Day 11+12: Cartagena - La Manga

I arrived Friday afternoon at about 3 o' clock in the afternoon, just on time for lunch (yes; lunch!) and finished about 5.30 pm to have a short time at the beach right in front of the summer residence and there weren' t a lot of people and the beach was really wonderful. Late afternoon we went up a hill to enjoy the beautiful sunset over the sea. In the evening we got back to Cartagena to have some small tapas in the city centre (actually the only bar which was open and were you could find some people because in high season a lot of people from Cartagena have their summer residence at the beach so you can imagine that the city at this time was quiet 'dead'). And food is not expensive as well as drinks, especially in those tapas bars. You can get a drink and one tapas for 1.50 or 2 euros and normally 3 tapas are enough to fill your tummy.

Saturday, as we were staying in the house in Cartagena overnight, we made a small tour around the city centre (you can do it maximum until 1pm because after that it is getting really hot, the moment when you prefer to see some water and get to the beach) That' s what we did before having lunch in the afternoon.

Later on, we went to Cabo de Palos, the southern end of La Manga, where we had a run to do in the evening, not me , but the father of Lorena and Francois, her boyfriend.

Saturday evening was already my last one and time passed by so quickly. We went out for dinner with Lorena's parents, got some ice cream and drinks and again it was nearly 4 o' clock when we reached home. Got up at ten again to have a special breakfast- churros with chocolate and by far the best ones I' ve ever tried in my life. So I left La Manga and Cartagena to move on to Almeria. I had a small stop in Mojacar, a beautiful and tiny town close to Almeria, where I took my lunch. And I can tell you it is getting hot down here. I am waiting impatiently to see Grenada tomorrow and I ask myself how I will survive over there if I am already struggling down here with the temperatures. Well, we' ll see :)

Sending you hugs and kisses and Mama of Lorena if you read this here : muchas gracias una otra vez por todo!!!! :)

I've just arrived to my second to last destination on my way to the south- Almeria, already a part on Andalusia after having spent a fabulous weekend with my friend and also former colleague Lorena; her boyfriend and her family.

I arrived Friday afternoon at about 3 o' clock in the afternoon at their holiday house, which is not located in Cartagena, but in La Manga, a small peninsula, which is bordered on one side by the Mediterranean Sea and on the other side by the Mar Menor, which is more like a huge lake. (I tried to indicate the viewpoint on the map above; but I don't know if you can see it). You can only access this peninsula from one side, as it is separated from the mainland by the sea. Most Spaniards from Cartagena spend their weekends and holidays in La Manga and many of them have their holiday homes there, which is why Cartagena is almost deserted at the moment. After a hearty lunch on Friday, we enjoyed the view of both sides from the rooftop terrace and then we all went to the beach. Later, I went with Lorena and her boyfriend to a viewpoint (including a small bar), from where we could watch the beautiful sunset. We spent the night in her parents' actual house, which is located directly in the city of Cartagena (you probably still have a rough idea of the city from history class ..... small hint: Hannibal ;) ) So we were able to go to a small tapas bar in the evening to get something to eat, the only one that was open and where you could still find people, because otherwise the city seemed rather dead. The good thing is that you can eat and drink relatively cheaply and the principle is often one drink and one tapa for extremely little money (about 1.5 to 2 euros) and one or two tapas are really enough to fill you up.

The next day, we walked through the city in the morning, and you can do that until 1 pm at the most, because then it usually becomes unbearably hot. Later, we went to La Manga, had lunch there and drove to Cablo de Polas, the eastern tip of La Manga, where a small run took place in the evening, in which Lorena's boyfriend, Francois, and her father participated. I don't need to mention again that lunch took up a large part of the afternoon, which was not a problem, because the balcony faced the sea, so it was relatively bearable :)

The run was only 6km long in total and it was over after half an hour (a total of 1700 participants). In the evening, we had dinner with Lorena's parents, also in a tapas bar (originally we wanted to have Caldero, but it is only available for lunch and usually you have to order it. Often everything is already sold out at short notice). Afterwards, we had a small drink and then the weekend was already over again. We went to bed around 4 o'clock and I am accordingly tired now.

This morning we had churros with chocolate for breakfast. Probably the best ones I have ever eaten.

The drive to Almeria today was quite exhausting, as I now notice the small temperature differences and every degree more is now one degree too much. The heat further north was already unbearable, but down here it's even more extreme, especially a bit further in the interior. I made a stop in Mojacar to have lunch and this city is worth a visit.

Tomorrow I will continue to my last stage, to Granada, which is a bit further inland and I am curious, because many people rave about the city.

That's it for today, the rest of the story will be told by the pictures as always :)

Good night guys!! I'm tired! :)