Day 8 - (June 4) - Cartagena

Today, we docked in Cartagena at 8 am instead of 11 am so we couldn’t begin our excursion until 10 am at the earliest. We had breakfast brought to our room – which is a little bit smaller than the suite to which we got an upgrade on the South Pacific cruise but still features a small terrace.

We met our guide at the appointed hour to the Cartagena Roman Exploration. Cartagena is an interesting site because it has been shaped by five major civilizations beginning with the Carthaginian stronghold of Qart Hadasht to the Roman metropolis of Carthago Nova.

The city was founded in 227 BC by a Carthaginian general, and the site became the launching point for Hannibal’s famous war elephants. In case you don’t know about Hannibal – he as a Carthaginian general. In 218 BC who marched an army – including approximately 37 African war elephants – across the Alps to invade Italy during the Second Punic War. Apparently, the 16-day journey over the mountains shocked the Romans, though the brutal cold and harsh terrain took a heavy toll on his forces. 

The city was captured by the Roman general Scipio Africanus in 209 BC and was renamed Carthago Nova. It became one of the most opulent cities in Hispania, thanks to the local silver mines and trade. 

We visited the Roman Theatre of Cartagena (Teatro Romano de Cartagena), which was built between 5 and 1 BC during the reign of Emperor Augustus. Despite its massive capacity to hold up to 7,000 spectators, the site was completely lost to history for centuries. Get this – it was accidentally rediscovered in 1988 during routine urban excavations, making it one of the most surprising archaeological finds in modern European history. They are still excavating it. When you look at the photo, look at the height of the structure – everything that was excavated was in dirt at that height. It’s pretty amazing. Beth loved it, as she taught about it in theatre history – and she said the guide got all her facts correct. 

We had a tapas break near The Arsenal. We got one drink each and a small Spanish tortilla (potatoes and eggs) before continuing on our tour.

We did not get to go into The Arsenal, which is the Cartagena Naval Base (Arsenal de Cartagena), an 18-century military shipyard and logistical base for the Spanish Navy. It remains an active military site featuring protected industrial heritage (it was a major industrial complex by the 18th century), 18th century architecture and the Submarine Base. It is one of the oldest naval bases in Spain – construction began in late 1731 and was completed in 1782, during the reign of Charles.

Then we visited the Foro Romano de Cartago Nova, which is one of the largest urban archaeological parks in Spain. It is centered around the Cerro del Molinete and features some remarkably preserved ancient ruins. You can walk directly through the heart of the Roman colony. We did not visit the “museum” in which over 300 artifacts are housed that detail the history of the site but we did walk through The Curia, the local senate house with its original marble flooring. We also walked through the Colonial Forum, which was the political, religious and social hub of the ancient city. We say the thermal baths that they heated under the floor with hot rocks, and the sanctuary of Isis and Serapis, a sacred precinct dedicated to Egyptian mystery cults. The last portion of the site as the Atrium Building, which was a luxurious banquet and dining complex with towering walls and intricate ancient pictorial decorations, some of which have been preserved. It was kind of magical to look at them, knowing they’ve survived and ancient Romans painted them. 

It was an interesting tour – Debbie and Sandy accompanied us, so we stopped for a beer after the tour on one of the city streets. This is something we love about Europe – all the open-air restaurants and bars where you’re welcome to just sit around and converse, people-watch, drink. 

Back on the ship, we showered and got dressed to go eat supper with Jose. Jose invited us, Debbie and Sandy to join him in the Prime C restaurant (a specialty steakhouse). I had a New York strip, mashed potatoes and sauteed mushrooms; Beth had leg of lamb and veggies. The food was delicious, and the company was awesome. Among the five of us, we drank two bottles of wine and lingered for more than two hours visiting. It was a great evening.

Stopped by the stateroom to change clothes – well, pants. You have to wear pants and a collared shirt to the specialty restaurants). Put on our shorts and headed to The Living Room to participate in ‘70s Music Bingo. Sandy/Debbie joined us – we didn’t win anything but it was fun. We stuck around for the music but called it a night pretty early – around 10 pm.

Entrance to Cartagena. Notice the Roman-like wall to the far right - it used to be a walled city

A mural outside the Roman Theatre; might be hard to decipher but it's a Roman thing :)

A panoramic of the Roman Theatre

    

                                                        Yep, it's us in the Roman Theatre

Entrance to the Arsenal

Temple of Isis at Foro Romano de Cartago Nova

Sandy, Jose, Beth, Cindy and Debbie after a delightful meal and evening