Ancient crypt under the Punic Wall
On the morning of Day 18 (Friday) I learned, via a phone call, that the plan for our extraction, in the company of a nurse companion, involved a 3-hour ride by car to Valencia, a 3-hour flight to Frankfurt and a 9-hour flight to Miami. This thrilled me not at all. I believe the term I used to the travel consultant was “insane.” I tried to convince them that this itinerary would do more to kill Jett than traveling without a nurse. I tried to get an explanation as to why this itinerary was superior to a more direct one via Madrid, in the daytime, which would cut about 2 hours off of the flight times and would cost about $1000 less. Deaf ears.
In subsequent phone calls I learned that the nurse would arrive about 9 pm Saturday.
All of this was done while both Jett and I suffered through a day with severe head colds. We got out of the room (I should say rooms – more on this in a minute) long enough to eat lunch at a nearby cafeteria and dinner at the hotel restaurant but otherwise hunkered down and napped.
Dessert
I said “rooms” because all doubles were booked at the hotel for Friday night, so we had to stay in two single rooms. I was able to get a double again for Saturday and Sunday nights. Yes, we have a room for Sunday even though we will be stealing away at 1 am like thieves in the night.
Punic Wall
By Saturday morning our colds had improved a bit. We switched rooms at noon, then went out for a stroll and had lunch at a sidewalk café near the train station. After lunch we bought a couple of items at the nearby supermarket which was a very interesting place. Strange items (e.g., a package of baby eels that looked like worms – yummy!) and some very surprising prices (e.g., less than 59 cents for a baguette – a loaf of French bread).
After lunch Jett napped and I did some sightseeing, first visiting the Punic Wall, then climbing over 200 steps past the Cartagena Cathedral and up to the Castillo de la Concepción which has a museum and some panoramic views of the city. Finally I descended past the Roman Theater (very cool) and returned to the hotel for a nap.
The cathedral is a recent ruin – it was bombed in 1939 during the Spanish Civil War.
We went to a new café for dinner and Jett tried the tapas – a first (and probably last) for us. One of the tapas plates was sliced ham swimming in olive oil. Ew. For dessert Jett tried “Grandma’s cake” which was so sweet that we understood why Granny had no teeth. My custard was better, but bland.
We got back to the room by 8:30 pm and awaited the arrival of the nurse. She knocked on our door at 9 pm, right on time. Her name was Tish and she checked Jett’s vitals and we chatted a bit about Jett’s condition, what she would be doing for us on the trip back (pretty much everything, as it turned out) and about her nursing experiences in general. We liked her a lot and I am not saying that just because I gave her the blog address (Hi, Tish!).
She agreed that the 1 am pickup for a 7 am flight out of Valencia was insane and promised to try to get it changed. I wasn’t optimistic that she would be any more successful than I had been, but I was glad that she shared my view. If the plan proceeds, the trip Monday is going to be very difficult.
Panoramic view
Peacock at the castle
Ruins of Cartagena Cathedral
Theater from below
Street scene featuring cool streetlights
Ruins above the theater
Beautiful residence
Narrow streets
Roman theater