Cartagena to Villajoyosa - 38 07.98N 00 23.03W

ALKIRA
Charles & Maggie Bevis
Tue 17 Jun 2014 13:13
Seems like we forgot to mention a couple of things in the last blog, which I shall put right now, before we forget them altogether.

We were thrilled when, shortly after leaving Almerimar, we had our first encounter of the season with a large group of very big dolphins, who came to play with us for a time. A mature group as best we could tell, with one particularly huge individual, our guesstimate being he was some 8-10 ft in length, that's 2.2 - 2.5 metres for those who prefer (understand) metric measurement. Anyway, he seemed to be the leader of the pack and stayed with us for the longest time, performing some marvellous leaps for us, as all good dolphins shows should. We had more sightings of dolphins whilst en route that day, but none matched up to the first group.

Our dinner last night was very good indeed. Our route to the restaurant taking us into what is probably one of the prettiest streets in the whole of Spain, namely Calle Mayor. With beautifully clean patterned marbled pavements, gorgeous cream coloured stone buildings dating back centuries, all in an excellent state of repair, well manicured garden areas with trees so big, their canopies seeming to reach out forever, with the bonus of providing excellent shade during the hot summer months. The shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, etc, were all well presented, together with lovely old restored apartments above them, almost all with very ornate wrought iron, some possibly wooden, balconies and big beautiful windows, just a gorgeous area.

There's so much history in Cartagena and it really was an extremely pleasant way to start our evening by wandering along Calle Mayor and, after dinner, wandering back again once darkness had fallen. We were both very glad to have visited Cartagena and when this Mediterranean adventure is winding down in a few years time (several years yet we hope), and we're on our way home, we shall certainly revisit this delightful port.

Whilst in the restaurant, we both had a strong sense of de ja vue, realising that we had been to a restaurant virtually identical to this one and that the menu looked virtually the same too. Then the penny dropped. When we were in Shanghai this last winter, exactly opposite the apartment we were renting, there was an Italian restaurant, which we visited on a few occasions, being impressed by the menu, the food quality, interior design and cleanliness. It was called Tagliatella, and so was the one in Cartagena! We then recalled a conversation we had had with the manageress, who had told us that she had been sent to Europe for training! Clearly a chain of restaurants, all with the same theme, but how strange to find ourselves in another Tagliatella, so far apart but so familiar too.

Good news! We left early this morning, approximately 06:30 and it was cool, overcast and the sea was lumpy. Not much wind either so engine on. Within the past hour, (15:45 as I write this), we are SAILING, averaging 6 knots, without an engine, the sea and sky are the most wonderful shades of blue, Charlie is about to put the kettle on, just doesn't know it yet, but once he's read this, we will be having our afternoon cuppa!

I think that brings us up to date now, so at this point I say all's well in our little world and TTFN.

Congratulations to Marie and Kevin on becoming grandparents! You're too young!!!

Belated happy 21st birthday to Sadie in Sydney, Australia. Good grief, it only seems like yesterday she was still at school and we had just visited.

Hope you had a happy 5X birthday Andy. We won't tell anyone how old you are next time, honestly!

Write when you can, you know where to find us.