Where's Bertie? He's still at the Aire on the N side of Murcia.
Weather: Much cooler today (a cool and murky 10 degree start, then climbing up to 19).
The birthday boy got to choose what we did today and after asking for some options (which I gave him) he rejected them all in favour of staying here and spending another day in Murcia. A bit of Googling later and I'd come up with a couple of interesting-sounding things to do in town, and off we went for the tram.
The day unfolded very much like yesterday. Today we chose a specialist coffee house rather than a bar as our first stop and enjoyed an excellent cup of decaff along with a bit of tostada:
Went for jam today and after much deliberation our best guess as to the flavour was quince.
Yesterday's second activity was an audiotour of the cathedral; today it was an audiotour of the public rooms of the Casino, which isn't a casino at all, but a private member's club. Very grand, but not such good value, as we were done in half an hour. I fear that my photos do little to illustrate the grandeur:
The entrance hall was the most striking room.
Ballroom with enormous low-hanging chandaliers. They originated in Mexico, then spent some time in Paris before becoming the first electric lights in Murcia.
Ballroom again, capturing a bit of the (highly nicotine stained?) ceiling this time.
A recess off the main hallway, from where we watched, through a window, some of the action in the billiards room.
Our second cultural activity yesterday was the Museo de Bellas Artes; today it was the Museo Ramón Gaya - an artist of whom we had never heard, but the museum was well-reviewed and free, so we deemed it worth a look. It very much was worthwhile, displaying 100 works of this Murcian-born artist who lived from 1910 to 2005 and was active from his first major exhibition (in Paris) in 1927 until 2002. A talented chap, was the opinion we formed, painting in many different styles and media and on diverse subjects.
After swinging back past the cathedral square to look for somewhere for lunch, we decided that, as there had been a few restaurants where we had eaten yesterday, we would head back there. The problem was, when we came to think about it, we had no idea where that was. I considered the map, and took us off in what I thought was the right direction. After much wandering of the streets, we made our way to the Museo de Belles Artes, where we'd been immediately before lunch yesterday. Surely once there we would be able to retrace yesterday's route? Alas, no; we had no recollection as to where we had gone and, unfortunately, I'd cleared a collection of receipts out of my pockets this morning, so we couldn't look for hints there. More wandering of narrow streets ensued, but still it eluded us. Eventually I paused on a street corner and started studying aerial photography, zooming in on every sizeable gap between buildings, until I found the one that we immediately recognised as correct. We were standing 130m away and I reckon we'd passed it at that distance on at least three of its sides.
Surveying the available menus, the most appealing choices were at the same place as yesterday, so they got our custom for a second day in a row.
Mick's first two courses were *very* tasty indeed - a slow-cooked beef stew, followed by a slow-cooked chicken casserole. The pudding was both rich and huge; it nearly defeated me.
We waddled back to the tram, had the same nervous ticket-machine-wouldn't-let-us-have-a-2-zone-ticket journey as yesterday, then repaired to Ikea for an hour for drinks and internet. Both museums and big lunches are tiring, so by the time we wandered back to Bertie at approaching 6pm, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I don't think it will be a late night tonight!
Weather: Much cooler today (a cool and murky 10 degree start, then climbing up to 19).
The birthday boy got to choose what we did today and after asking for some options (which I gave him) he rejected them all in favour of staying here and spending another day in Murcia. A bit of Googling later and I'd come up with a couple of interesting-sounding things to do in town, and off we went for the tram.
The day unfolded very much like yesterday. Today we chose a specialist coffee house rather than a bar as our first stop and enjoyed an excellent cup of decaff along with a bit of tostada:
Yesterday's second activity was an audiotour of the cathedral; today it was an audiotour of the public rooms of the Casino, which isn't a casino at all, but a private member's club. Very grand, but not such good value, as we were done in half an hour. I fear that my photos do little to illustrate the grandeur:
Our second cultural activity yesterday was the Museo de Bellas Artes; today it was the Museo Ramón Gaya - an artist of whom we had never heard, but the museum was well-reviewed and free, so we deemed it worth a look. It very much was worthwhile, displaying 100 works of this Murcian-born artist who lived from 1910 to 2005 and was active from his first major exhibition (in Paris) in 1927 until 2002. A talented chap, was the opinion we formed, painting in many different styles and media and on diverse subjects.
After swinging back past the cathedral square to look for somewhere for lunch, we decided that, as there had been a few restaurants where we had eaten yesterday, we would head back there. The problem was, when we came to think about it, we had no idea where that was. I considered the map, and took us off in what I thought was the right direction. After much wandering of the streets, we made our way to the Museo de Belles Artes, where we'd been immediately before lunch yesterday. Surely once there we would be able to retrace yesterday's route? Alas, no; we had no recollection as to where we had gone and, unfortunately, I'd cleared a collection of receipts out of my pockets this morning, so we couldn't look for hints there. More wandering of narrow streets ensued, but still it eluded us. Eventually I paused on a street corner and started studying aerial photography, zooming in on every sizeable gap between buildings, until I found the one that we immediately recognised as correct. We were standing 130m away and I reckon we'd passed it at that distance on at least three of its sides.
Surveying the available menus, the most appealing choices were at the same place as yesterday, so they got our custom for a second day in a row.
We waddled back to the tram, had the same nervous ticket-machine-wouldn't-let-us-have-a-2-zone-ticket journey as yesterday, then repaired to Ikea for an hour for drinks and internet. Both museums and big lunches are tiring, so by the time we wandered back to Bertie at approaching 6pm, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I don't think it will be a late night tonight!
Many happy returns to Mick.
ReplyDelete