Our voyage to Alicante yesterday was not at all relaxing. When we started were beating into a strong wind and the sea was confused and when we eventually turned to a direction when we could sail we had the rolling waves sideways to the boat. By the time we arrived at the entrance to the marina at Alicante after a nine hour trip we also had ominous black clouds and soon after settling into the marina we had lightning and heavy rain. This was the first rain we have had on the trip so we can't complain about that.
We had stayed in Cartagena longer than planned but it was certainly one of the most interesting ports we have visited. On Monday night we went to La Marquesita for dinner and it was superb in every way. It is nestled in a tiny plaza at the top end of the main section if the city, with palm trees and the outside of the restaurant is almost completely hidden by potted shrubs, trees and flowering plants. These surround the outdoor eating area where the white- linen table cloths provide a more formal setting. The owner was a delightful host and the food was outstanding. Although the main menu is limited the specials board for all courses was extensive. We decided to share our entrees so that we could taste a variety and loved all of them - grandma's pâté served with tiny cubes of a citrus jelly, scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms and truffles and the tiniest whitebait in garlic butter. Michele had grilled octopus for her main course and the rest of us had oxtail served with perfect fried potato cubes. The dessert menu had a fabulous range to choose from but we only had room for sorbets.
On Tuesday we drove around the outskirts of Cartagena to investigate the harbour more. It is a huge natural harbour with the navy occupying a large area on one side with their own ship-building area and around the corner in the other direction, in another adjoining harbour is the largest gas and petroleum plant we have ever seen. None of this interferes with the classy town centre and historical areas. We also explored more of the vast pedestrian streets with very good shopping for everything. We stocked up on more of the goodies from the excellent bakery (in the street with the brick arches at the end).
Our dinner on the boat was as enjoyable as the previous night as we had great porterhouse steaks that Greg grilled on the barbecue plus Greg's famous Caesar salad, followed by caramelised figs with a vanilla ice cream containing macadamia nut brittle. Eating on board also does allow us to have a slightly earlier bedtime than when we go out to eat in Spain. It's just as well we had a bit of a rest before we set out for Alicante the next morning.
The sun is shining again in Alicante today and we are berthed right outside the marina office so we are in the heart if everything that is on offer here and look forward to exploring the town.