Puerto de Torrevieja to Cartagena

We left Puerto de Torrevieja at a reasonable hour as it was only about 40 mines to Cartagena, we had had a wonderful nights sleep and the holding was in excellent sand.

The day was warm and sky's blue which made a change from the previous day. The wind was mainly behind us. We sailed the whole way but not very quickly, it seemed a shame to put the engine on just to save a couple of hours but at the same time we had paid a huge fee to the marina so that we could explore the town. On the way we passed the mar Menor which contains a number of pretty ports but just as on the way out we didn't have time to go in.

After we had tied up the boat we crossed the road and the first thing we saw was a Roman amphitheatre, it was in a very sorry state with the local authority surrounding it with 1970's slums. It was a travesty and should never have been allowed to be spoiled but that's Spain for you. Money is far more important than culture so they have for the most part spoiled their heritage.

We then went to a local castle, which had a number of peacocks in residence. It was quite interesting but the history of the place is a disaster with the the town changing hands every few years, with invasions of Berbers, Moors and various other Spanish groups fighting for control. The population appears to have been exterminated on more than one occasion. During the time of the inquisition that found that all the Muslims were officially Catholics but practicing Muslims at home so they were all expelled. They also completely banished Jews forcing them to France or Italy.

After the castle we decided it was time to eat and managed to pick the worst restaurant in town! It didn't matter and no one fancied walking into town