Valencia to Gibraltar Day 10: Cartagena Day 2

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Today, our 2nd day in Cartagena, we planned on visiting some museums and taking the tourist boat around the bay. We left the hotel a little after 10am, and wandered down to the marina or port. Yesterday evening we'd been to the port to check it out and found out there was a tourist boat that went around the bay, stopping at the Faro del Navidad, or the Christmas Lighthouse. Apparently its called that because there are two lighthouses, one on each side of the port, green and red. The next boat didn't leave for awhile, so we decided to check out the Museo Naval. It was very interesting and informative, displaying models of ships from quite a few centuries, plus armament and other naval displays. When the time came for the boat, we walked out and climbed aboard. It was a medium sized boat with two decks/levels, so we climbed up to the 2nd level so we could see better. We left port and headed out towards the Faro. I was under the impression that the boat was stopping at the Faro, so we planned on getting off and checking it out, then get back on the next boat. Apparently we weren't allowed to get off, but a large group of school kids got on. Oh well. We continued around the bay to the other side where there were a couple houses up the mountain plus a couple of batteries, or defensive forts, the main one was Bateria de Trincabotijas Alta, then headed back to the port.

After docking, we wandered around a bit, looking for some place with good food for lunch, since it almost 1pm. We stopped at a restaurant, the name of which evades me, and ordered a couple of seafood dishes. The food was pretty good, so I wish I remembered the name of the place. Next, we headed to the Ajuntamiento, which was quite luxurious, and checked it out. We were allowed to tour the second floor, and its meeting rooms, and the stairs from the first to the second floor were amazing, like something out of a movie.

After touring the Ayuntamiento, we started heading back to the hotel, stopping a cafe for some refreshments. We both order cafe asiatico, which is a coffee with condensed milk, cognac, and a few drops of Licor 43. This coffee is considered a specialty of Cartagena. We continued our stroll back to the hotel, where we rested for a while, then went out to a supermarket for some food to have for dinner. I got a sort of lasagna and Manoli got her usual fruit. We spent the rest of the night watching some movies on YouTube and went up to the roof to see the sunset, which wasn't all that good. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

Tomorrow we head to our last stop, Malaga, before heading to Chipiona.

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Photos

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One of many ships in the Museo Naval (Naval Museum)

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Just a small portion of the ship models in the museum

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Departing the marina on the tourist boat

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Heading to the Faro del Navidad (Christmas Lighthouse)

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Looking back at the Faro

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A building way up the mountain

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The Bateria de Trincabotijas Alta

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Cartajena from the entrance to the bay

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Pulling into port

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The bar/cafe where we ate lunch

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Manoli's seafood platter

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El Monumento al Procesionista

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Inside stairs of the Ayuntamiento

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Taking a break with Cafes Asiatico

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Manoli sharing a bench with the Carmen Conde statue

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A modern plaza, with fountain?

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Fuente de la Plaza de España

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Alameda de San Anton

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An interesting house

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A large old Banyan tree