Cartagena

To break up the monotony of relaxing in the sunshine, walks along the prom, coffee & tapas crawls and the odd evening spent in a bar, it's nice to have a road trip to experience something different.

Forgot to tick the box - no toll roads - on the satnag, this meant that we cruised down a motorway bereft of any other vehicle and paid 13.99 Euro for the privilege.

No stoppies allowed

Cartagena was our destination, a port city, naval base and birthplace of Hannibal. The city in recent years has become a popular tourist destination, regeneration of the inner port area has taken place, a new cruise liner docking facility, marina and museum.

Naval ship winding.

A sunny picture for Roly.

A Roman flour mill.

Huge bronze sculpture for the victims of terrorism.

The Grand hotel's art-nouveau architecture. 

In places the city's is being stripped back to reveal it's Roman past.

Archaeological site not yet open to the public is under the sheeting 

We toured the city's main streets had lunch in a cafe overlooking the marina and visited a couple of museums, The 'Museo refugio de la guerra civil'  excavated caves used as air raid shelters to protect civilians from intense German & Italian bombings during the Spanish civil war in 1937.


The Museo Nacional de Arqueologia Subacuatica - concerned with the documenting and protection of underwater heritage around the world. Part of the cargo of the frigate " Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes" sunk in 1804 is housed here.

We only scratched the surface and may return at a later date.