Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena, Spain     Sunday, March 29, 2015       Palm Sunday  

What a beautiful day! Sunshine and a high of 79! After a yummy breakfast, we walked down the gangway to the city of Cartagena. What a pleasant area for cruisers and locals to enjoy.  Lots of nice looking pleasure crafts to enjoy while walking down the dock.

 

 

The city of five hills clearly displayed old structures of defense on each hilltop.

A gorgeous plaza with tall palm trees adored the port waterfront.

 

Statues and flowering parks lead us to the Plaza de Ayuntamiento with quaint sidewalk cafes and numerous shops.

The architecture was splendid….so different from what is in the United States. The City Hall was a fine example of awesome architecture.

 

We passed by another outdoor Roman Theater ruins….those Romans sure got around and left some great things behind. This goes to show that they enjoyed being entertained. Who doesn’t? A band dressed in authentic ancient Roman costumes marched down the street toward us. Fun to watch! Chairs lined the walkways of the streets in preparation of Palm Sunday activities that were to occur later in the day.

 

 

We wound our way through some back streets and came across the Roman Forum Archaelogical Park….stacks and stacks of heavy stones from long ago, recently discovered.

This ruin was well protected with a roof covering.

 

Walking up the back streets we enjoyed the huge banyon trees that were flanking the Plaza San Francisco.

We continued on to the Casa de la Fortuna….the remains of a Roman home of the late first century belonging to a wealthy family.   

Incredible! Discovered in 1974 and opened to the public in 2004, the actual roadway was still in tact and extensive square columns leading into the entrance of the home were still standing.

 

Excavations provided kitchen wares from the house, money, lamps, weights from the looms and other items. The house had an atrium, three tiny bedrooms, a lounging dining room, a bathroom, and a representation room or office where the owner met with his customers. The kitchen was built outside of the house, to keep smoke from filtering through the house. We enjoyed the video about the House of Fortune. Most unusual was the intricate colored designs of red, black, and gold paint from the walls that had survived all these years.  What an interesting way of life way back then!

We walked back toward the ship passing by  the Concepcion Castle high up on a high hill right in the city.

 

We enjoyed a little liquid refreshment before heading back to the ship

 

 A view of the Zuiderdam from Cartagena

 

The Zuiderdam headed out to the Mediterranean Sea at 3:30pm. Another gorgeous sunset trailed behind the ship as we headed east passing between the islands of Corsica and Sardinia  to our next port of call, Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome).

                                           One more beautiful day.....and sunset!