After a couple of days in our cave home in Guadix, Spain, we headed east to the city of Cartagena. Our purpose for this trip was to link up with Ang’s folks, who would be stopping through with friends during their Mediterranean cruise.
Ang and I booked several days here so we could explore it more in-depth and hang out for a while, and we spent one day with her parents while they were off the ship.
Our first day in town, we naturally stopped for a wine under the palm trees before walking around the city.
Cartagena has a long history in the region, being inhabited by the Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, and Moors. Because of this, there are layers and layers of historical sites, many of which are still being unearthed, explored, or discovered.
The city itself is totally surrounded by mountains, with a protected port at its coast. Because of this, it’s always been a very important HQ for Spain’s navy. Its geography combines those mountains and water to give my personal pleasure an almost-perfect geographical rating. The problem is that there really aren’t any beaches at all in town. For that, one must drive out to La Manga, which is technically part of the city, but about 20-30 minutes away.
So, unlike Malaga, I probably couldn’t ever live in Cartagena since I can’t walk to the beach. I know, life is hard!
Alas, there’s plenty to see, and we gave our shoes and feet a good workout walking up and down and around and in and out of the streets and mountains that populate the city.
All right then, let’s get on with some pictures.
Plaza de San Francisco, near our Airbnb and where most of our lounging occurred.
Quite a bit of street art to see here, which always makes me happy.
Cartagena is easily walkable, despite its hills, and it only took us a few minutes of wandering to run into the ruins of the old cathedral and the Roman amphitheater in the center of town.
Climbing up above the amphitheater also gives great 360° views of the city.
Atop this mountain/hill/whatever, we also found a newish viewpoint/tower thing that gives views of the ancient bull ring, which is still being excavated.
No question, legs were shaky up here.
After all that, we wound our way down the mountain and headed for the seaside port.
Ducks with their own ramp and everything! Ha.
Cartagena has a very nice waterfront, and I can’t help but wonder how much of that is for the cruise ships. Regardless of the debarking hordes at one end, it’s a nice place to sit around and have a coffee. It was actually less crowded than I figured a seaside spot to be.
It just so happens – I swear! – that the one craft beer bar in Cartagena was right by our Airbnb. Go figure. We hung out here at Beershooter a couple of times and got to taste plenty of delicious beers, many of which we can’t even get in Seville.
Believe it or not, we actually hit up a Mexican restaurant called Ándale, just across from our Airbnb. They had great reviews, so we thought we’d be the judge with our Mexican-food-eating skills. Overall, it was pretty damn good. Not terribly authentic, but we give it a thumbs-up.
They also happened to have renderings of Ang and me on the bathroom doors. =P
The day Ang’s parents showed up, they took a tour in the morning while we worked, and then we all linked up for more walking around town and some eats. And plenty of catching up!
‘Twas nice to finally see them on this side of the Atlantic.
And, there you have it! After spending several hours with them, we dropped Umma and Appa off at their boat so they could head to their next destination. We really appreciate that we were able to hook up with them in Spain for once (!!!), and we had a great time in Cartagena.
Cartagena is a great city to visit, and while I couldn’t see myself living there, I could definitely go back to explore it even more. And, you should, too!
Read more of our Spain posts right here, and see our Hopsmash project here.
A very special thanks to Ang’s parents and their friends for stopping in Spain, and to everyone we met during our stay in Cartagena.
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Have you ever been to Cartagena? If so, what’d you think? If not, what say ye? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Looks like an interesting town! But then, everywhere you go is interesting! :)
Everywhere is interesting in one way or another!