May 4, 2022
Star Wars Day was overcast and rainy in Cartagena. We went on an excursion to Murcia, a city about 40 kilometers away to visit two churches and a place called a casino that had no slot machines, craps tables, or Texas Hold ‘Em games – it was a museum that had once been a private club for the well-to-do.
The day started off with a couple of drops of rain as we left the ship and boarded our bus. By the time we reached the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Murcia the rain had stopped, and we could see clearly now.
After driving about 40 minutes and being given 6 minutes for a bathroom break, we had 10 minutes to look around. That was barely enough time to snap the two pictures above and buy one souvenir. The Sanctuary is a popular place for weddings because of the old buildings – once a monastery – and the stunning views, but you couldn’t tell it by us. Ursula, our tour guide, incredibly knowledgeable, very excited about the history, and a very fast talker, shooed us back on the bus to take us to our next stop.
The Cathedral of Murcia dates from 1291, and like all of the old Catholic cathedrals we have been in, all of the small chapels have bars to keep people from touching the altars, the paraments, and the statues, but this one had more bars than we’ve ever seen.
Standing in the square looking at the Cathedral it started to rain and rained the rest of our time, in fact, until we got back on the ship.
Slogging through wet streets we went to the casino where we saw the room where the ladies gathered to refresh their makeup and the room where the men gathered to discuss politics. We were there about 30 minutes and then back on the bus. All together, it was not a satisfying excursion.
Back onboard we hung up clothes to dry, got a quick lunch, and a longer nap. After nap and before supper I began rehearsing for my last talk of this cruise, “Civitavecchia: The Ancient City.” Then it was time for supper. Two good appetizers – spicy tomato soup and Asian tacos, then chicken cordon bleu (more cordon than bleu) and tres liche for dessert. I just finished a second rehearsal, and then started to share some of today’s doings with you.
And now I will turn the keyboard over to my traveling companion.
Here’s Bonnie!
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RainRainRain!!!!
The tour was most unsatisfactory!! The young lady spoke two languages, Spanish and English with a VERY heavy Spanish accent. She could really twirl those r’s. I understood about one of every third word, maybe. We were given ear pieces to put in our ears and she had a microphone. The first stop was up a long windy very narrow road after a 45 minute to an hour ride, we got off the bus and were given 6 minutes to walk to the building with the bathrooms down the hill and we back for a 10 minute “tour”. We asked to go into the church but were told it was locked. But it wasn’t and we got about 2 minutes to look into it. I did manage to go into the gift shop and quickly make a purchase. Then, back on the bus for another 30 to 40 minute ride to Murcia. When we arrived the bus was parked in front of a government building on the street outside. We got off and were told that if we got lost the bus would be here and we would be leaving at 12:30.
We headed off towards the old town and the church. The rain started and stopped for about 20 minutes off and on. First we could only look at the church from the outside and then she said we could go in and walk around the inside and come back out. We had 10 minutes. At first when we went in we were to just walk around but then she started to talk and tell us some history. We walked around and she said we would go out this door but it had started raining harder and she said we would go out that door we came in. While all this was going on the rain poured outside. Several people got lost in the church trying to figure which door she meant because you couldn’t see her. Two of the people never did find us and they walked back to the bus and after a lot of talking finally got the driver to let them back on the bus.
Meanwhile we stood in the pouring rain under the umbrellas of some café in front of the church, she said we could take 5 minutes and get a coffee, not going to happen. Finally in the rain and all we walked down a street with water running down the middle and falling heavily to the Casino. She never really did say why it was called that because it was not a gambling establishment. Evidently this building was a part of the tour that was paid for. She did the necessary stuff and we went into all the rooms. Very ornate, lots of paintings and some statues, chandeliers, ornate furniture etc. In one room where we could not go into unless you were a member of the club you could see a group of men playing pool.
Finally as we got ready to leave we could go to a bathroom that was down a steep set of stairs before our ride back home. Then, back out into the pouring rain and flooded streets. We both had our umbrellas so the top of us stayed somewhat dry but the bottom part was wet. When we got back to the bus I took off my jacket that was wet and hung it on the seat in front of me. Not a very enjoyable tour.
Exhausted when we got back to the ship and going through security, of course I set it off this time, we headed to our room.
We met a nice couple who has been coming to Dad’s talks. Turns out he is a retired Baptist pastor and he had heard your Dad’s pirate talks on another ship. Dad and he had some nice talks while we waited in the rain. He showed them pictures of the Lego room and all the stuff.
Well, back on board headed to the 270 bistro. My day continued to be not pleasant. After getting the roast beef sandwich and getting a small container of mustard to put on it and walking back to our seat I dropped the mustard and it spread all over the carpet!! I went and found someone to tell and they said they would call housekeeping. When we left the mess was still laying where it had fallen. Sad face!!
Taking a short nap and just as we were getting ready to go to supper, the cabin steward brought us our clean laundry. Yeah. Of course they always put some kind of detergent that has a bleach in it and my white underwear is now a dingy gray. Wonderful end to a day.
For supper had a great bowl of roasted tomato soup, a tasteless salad, tiger shrimp which weren’t spicy and rice that was a gooey white mess and not the jasmine rice it was supposed to be. My fresh roasted vegetables turned out to be one cherry tomato cut in half and a tablespoon of shaved asparagus, yuck. My dessert was cherries jubilee that was sugar free, not much.
Okay. So he is finished studying for the night and it is 10 o’clock. We went to the windjammer after supper and got drink so we are in for the night. No shows for us tonight. The ship is rocky right now and it is to be in the high 50's and low 60's tomorrow. Hopefully no rain and I will get to set on deck 14 and crochet. We shall see.
Love you. Mom, Granny and Bonnie
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