We left the blue skies and heat of Spain and two hours later we were in
wet and windy England.
Thank you for all the good wishes. We had a much-needed break in south-east Spain, where we found absolute peace and quiet with sunshine as a bonus. We stayed at a friend's holiday apartment which is in a complex of 2000 apartments in Murcia. I am sure it is very busy in the summertime but we only saw 10 other people during the whole of our visit.
Since getting home, the internet connection has been very erratic, probably something to do with the fierce storms. So I will just post a few photos of our holiday and catch up with your blogs when the wind drops and normal service is resumed.
We had the use of two apartments, owned by our friend. We lived in the one on the ground floor, with this on our doorstep:
and we used the roof garden of the other apartment to look out on the semi-desert area that is being developed as a golf course:
Murcia is one of the least developed areas of Spain, almost unknown to tourists. It would be wrong of me to judge from a short off-season visit, but this golf resort development appears to have been hit by the recession or to be too isolated to attract investment. Perhaps it will all come to life next summer and the bar, restaurant and shops will be full of holiday makers. The vast emptiness and tranquillity suited me very well:
the central market place with its magnificent central pool and empty shops
the bar/restaurant was open but we were not tempted to dine in splendid isolation among yet more empty buildings.
Fortunately, the supermarket had a good supply of local vegetables and we lived, much as we do here in the summer, on salads and vegetable stews.
There are places of great historic interest in the region, in particular Cartagena, where we could have spent many days visiting the museums and archaeological sites but this was a few days for R&R, so we limited ourselves to the lovely harbour area:
where we saw a boat that definitely had our name on it!
We also spent a few hours in the city, which is also called Murcia. We visited the cathedral, which has a grand frontage but is very simple and prayerful inside, unlike the almost overpowering splendour of the cathedrals in other parts of Spain:
Not a touristy holiday, then but I managed to read 5 books and to complete 2 more scarves, so I feel rested and very pleased with my achievement - more of which anon.
