing at a huge scene of Bethlehem built in over 500 small figurines. You then exit the museum through the Church. The Church holds some of the many Holy Week parades, floats. These are impressive carvings which are used in the parade, depicting holy events such as the Last Supper. These are carried through the city during the celebrations.
Upon leaving the Church we found a little square with some cafes where we had a quick drink while taking in numerous weddings that were taking place. We then went to Murcia's top attraction, the Cathedral of Santa Maria. The Cathedral is very detailed from the outside
with heavy decoration over the façade. It is large and open inside, although as there was an event on we couldn't explore the whole church. There is a small museum in the Cathedral which we spent around half an hour looking around. It had lots of religious artefacts and some paintings. After following a wedding party out of the Cathedral we walked through a pedestrian area to find something for lunch. I had a savoury ham & cheese pancake which unfortunately wasn't very pleasant. The city has many narrow streets which were nice to wander around in the sunny Spanish heat.
After a bit of a shop, we got the bus back to Cartagena. The city was is still an important naval base and there are many boats and a pretty harbour which we had a walk down the promenade. There are a small amount of cruise ships that feature Cartagena on their itineraries but when one comes in you certainly know about it! Similar to Dubrovnik as a fairly small city, when a ship comes in the city is swamped.
There is also a Naval museum but unfortunately we didn't have time to visit. We returned to the hotel to shower and change before going out for tea. We ordered paella but unfortunately it wasn't good at all. Overall I was disappointed with the food we were served over this weekend. Not sure if we were just unlucky with what we ordered or if perhaps because there aren't as many tourists they don't offer visitors the best quality food, or just save it all for the cruise guests? So after another disappointing meal, we walked off what we had eaten with a stroll through the town. It was lively at night with many locals sitting drinking or eating.
Full day number 2, and a day to see the sights in Cartagena. One of the oldest cities in Spain due to being one of the Roman Empires most important locations. After some delicious churros with white chocolate dipping sauce and admiring a spontaneous outdoor Sunday mass,the Roman amphitheatre was our first top of the day, once we had finally found the entrance! Be warned, not very well signposted!! This attraction was also featured on an episode of Coach Trip. Before you enter the actual theatre, first you go through the Roman Museum, complete with Roman vases, busts and statues. The museum is built on many floors and you gradually make your way up until you are at height of the amphitheatre. You finally step out into the theatre and look down from the seats. It is unusual as the theatre is surrounded by high rise derelict looking housing buildings. The ruins were discovered in the late 1980's and then restored, so how much of it is original, I am not sure. In any case, it is a nice little amphitheatre, worth having a look around. We returned to the tapas bar we had eaten at the first night for our lunch before exploring more of the city. We found an old mansion that had a mosaic decorated courtyard which happened to be a crazy heat trap! Very hot! This was the hottest day of the weekend reaching 30 degrees Celsius. A walk through the streets and we made it to the harbour for a drink where we sat and watched two cruise ships coming in to port. Almost immediately thousands of people flooded the city and it became very crowded for the rest of the day. We returned back to the hotel to research places to go for dinner. I found a well rated Italian just up the road from our hotel. We arrived as it opened and got a seat as it gradually became busier and busier. We had a lovely meal of pizza and pasta before another night stroll around the city. A strawberry waffle later and it was time for bed.
Our last day started with another walk down to the harbour to sit and enjoy the sun. One of the worlds largest cruise ships, the Majestic Princess had just came in to dock. With a capacity of over 3,000, visitors flocked into the city. To get away from it all we decided to take a bus trip. It was very inexpensive and the loop took around 40 minutes. The commentary was good and told us lots about the history of the city and the landmarks we were passing. The first landmark was the Spanish navy arsenal with its bright yellow painted walls. We then drove past the bus station, Conception castle, the panoramic tower and the old city walls. Back to the city centre and we paid a visit to the very grand Town Hall where we had a tour for only one euro per person. The interior was impressive, with chandeliers, tapestries and coats of arms decorating the walls. The guide was very friendly and informative about the building. The roof of the building had the city's coat of arms in stained glass so the sun shone through spreading colours on to the floor. Without a doubt the most spectacular of the buildings features was its staircase with its marble floor and red carpet sweeping up to the next level. I w
ould definitely recommend doing this tour, it took only 25 minutes and was well worth the one euro per person to see such a beautiful building! Lunch was back at our favourite tapas bar where we ate, mini burgers, bread, croquettes and patatas bravas in the baking heat!
A final walk around the city to buy some souvenirs, admire the former Gran Hotel built in fantastic Art Nouveau style and up the hill to see the airplane statue before our trip to the airport.
Cartagena was a nice city which felt almost authentically Spanish and almost unspoilt, until of course the cruise ships came in. When they weren't in, it felt like they were very few foreigners and enjoyed mixing with the locals. It was a very clean city which seemed to come alive at night. The downside to Cartagena was the lack of restaurants. I think you could comfortably spent a weekend there but not any longer as it is a small place and we did everything we wanted to do although there were a few other museums we could have visited. If you did stay longer you could travel along the coast to nearby resorts such as Mar Menor. The NH hotel was a fantastic, modern hotel for a reasonable price, the breakfast was included and the location was spot-on.
It was a lovely weekend with great weather and nice company.
After arriving at the tiny airport, we met our transfer driver to take us to the city of Cartagena, not to be confused with the city of the same name in Colombia!
Our hotel for the next few days was the NH, top rated of only 12 hotels in the city. We had a fantastic view from our balcony, with the port on one side and the city on the other.
 |
| Church of Jesus |
Upon leaving the Church we found a little square with some cafes where we had a quick drink while taking in numerous weddings that were taking place. We then went to Murcia's top attraction, the Cathedral of Santa Maria. The Cathedral is very detailed from the outside
with heavy decoration over the façade. It is large and open inside, although as there was an event on we couldn't explore the whole church. There is a small museum in the Cathedral which we spent around half an hour looking around. It had lots of religious artefacts and some paintings. After following a wedding party out of the Cathedral we walked through a pedestrian area to find something for lunch. I had a savoury ham & cheese pancake which unfortunately wasn't very pleasant. The city has many narrow streets which were nice to wander around in the sunny Spanish heat.After a bit of a shop, we got the bus back to Cartagena. The city was is still an important naval base and there are many boats and a pretty harbour which we had a walk down the promenade. There are a small amount of cruise ships that feature Cartagena on their itineraries but when one comes in you certainly know about it! Similar to Dubrovnik as a fairly small city, when a ship comes in the city is swamped.
Full day number 2, and a day to see the sights in Cartagena. One of the oldest cities in Spain due to being one of the Roman Empires most important locations. After some delicious churros with white chocolate dipping sauce and admiring a spontaneous outdoor Sunday mass,the Roman amphitheatre was our first top of the day, once we had finally found the entrance! Be warned, not very well signposted!! This attraction was also featured on an episode of Coach Trip. Before you enter the actual theatre, first you go through the Roman Museum, complete with Roman vases, busts and statues. The museum is built on many floors and you gradually make your way up until you are at height of the amphitheatre. You finally step out into the theatre and look down from the seats. It is unusual as the theatre is surrounded by high rise derelict looking housing buildings. The ruins were discovered in the late 1980's and then restored, so how much of it is original, I am not sure. In any case, it is a nice little amphitheatre, worth having a look around. We returned to the tapas bar we had eaten at the first night for our lunch before exploring more of the city. We found an old mansion that had a mosaic decorated courtyard which happened to be a crazy heat trap! Very hot! This was the hottest day of the weekend reaching 30 degrees Celsius. A walk through the streets and we made it to the harbour for a drink where we sat and watched two cruise ships coming in to port. Almost immediately thousands of people flooded the city and it became very crowded for the rest of the day. We returned back to the hotel to research places to go for dinner. I found a well rated Italian just up the road from our hotel. We arrived as it opened and got a seat as it gradually became busier and busier. We had a lovely meal of pizza and pasta before another night stroll around the city. A strawberry waffle later and it was time for bed.
Our last day started with another walk down to the harbour to sit and enjoy the sun. One of the worlds largest cruise ships, the Majestic Princess had just came in to dock. With a capacity of over 3,000, visitors flocked into the city. To get away from it all we decided to take a bus trip. It was very inexpensive and the loop took around 40 minutes. The commentary was good and told us lots about the history of the city and the landmarks we were passing. The first landmark was the Spanish navy arsenal with its bright yellow painted walls. We then drove past the bus station, Conception castle, the panoramic tower and the old city walls. Back to the city centre and we paid a visit to the very grand Town Hall where we had a tour for only one euro per person. The interior was impressive, with chandeliers, tapestries and coats of arms decorating the walls. The guide was very friendly and informative about the building. The roof of the building had the city's coat of arms in stained glass so the sun shone through spreading colours on to the floor. Without a doubt the most spectacular of the buildings features was its staircase with its marble floor and red carpet sweeping up to the next level. I w
ould definitely recommend doing this tour, it took only 25 minutes and was well worth the one euro per person to see such a beautiful building! Lunch was back at our favourite tapas bar where we ate, mini burgers, bread, croquettes and patatas bravas in the baking heat!A final walk around the city to buy some souvenirs, admire the former Gran Hotel built in fantastic Art Nouveau style and up the hill to see the airplane statue before our trip to the airport.
Cartagena was a nice city which felt almost authentically Spanish and almost unspoilt, until of course the cruise ships came in. When they weren't in, it felt like they were very few foreigners and enjoyed mixing with the locals. It was a very clean city which seemed to come alive at night. The downside to Cartagena was the lack of restaurants. I think you could comfortably spent a weekend there but not any longer as it is a small place and we did everything we wanted to do although there were a few other museums we could have visited. If you did stay longer you could travel along the coast to nearby resorts such as Mar Menor. The NH hotel was a fantastic, modern hotel for a reasonable price, the breakfast was included and the location was spot-on.
It was a lovely weekend with great weather and nice company.
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