After almost a year of having the idea, planning and saving up, I’m finally here. Arrived on the 3rd of October and have been here for almost a week, which I’ll try to sum up here.
Beginning of the journey
October 2nd. Started from Subotica, took a bus ride to Szeged, then a train ride to Budapest. Since my flight departed the next morning I crashed at the place of my dear friend, who I also invited for the trip in exchange for the night over, and she accepted for the first week. In the early morning we went out to the airport and headed for Madrid.
After spending a few hours walking around and having some rest, we finally got to one of the more exciting connections, the high speed Renfe AVE train to Murcia. I was curious about high speed trains for a while now, how stable they are, how quiet they are, etc. I have to say, they are absolutely perfect. For most of the route we had a cruising speed of 297km/h according to my phone and if it wasn’t for the A/C it would have been whisper quiet all the way through. Legroom is huge, at least in the Elige Confort seats, probably not much worse elsewhere either.
As we arrived in Murcia we were greeted by the chauffeur from mitaxi (they had my name on a tablet and everything, very premium) and finally began the last leg of the journey to La Manga del Mar Menor.
Base of operations
Arrived just a bit after sunset, we excitedly rode the elevator to the 14th floor of our building, and saw the flat for the first time. The views are every bit of breathtaking as advertised. Huge terrace with great look over the whole strip, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea and the Mar Menor. Another terrace looking the other way, opening from the bedroom. Ready to use kitchen, decent sized bathroom, two beds in the bedroom, another couch in the living room, absolutely livable. Even the internet is fast, symmetrical 500Mb/s fiber.
The location is great too, there’s a Spar convenience store just 300m from here, another one a bit further along. Across the road there’s a complex of restaurants and other establishments. The month being October, some of these are closed, but the good ones are still receiving visitors. Hell, the whole strip is like a ghost town at night. Some lights in the multi-story buildings are lit, but most are dark and closed up for the winter.
To the lighthouse and back
Apart from laying on the beach, trying to swim in the waves, and going to restaurants, there are a couple of sights worth seeing. The main one being the lighthouse at Cabo de Palos. We decided one day to take this adventure by riding a bus up there then walking back home. It messed my feet up a little, but worth every minute. The lighthouse itself is probably more attractive at night, but there’s a lot of avian wildlife to see there too, not to mention all the little gulfs along the shores, ready to explore by scuba. If that’s your thing, that is. Interestingly this part of the strip is more densely populated, but just isn’t as nice as our part. It also is way more expensive. Even the restaurants were mostly closed, it took a good while until we found something for our liking.
Da Sebas
Da Sebas is a pizzeria/restaurant in that complex I mentioned before. It’s one of the very few that does whole grain pizza bases, so it was essential we try it. As everything, absolutely amazing. Foods great, staff even better, atmosphere through the roof, zero other guests. Seriously, if you’re in the area, you should try it. Beware, it might lead to addiction! We’ve been here twice, both times had a great evening.
Goodbye
The first week lasted until yesterday. She had to go home. I was dreading this day. We rode the bus up to Murcia, as we had some time until the train left, we went to find some food and drinks. The city itself is not very nice. It’s as glamorous as any Eastern-European block city. Loud, lots of cars, trash on the ground, etc. The train station is also under (re)construction, so the whole place is swimming in dust. There’s at least a cafeteria where we waited for the train. So desperately sad…
Anyway, I found some authentic little Spanish streets when she left, and some good-looking parks too, but I still wouldn’t stay here more than a day.
This pretty much sums up the last week or so. I have three more, not entirely sure what I’m going to be doing, some further planning is in order. Now to fire up that big, scary washing machine…
