Life’s an ocean with too much commotion

While I’m getting bored in my hotel room in Amsterdam, I might as well write a post about my latest travel experience. On this trip I’ve visited my mother, who was staying in Murcia (Spain).

The first day I’ve visited my boss and his wife, who was coincidentally also staying in the neighborhood. They prepared dinner for me and I had a pleasant staying! The next day my mother and I visited a hidden mountain lake near Alhama de Murcia. You can only see it when you go off-road, drive for about 10-15 minutes on an unpaved road, and suddenly.. it appears! During the trip, we got stuck in the mud and had to call a friend to pull us out of it. I’m not going into details here!

Next day, my mother took me to the abandoned silver mines near El Portus, in the south of the Murcia region. The Spanish authorities had it closed – not so long ago – because they couldn’t make it work-safe. Nevertheless, these silver mines are still publicly accessible and, if you really want, you’re able to jump into a mine shaft right away (I remember, we threw a stone into the shaft and heard it hit the ground after about ~15-20 seconds, crazy stuff). I like these abandoned places, it’s nice trying to imagine how things went when there was still activity. At the last silver-mine, a road headed to a bay full of squatter huts. They belong to fishermen and locals. It’s actually very cosy, the place is loaded with seats, little tables and barbecues. They are very hospitable, you can even eat some fresh fish with them.

We also visited Cartagena. It’s a city that lives of student activity and tourists, but I don’t get excited of it. There’s not that much you can visit. We walked on the ancient rampart of the city and passed the port. You shouldn’t stay longer than half a day here.

Also a highlight on this trip was Calblanque, a very large nature reserve. It’s a place not that dry and arid as usual in the South of Spain, lots of palm trees, rocks and small lakes, all due to the custom irrigation canals. It was also really quiet, you could walk for hours without noticing someone.

I liked it very much. I remember stepping on a dead little snake, but I assume/hope it was already dead before I stepped on it.

Playa Flamenca is a small maritime city with a Flemish bakery, so obviously  we had to visit it. We ordered a rice cake and a Blonde Leffe (yes here in Belgium you normally don’t order beer at the bakery, whatever).

On the last day of my trip, we went to the capital of the region, also named Murcia. It is very similar with Barcelona, but then in the South. Lots of little streets, students, small and big shops, bands and acts playing on every corner, great atmosphere! Too bad I didn’t have time to visit it again. Something for next year maybe.

When someone tells me he went on vacation to Spain, I always see the same image crossing my mind: sea, lots of tourists, very dry nature and paella. My mother managed to give me a very nice one-week tour of Murcia. This trip was a blast, and honestly I didn’t expect a single thing of it. A life lesson that counts..

You can view all pictures of this trip here: Flickr.