January 5th, 2019 - January 13th, 2019
January 7th:
(on the 5th we arrived and did nothing else, and the 6th was a holiday so everything was closed)
We drove to the Sierra de la Muela. Defending the Bay of Cartagena is the Batería de Castillitos. The complex has several interesting viewpoints and buildings, including coastal batteries and a lighthouse.
Right before the main part of the castle, we turned left and took a small footpath down. This was way more calm than the busy fortress.
As we made the loop from the footpath back to the main road leading up to the castle, it was really getting dark, so we hitchhiked back to our car.
The view from the footpath was amazing, over the Bay and seeing Cartagena harbor in the distance.
January 9th:
(January 8th was uneventful)
Today was Cartagena-day.
After parking the car we just walked around in the city. Two Brits asked us if we're tourists, which we are. "Oh, this here is the military museum, and it's free. Check it out!"
Boy, you had us at free.
Talk about being at the right time in the right place. While it was not a big museum, it was impressive, if you're into artillery.
After the museum we had pizza in a place owned by two people from Argentina.
After the cannons and artillery of fairly recent wars, we went further back in time.
The Parque Arqueológico El Molinete is an outdoor archaeologic museum with remnants of windmills.
Right next to the park is the local Forum Romanum. It was a very nice ruin of Roman life. The amount of information provided is amazing.
A visit to Cartagena is not complete without going to the Theatre. Wow, so amazing. The museum of the theatre is worthwhile, but the theatre itself ... The view from the upper area was stunning. Standing on what used to be the stage is a powerful feeling.
At the harbor were many boats (as you would expect), but among them was a unique yacht that was trying to imitate being a three-mast tallship. Along the quay were a row of cannons.
After the thearte and the harbor, we went to the Castillo de la Concepción. While we did not go inside, the walk around the building and the views from the hill are also very nice.
January 12th:
(again, the previous days were uneventful)
Today we went on a boat trip to see cave paintings.
What they didn't advertize was that we had to row ourselves. But it was nice. The guide spoke only Spanish though, but that gave us time to enjoy the views in between the rowing.
Along the river we made a few stops to see caves (without paintings) and eventually came up to the wall with paintings that are over 8000 years old.
After the paintings we continued to row until we came to an artificial waterfall. The guide played along to make us believe that this was not part of the plan, but then she steered up to the side and we all got off the boat. And that was the end of the tour.
We went up the hill and had a bite to eat while we enjoyed the view.
