A new cruise on a new ship, I’m on Aurora for a month and our first port was Cartagena where I escorted the tour a Tale of two cities, visiting Cartagena and Murcia

Murcia is about an hours drive from Cartagena passing lemon and olive groves plus lots of agriculture.

Our guide Christina was from Murcia and very proud of her heritage and culture

Our first stop was the Sanctuary de La Fuesanta high on a hill outside Murcia which was a very pretty Church with great views. Our guide has to put money in the meter to turn the lights on!

Then we headed into Murcia for a walking tour of the city which mainly concentrated on the cathedral which was very grand and typical of other Spanish Cathedrals with lots of small side chapels

After a long time in the cathedral we headed back out stopping outside the casino and made our way back towards the river for a drink in a local cafe

We were extremely lucky with the weather. It had rained heavily for over a week but we had lovely warm sun. The rain had left the river very murky though

Back on the bus we stopped for a quick tour of Cartagena where we ended up at The Gran Hotel that is now a bank

Cartagena is a really pretty place, I’d have loved longer to explore here and next time I visit I think I’ll just wander round the town

There’s lots of public art and sculptures including a fab whale tail in the harbour and lots of mosaics that I’d love to have time to explore.

The guide also told us about local tapas and a sweet one made using a lemon leaf, which you don’t eat, so I’d love to sample that