Driving to Cartegena

After breakfast in the hotel we booked a taxi to take us to the airport to pickup our rental car. We got directed to the wrong place by our taxi driver and if it weren’t for a staff member from another rental company we would still be there as the place was closed! We finally found the right place to find that we weren’t booked to pickup for another  2 hrs...the agent was very good and started the paperwork anyways. She wanted to give us a brand new car with like 6km on it and at first we were excited to take it until I asked about a gps...had to take a different car...oh well...gps was way more important 😁

If it weren’t for the gps we would still be at the airport...we had to have help changing the language to english too...We were in for a very long day . So the drive to Cartegena is about 2 1/2 hrs and the scenery reminds you of the Okanagan but more spread out. Lots of what I thought were orange groves. There were a couple of moments when taking exits...but we did ok...

We were told to put in the zip code to get to Cartegena which was fine and when we got closer we were to put in the address of our hotel. Pretty simple right? So with the zip code we ended up in a very very large field of lettuce...so then we found the name of our hotel and this took us to a residential area....I had taken a couple of screenshots of directions but from a different route and after driving around for a bit I tried to plunk in the name of a roundabout....oooh..now we got closer...we drove in circles literally because of so many roundabouts...poor Brent...upside it wasn’t Madrid! We finally spotted the hotel which was tucked away in a very small street...now the dilemma was how to get to it! OMG! We finally just drove onto what we thought was a pedestrian walkway which turned out to be driveable because of the hotel. 

Upon checking in we were given the choice to try and use the hotel parking or the public parking 2 blocks away. The one in the hotel is a lift and apparently it’s a very tight fit when you drive off.....really? Without even looking we chose the public parking lot. Our room wasn’t ready but we were able to leave our luggage and we went in search of lunch and a much needed drink!

We came back to the hotel to find our luggage had been delivered to our room...and the best part...is the huge balcony with a fantastic view of the harbor 😍❤️

The Holy Grail

Now I’m not a religious person but I do love to see the inside of a cathedral. They can be so beautiful and the Valencia cathedral is one of the best I have seen so far. We had headphones explaining everything which was very nice but don’t ask me to remember anything!

I was so awestruck when I stood before the Holy Grail...wow

We kept the walking to a minimum today and retraced some of our steps..like returning to the market! And you can always see something new..

City of Arts and Sciences

We walked quite a distance to see this...tuckered me out. It was such a contrast from the old town....so amazing! Felt like a Sci-fi movie!

...from this..

...to this!

...and beyond this was an aquarium....we stood in line to enter until we saw the price (32 euros...) we said it’s not like we haven’t seen an aquarium before..and so we changed our minds 

Oranges grow everywhere here...so Brent took it upon himself to pick one...yuck! so bitter!

We started the long trek back and stumbled across this restaurant that was just opening. We seem to be drawn to the Italian food. The waiter was so nice he helped plan our meal. Many breadsticks later and an aubergine appy out came the calzone and fresh made ravioli pasta. Sooo what we needed! Including the beverages and an after meal cappuccino and then he brought us a limenado....still need to figure out what that is but it was perfect. 

Laid down for a nap around 4ish...woke up at 1 ...and been awake since....groan...

Old Town Valencia

Spent quite a few hrs wandering the narrow streets admiring the architecture. Really wanted to see the Holy Grail at the cathedral but it was closed. I'm not religious but I just wanted to see what the hoopla was all about. The weather still had a bit of a chill in the air even though it hovered around 16° but still pleasant for exploring 

Came across this huge market...I am so envious  that they are able to grow vegetables so big!

Peppers bigger than my hands!

...and the wine is cheaper than water...so I tried my best to stay hydrated as advised 😁

I have left the dark side...cappuccino is now my new fav

It is said on some blogs that seafood paella is for tourists....so I couldn’t resist

...and Brent went with the chicken