Alicante 7 - 2 Museums

My last full day in Alicante so time to take in any sights I had not seen yet. I decided to visit two museums. The first was the Alicante Museum of Contemporary Art, just opposite the Basilica of Santa Maria in the old city.

As the letters indicate, it owes a lot to the artist Eusebio Sempere who is the major artist exhibited here. In fact I found his kinetic art works on the top floor more intriguing than the exhibits on the lower two floors.

The Fogueres museum is in the modern city and contains the past winners of the annual Fogueres de Sant Joan (Bonfires of Saint John) midsummer festival. They are giant figures made of wood, paper, and other flammable material, and represent fantastic beings or are parodies of people. At the end of the festival, all but the winner are burnt in a bonfire.

The museum is well worth a look especially as it's free to enter.

A late afternoon snack of a chocolate tart at El Corte Inglés..

A last evening look at the explanada. I would miss this relaxing place.

And a farewell to the Playa del Postiguet and the Castle of Saint Bárbara. I will be back some day.

Cartagena 2

I decided to take the 1400 bus back. This bus would go to Alicante via the coast instead of Murcia, making a triangular excursion. I would get to see part of the Costa Cálida. More later.

The first order of business was to enjoy the buffet breakfast included in the hotel rate.

Next was to ascend to the Concepción Castle. I took the easy way, using an elevator from the street. I asked the staff ¿Es gratuito?, and he replied No. But I was happy to pay a couple of € to help the city maintain its sights. This is the tower housing the elevator, with the walkway that opens onto the road winding up the hill.

There is an old bullfight ring on the other side.

Still some more walking to reach the castle.

Finally, the spires on top of the interpretation museum.

Inside the theatrette they were showing a film in a loop about the history of the city from its beginnings.

The Roman amphitheatre, very well preserved. Cartagena has, after Mérida, the best Roman ruins in Spain.

The modern amphitheatre, next to the ancient one.

A view to the port.

Ships in harbour.

The marina I walked past the evening before.

Cartagena harbour

A plump peahen perching on a bench.

A handsome peacock nearby. The several peafowl on the hill had the run of the grounds.

Looking south, the protected harbour which is Cartagena's advantage.

The view to the southeast.

And the southwest.

Another view of the docks and the hills behind.

On the way down, the duck fountain with two residents.

The Palacio Consistorial. There were many tourists milling around, possibly from a cruise ship. There was also a fair police presence. Were they worried that petty crimes might be visited upon the visitors, spoiling the reputation of the city? Cartagena seemed to be trying for a new future in tourism and education, while still hosting the naval base, after the decline of manufacturing at the end of the last century.

At a bakery I bought a couple of savoury pastries for lunch, then walked back to the bus station.

Mar Menor is the largest lagoon in Spain. The triangular body of water on the Costa Cálida is separated from the Mediterranean (Mar Mayor) by a 22km long sandbar. It is shallow and warm, thus giving rise to water sports and sunbaking tourism. Of late the ecology of the mar has been neglected, which is a pity since it's an important wetland for bird life.

The towns on this part of the coast were varied. Some looked down and out, with abandoned buildings, and lacking in job prospects. Some seemed to be thriving from serving the tourism industry. Some were mass tourism disasters with advertisements in multiple languages.

I dozed off on the bus and after 3 hours of start and stop driving, I was back in Alicante, home sweet home away from home.

Cartagena 1

We passed a lot of orange orchards going down the highway. The bus deposited us at a somewhat forlorn terminus that could have handled much more traffic. I had only to cross the road to reach my hotel, Los Habeneros which was named after a couple of brothers who had returned from Cuba. I was glad I had taken the bus as the train station was a little further out but still walking distance.

I checked into my hotel and freshened up before walking to the city centre.

Cartagena has existed for over two millennia and has some of the best preserved Roman ruins in this part of the world. On the way down to the water is this cross street. These are the remains of the dwelling of Salvio, a rich person.

There are also many buildings in the Art Nouveau style from the beginning of the 20th century, when fortunes were made from nearby mines.

An open air museum of a Roman forum.

Another lovely building, a bank now. This is on the main street, running parallel to the shoreline.

Cartagena's importance is due to the excellent defensive harbour, and today is still used by the Spanish navy.

Townsfolk having a paseo on the Calle Mayor.

Some street entertainment.

Venturing out of the central district, I found this naval facility.

Curious looking shades.

An old facade and modern building of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena.

Giant sculpture El Zulo in the port. It was created in 2009 in homage to victims of terrorism.

A salvage boat and distant hills.

Catamaran and marina.

Panorama of Cartagena harbour

The palm lined esplanade.

Another establishment named Mare Nostrum, Roman for Our Sea, i.e. The Mediterranean.

The National Museum of Underwater Archaeology.

The outside. Unfortunately I didn't have time to include this in my list of sights.

After an unmemorable dinner at one of the restaurants on Calle Mayor, I started back toward my hotel. On the way I stopped to watch them retiring the flag for the day at a government building.

Lots of attractive dining spots. And with that I called an end to the day's sightseeing.

Murcia

There were two other cities to the south I wanted to visit: Murcia and Cartagena. I could do a triangular route, and also decided to spend a night in Cartagena so that I wouldn't have to rush through two cities in a day and return home exhausted. So I booked a room in Cartagena. For one night I would be paying rent on two places but that was unavoidable.

Although there are trains to Murcia, the buses run more often and are more convenient.

I was deposited in the bus station and sought out the cathedral. There are a lot of narrow irregular streets and pedestrian areas in the old quarter. On the way I passed Plaza Flores where there is a fountain with a female statue seated on the rim that people like to pose next to.

Murcia was the warmest place I had visited so far; it hit about 30C that day. No doubt partly due to being inland.

As you can see from this huge signboard, the plaza is a favourite get-together spot. Rules of this plaza: 1. Take a seat. 2. Order a Murcian tapa. 3. Relax and enjoy.

And certainly there is no lack of drinking spots here.

Another view of the fountain.

The Mercado de Verónicas was only a short walk away and I looked in on it. This is one of the end entrances of the market.

What could be more Spanish than olives?

It had the usual collection of stalls.

I always like looking at colourful fruit.

Dried fruits and jamon, in particular the expensive Ibérico variety.

Not far away is the Catedral de Murcia.

Panorama of Plaza

It's in the Plaza de Cardenal Belluga with many restaurants and cafés. It must be pretty in the evening. The building on the left is the Edificio Moneo, named after its architect. The design is a bit controversial.

I had a speciality Columbian coffee in a café. The door handle was intriguing. They gave me a couple of sweets on leaving.

This is the main street Av. de Canalejas which crosses the Rio Segura at the 18th century bridge Puente de los Peligros.

Canoeing on the river. A couple of decades ago this would have been inadvisable as the Rio Segura was one of the most polluted in Europe due to industry and agriculture. A clean-up scheme has restored the river's health.

The Puente de los Peligros.

At the entrance to the botanical gardens is this pedestrian bridge.

The entrance with a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the natural environment.

Flower bed around the fountain.

Pigeon amongst the flowers.

Arch and the Baobar tapas bar beyond.

I searched in the city for a suitable lunch spot, and passed the Teatro Romea. The restaurants around there were too upmarket for me, as I wasn't very hungry.

There is a sizeable archaeological site in the city, the Arrabal de la Arrixaca.

Working my way back to the bus station, this is the Parroquia San Nicolás de Bari y Santa Catalina. Saint Nicholas of Bari sure got around.

This small market is just opposite the bus station. I bought a ticket for the 1500 service to Cartagena, and picked a Ecuadorean restaurant nearby, El Rinconcito (The Little Corner) to have lunch. Nothing fancy just roast chicken and fries. They also gave me a couple of sweets on leaving.

At the appointed hour the bus bore us towards Cartagena. It's a pity I didn't get to see Murcia at night.