We began our expedition on November 12th. Our designated itinerary was to spend 12th and 13th in Granada and 14th in Cordoba, and return back on the 15th. Following David’s advice, we stopped in Cartagena on our way to Granada and visited some historical sites for several hours. This was a good decision for we saw some Roman artifacts that offset overpowering Islamic and Christian history during the rest of our trip.
Before I begin this entry, I would like to remind you again that what I write in these entries might be much more information than you would like to know; but one of the main purposes of these entries is to keep as detailed journal of our Spain experiment as possible, so when we re-read them years later, they refresh our memories. Giving the limited resources (time, money and young age), I began to savior opportunities better now than I used to in my carefree years.
Additionally, I sometimes get disoriented with the references to the locations, so to better orient ourselves, let's put these locations in a perspective:
1. Valencia through Southern tip of Spain (Tarifa) is about the same latitude (39-36 degrees north) as Sacramento through Santa Cruz in CA; hence, the weather and climate are approximately the same.
2. Coeur d'Alene and Spokane are about 47 degrees and Vancouver BC 49 degrees north.
3. Boston is 42, NYC 40 and Washington DC is 38 degrees north
On the other hand, Kansas City and Valencia are on the same latitude with a completely different seasonal outlook! It is fascinating to see wide range of the weather and landscape differences among these cities despite their latitudinal proximity - wonders of geophysical make-ups.
Now that we clarified few kinks, we may move along...
Spain Expedition Trip 1 - Gandia-Cartagena-Granada-Cordoba-Alzacar-Albecete-Gandia
CARTAGENA
Not the one that inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write his made-into-movie novel "Love in the Time of Cholera!"Cartagena (pop. about 200,000) is located in the Murcia Province and about 145 miles south of Gandia. With its big naval shipyard, it is one of the most important naval seaports in Spain (others are Ferrol and San Fernando near Cadiz) and has been the capital of the Spanish Navy’s Maritime Department of the Mediterranean since Spanish Bourbons in 18th century. Despite its absence in a typical tourist itinerary (certainly not in the book "1000 Places to See Before You Die!"), this city is very rich with history and offers wealth of artifacts to learn about many civilizations passed by its soils.
Its landscape is drastically different than Alicante, which is only one hour drive north. My friend Pedro had warned me about how the land gets dry, sparse in vegetation and consequently boring as one travels south pass Javea. Although not as active, the mining industry has been one of Cartagena's main sources of income. Gold and silver were mined and exported in the past (especially during Romans and Carthaginians) and later replaced by lead, iron, copper, zinc and sulphur. The open mines were noticeable throughout the vicinity of the city. However, an article published by European Geosciences Union in 2005 (website http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/EGU05/06901/EGU05-J-06901.pdf ) notes the hazardous effects of heavy metals mined in this region to public health and environment.The city’s history dates back 3,000 years. Being a seafaring town similar to Alicante, Cartagena was a host to many (many) civilizations throughout its history. Punic (Punici -from its Phoenician ancestry: Latin term for Carthaginian) Cartagena was founded in around 229 B.C by Carthaginian Hasdrubal, and was called Carthago Nova or New Carthage, to differentiate it from the African city of Carthage.
Romans came in 209 B.C. (during the second Punic War, where the Roman commander Scipio invaded Cartagena and then destroyed it during the third Punic War) followed by Goths (I am curious about Visigoths and they are also in my list of investigations!), Byzantines and Arabs. It was conquered for Castile by Alfonso X in 1245, restored by the Moors and finally conquered by James I of Aragon in 1276. Because of its harbor, it was rebuilt by Philip II of Spain throughout the 16th century. In 1585, it was sacked by an English fleet under Sir Francis Drake. During the War of the Spanish Succession, it was occupied by Sir John Leake, the following year it was retaken by the duke of Berwick. In 1823, it surrendered to the French and back to Spain in 1844. The city was in ruins again in 1873 during the first Spanish Republic civil war ending with the proclamation Alfonso XII.
During the first part of the 19th century, Cartagena was economically slumped due to an epidemic. After improving its sanitary conditions and opening the railway in the latter part of the century, the city flourished. Cartagena's economy , somehow, was also affected by the 1898 Spanish-American War – I believe due to naval impacts and cessation of commerce. Ref: http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Cartagena,_Spain.
A good source of information on Cartagena can also be found at website http://www.discoveringcartagena.com/index.html.
In Cartagena, we visited el Castillo de la Concepcion (aka el Castillo de los Patos (ducks)
We could see the remains of two Roman theaters adjacent to the castle – however, one was almost completely buried under the bullring erected in 1854 (every civilization must have had the same idea about the spot: good place to gather spectators for theatrical work or carnage!).
The location of the castle was a Roman temple dedicated to Aesculapius (God of Health), a Muslim citadel and a medieval castle. During the Civil War, it was used to home the siren to warn public of incoming air raids. From the castle, we had the 360 degree panoramic view of the city and four other hilltops, where four more castles situated to defend the city. The 1,800-year old, 6,000-seater Roman theater, which 
was currently being excavated, laid majestically just next to its make-shift contemporary relative. On the opposite end, there was Muralla del Mar (sea wall) with the 18th century building complex of the Cartagena Arsenal, which includes the former Convict and Slave Quarters (currently used as polytechnic university and Naval Museum), the Naval Hospital, the Antigones Barracks and the Artillery Park.
From the castle, we walked to the harbor and had lunch at a restaurant on the seaside with clear view of harbor with docked boats and ships. I had seafood paella, Haluk and Dilara meat dishes and Yunus had sea bass (tasted great but was full of little bones - for most of the time, they don't seem to clean any nuisance from the sea animals before cooking). They were OK but not the best food we had and certainly not for the price they charged.Along the pier, we saw the display of the hull of Peral submarine. This submarine was invented by Isaac Peral (Spanish scientist and sailor) and launched in 1888. It pioneered new designs in the body, control and air systems. According to Wikipedia, its ability to fire torpedoes under water while remaining full propulsive power and control has led some to call it the first U-boat.
Then we walked through the city but did not have time to visit any other museums; although giving the city’s history, the Naval Museum could have been an interesting one to see. We noticed a large population of Northern African descendants through the areas that we passed (maybe due to its proximity to Algeria – I hear illegal immigrants from Algeria often land on Cartagena beaches). During our visit, there was a big book fair in one of the historical buildings extending into its gardens. We could not visit this event, too.Content with our decision of visiting this ancient city, we hopped in our car and marched to our grandeur destination.
Hasta en Granada. Adios.
Ayse
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