Port life

Yacht Port Cartagena

 

Well, we’ve been here in Cartagena for a month now. I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone! Here are a few of the highlights so far…

Surrounded by the Romans.  Wherever you walk in Cartagena there are remains of its Roman heritage. On our first day we took a wrong turn trying to find the supermarket and stumbled across a large, very impressive Roman Theatre. We went back later to visit the site and were amazed to discover that up until relatively recently the whole thing had been buried beneath houses and a church.  

 

The restored Roman Theatre

We soon realised that a huge amount of investment has gone into restoring the theatre and other key Roman sites in the town. Each site has audio visual presentations and exhibitions which help bring the projects to life. There is so much to see that we decided to explore a different site each day. 

Wall decoration at Casa Fortuna

We've visited five sites, our favourites being the Roman Baths and Casa Fortuna. At the baths you can still see the original flooring and some of the wall decorations – even some Roman graffiti on the wall of the ‘Taverna’ that served the baths. At Casa Fortuna we were taken underground to walk through the excavations of a large Roman villa with original floors, beautiful wall decorations and a well preserved Roman road, complete with the original cart tracks.    

  

Elida gospel choir

         

Sailing for Jesus. We were walking back from town last week when we heard live music coming from the waterfront. We expected to find a band in one of the cafes, but instead discovered a gospel choir, complete with supporting band, on board a 131ft yacht! The band were part of a Swedish Christian mission called Elida, whose motto is ‘Sailing for Jesus’; the ship sails between Sweden, the Med and the Canaries doing good works.  The crew were very friendly, and at the end of the concert the audience was invited on board. Cliff jumped at the chance to have a look round the huge cruiser-racer. Although the navigation equipment was sophisticated, the accommodation was very basic, reminding us of what we have seen on the larger racing boats. But the crew didn't seem to mind, as they get to sail in the Med for just 12 Euros a day! Elida is now in the yard here having her annual checks done before sailing to the Canaries.

 



Sailing training ship Pogoria





Polish spirit. Around the same time we had a visit from another big boat – a 157ft square rigger called Pogoria. This is a Polish sail training ship crewed by young people aged between 18 and 25. They certainly have a head for heights – their idea of fun in the evening was to climb the mast and hang off the top spars!

 

Anita makes it to the second spreader

Up the mast. I also had to climb to the top of the mast last week, though not for the fun of it. Cliff noticed that one end of our flag halyard had come loose and disappeared up to near the top of the mast. The only way to retrieve it was for one of us to go up, and since Cliff is too heavy for me to winch, I would have to do it. I don’t like heights and I don’t mind admitting that I was terrified. Still, I eventually managed to scramble up to the top spreader, but when I grabbed hold of the line to pull it down, it wouldn’t budge.

Anita untangling the line at the top of the mast

It wasn’t until I got back down to the deck again that Cliff suggested the line might have become tangled at the top. Once I had stopped shaking I decided it would make sense for me to go back up try and untangle it. So up I went, this time right to the top (50ft), hugging the mast for dear life as the boat gently swayed back and forth in the wind. Once I got there I realised I would need two hands free to untangle the long series of knots in the line. It took a few deep breaths before I was able to let go, but I did, and after a few minutes the lines were unknotted and I was on my way back down. Cliff reckoned I earned my G&T that day! 

Yana, Cliff, Jim and the magician

Cartagena Ocktoberfest. The last thing we expected in Spain was a beer festival, but since it was on the waterfront just down from the marina, how could we not go? A group of us from the Marina – Yana from Scrabbler,  Jim from La Pearle Noir and Sally and John from Vaitea – headed over. Well, it turned out that beer festival was a bit of an exaggeration. There were 4 beers to choose from and  German sausage to eat! There was also a magician wandering around the tables, a rather strange choice of entertainment for a beer festival, but very entertaining nevertheless.