Cartagena

Our ship docked early this morning and Bill and I were on the ground in Cartagena between 8:30 and 9 o’clock. The pier is very near the town, so we were able to walk into the old city center.

I had worried that we didn’t have much time because the ship is scheduled to depart at 1:30. In fact, we had plenty of time. Cartagena doesn’t appear to be very big, and we walked through a lot of it fairly quickly.

We stopped at a supermercado to see what sorts of things the local people buy. The most notable things were the large legs of ham hanging on the walls at all of the markets. According to the guidebooks we read, the Spanish people are very proud of the Serrano ham that they eat – so proud, in fact, that they display it on the walls of carnicerias, markets and tapas bars. I was interested to see that they had quite a few American items in the supermercado. In particular, I was amused to see Pringles in flavors that we don’t have in the United States: paprika and jamon (ham). But they also had good ol’ sour cream and onion – apparently a universal favorite!

They sold wine and liquor at this supermercado, and it was fun to see the different types of wine. In addition to wine in bottles, they had wine in boxes like we have in the US. They also had wine in plastic liter bottles, looking very similar to the liters of soda that you can buy in grocery stores in the US. In addition to that, they also sold wine in little boxes that looked remarkably like the little juice boxes that my grandchildren drink. As Bill pointed out, the only thing missing was the little straw. Now, my sisters make fun of me because my taste in wine is so simple (unsophisticated they would say!), so it’s important for them to note that Bill and I did purchase the “juice box wines.” Three little boxes for one euro. What a bargain. And it was quite good. So there Ladies!

We stopped at a chocolateria (chocolate shop) called Valor, where we tried the chocolate and churros. They serve you very thick chocolate in a cup. The consistency is somewhere between hot chocolate and chocolate custard, leaning more towards the custard. The chocolate is served with a plate of churros, which you dip into the chocolate. It is quite good, but very rich. We ordered two and only needed to order one. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Bill leave half an order of anything chocolate. I had been interested in trying this particular Spanish specialty, and now that I have, I don’t need to do it again any time soon!

We were back on the ship by lunchtime, though neither one of us was particularly hungry with our stomachs still coated by the dark chocolate.

Tonight we must finish packing and have our luggage outside out door, appropriately tagged, by 11:30 p.m. Tomorrow we gather in various places, depending on the color of our tag, and must be off the ship by 8:30 or 9. Off to Barcelona!