What´s on at Polaris World Resorts and region of Murcia,Spain. What to do, where to go, events, festivals, fiestas, golf offers and competitions and much more
The closest is in Los Alcazares/San Javier, near the Airport. Click the picture below to go to their website.
There is a cafe-restaurant there too. To get there head for the Airport but at the last roundabout before the airport turn right and its a little further down there, next to Discoteca Mana. Prices start from 6 euros and they different karts for different ages.
There is also a Go Karting track on the way to Cabo de Palos /La Manga Golf resort. They have a again a variety of different karts including dual Karts for smaller kids and an adult, or dual karts for 2 adults! Click pictures below to go to website and see more pictures.
Prices start from 8 euros and there is a cafeteria on site. Open 10.30 am till 12.30am.
Follow the signs to la Manga ( MU-312) and just before Cabo de Palos is exit 13 . The Go Karting is right next to the MU312.
Not got alot of time and want to see as much as you can, well there is a tourist boat and a tourist bus, both are approximatly 1 hour and can give you a great taster of Cartagena. Will also keep the kids entertained!
The Tourist Boat which you can get, which takes you around the harbour. This costs 5.75 euros and leaves from the marina port, It goes out of the port past battlements and castles and cala cortina, and gives you a great persepctive of Cartagena.
Throughout August You can do an "Evening Boat" which goes on Thursdays and Fridays at 8.30pm and has live music on board. Cost is 12 euros. For reservations call 968500093
The Tourist Bus which takes you around the city. Cost 4.25 euros. Under 3´s are free.
Whilst in Cartagena the other day, we nipped down to Taperia Casa Tomas for some breakfast. This place is superb, so I grabbed some more pictures for you to see. As we were there for "second breakfast time" we were sat to the far end of this picture, as the rest of the outside area was set up for lunch.
Inside there is seating and a bar area. And the bar area is just covered with tempting looking Tapas.
And cold meats.
We had a "racion de pan tostada con tomate" which is french bread toasted, you then drizzle olive oil on it, add the chopped tomatoe and sprinkle with salt....It is also rather scrummy with Jamon serrano on it.
The Tortilla on the counter was far too tempting for my friend to resist (see proof below) and she had her first taste of Tortilla Española here.
Tortilla Española is an omelette made with potatoes, eggs and onion, very scrumptious and is sliced like a cake and served with bread. Sometimes it has vegetables in.
This place serves a delicious 3 course meal, which includes a salad, starter, main, pudding, bread and a drink or coffee for 11 euros.
They also do a Tapas menu.
Service is quick and friendly.
It is real Spain though, so you may need to bring a dictionary with you!
The radio station "40 principales" (in English this means Top 40) is on tour at the moment and is hosting a free concert down at the promenade at Santaigo de la Ribera (Explanada Barnuevo) on Tuesday 3rd of August.
Starts at 10.30pm until late and will play the most up to date music with a live performance of the Spanish pop group Taxi
The Explanada Barnuevo is easy to find, coming from direction San Javier, keep going straight until you hit the water!
Cartagena was originally named Carthago Nova by the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal in 228BC. It was the first of a few towns around the world to eventually be called Cartagena.
It is a beautiful city with lots to do and see, and equally as nice just to go down grab a coffee and watch the world go by.
It is also a great place to go with kids, as lots to keep them occupied. In this post I will keep a running list of all the posts I make about Cartagena so you can find all the information in one please.
1)There are ruins and castles, museums and monuments, to see information about them all click on the picture below
2)The best way to get a taster of a city is to do a guided tour.
The city is doing Free guided tours of modernist Cartagena on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Click link for more info.
They also have the following tours (paid) from monday to fridays, call 968500093 to reserve
Route 1- Cartago Nova secrets (Tuesdays, Thusdays and Fridays)
Roman Theatre Museum, Fortune House, Augusteum, Punic Wall
Cost: 12 euros for approx 3.50 mins. Starts at 11am at Roman Ampitheatre Route 2 - Cartagena defensive (Wednesdays and Mondays)
Panoramic lift, Concepcion Castle, Civil War Museum, Tourist boat, Navidad Fort
Cost: 15 euros for approx 3.50 mins . Starts at the Panoramic Lift.
3) Or you could see Cartagena with a difference and do a Segway tour of the city. 20 euros for a 45 minute tour or 35 euros for a 90 minute tour. For more info and bookings go to http://www.ocioenmurcia.com/site.php?lang=en
We went down to see the "Cucaña" where there have a greasy pole directioned out to sea and the local lads try to walk to the end to grab the flag and then they win a leg of ham.
The start of the festivities was a huge BANG of a firework.
The pole was coming off the end of the ferry and the spectators were bobbing around in the sea!
And then the boys started trying to walk the greasy pole....
They would inevitably lose their balance and... fall with a splosh into the sea and have to do the walk of shame back through the bobbing spectators Some did manage to hang on .... literally ;) and occasionally some got soooooooooo close that the bobbing people cheered and oohed and arghh just like when a golfer misses the hole by a milimetre!
Finally one lucky lad did manage to make a flying leap whilst falling and took the most sought after prize!
I chased after him around the resort, until he stopped outside the towncentre.
I had a chat with the driver and he said that it is running around the resort daily till 6pm at the moment. It is free until monday 26th July and then there will be a small charge.
It may run later into the night.
But at moment, goes from towncentre, round past hotel, up to supermarket, then down Denton to the school, then up Cazon back to the towncentre.
I pressume you can just flag him down.
Lovely Spanish driver
Great facility
Please support it.
As I get more info will post it here and on the La Torre Golf Resort post
After being grounded for 5 days, while the community saw the little trains permits, seemingly it is up and running again!. More info to follow tommorrow re price and train stops.
Sunday the 25th of July is the day of the Patron Saint of Spain, Santiago Apostol.
Santiago was one of the twelve apostols of Jesus. According to tradition, Santiago came to Spain to spread the word of Christ, in the 1st century AC, at first he wasn´t well received but after seeing the aparition of the Virgen in Zaragoza,and from this moment Spain opened its heart to Christ.
Santiago , is the patron saint of the town Santiago de la Ribera, so lots going on.
At 8am a band will march through the streets, at 11am there will be a mass at the Santiago Apostol Church, at 12.30 there will be a "cucaña" as this is held by the sea, the greasy pole will not be straight up but across the sea! and contestants have to walk along it, without falling off! prize will be a leg of ham and a trophy! To see more pictures of this event click the picture below.
Bullfighting and the running of the bulls are something deeply rooted in Spain, It is obviously not everyones cuppa tea, but if I am going to write a blog on what to do in and around the area, then if we have flamenco we have Bull running. I hope this entry does not offend anyone.
In Spanish it is called ENCIERRO, and has been a tradition in Spain since the 14th Century, but when Hemmingway attended an ENCIERRO in Pamplona in 1920's and was so overwelmed that he wrote "The sun also rises" (which launched his career) This put Pamplona Bull running on the map.
The bulls are let loose on the streets and men run in front of them to show their bravado, quite often a few of the men get gourged or trampled on.
The most famous one is held in Pamplona, and you can see a video below.
Throughout Murcia various ENCIERROS take place on a much smaller scale to the one in Pamplona.
The town of Blanca, holds their ENCIERRO on the 13th and 14th of August 2010 from 12 o´clock .
Cehegin hold ENCIERROS too on the 6th, 7th and 8th of August, from 9.15am, Also on the evenings of the 7th and 8th there are bullfights from 7pm to 9.30pm, information to reserve tickets and prices for the bullfights are on the poster below, click to enlarge (sol is in the sun, sombra is in the shade)
In Murcia city at the bullring there are bullfights on from the 9th to the 19th of September, starting at 6.30pm, booking information and location can be found here http://www.plazatorosmurcia.com/
When I lived in Mexico I taught English in multinational companies to Mexican executives with very little time to study. As people get older they believe it is more difficult to learn. This is not true, the only reason it is more difficult is that we have less time than a child does. So try and incorporate learning into your daily activities.
You can practise singing to this Youtube video!
1) Aim to learn 10-20 words a day, write them on a piece of paper or card (by writing them out it will help you remember, do not print) carry this around with you all day and stop for a second every so often when you have a coffee break and read them, just before you get in the car to drive somewhere look at them and then practise as you are driving, when you get home on an evening test yourself and any you dont know, pass over to the next day
2) Post it note the whole house up. Get a load of post it notes and write down the word for as many things as you can that are in your house in spanish) stick them to the items, so for example stick on a door a post it note saying " puerta" . Now every time you go past it, you will subliminly read it and learn it. As you learn a word then write a phrase underneath, so add " abre la puerta" ( open the door) to it
3) When you watch a dvd, put spanish subtitles on
4) When you are here in spain always order in Spanish and push yourself to ask questions and strike up a conversation, its free! and spanish people love it if you try to speak their language! Check my Restaurant guide out for places to go and get superb food and practice your Spanish http://polarisworldandbeyond.blogspot.com/2010/07/restaurants-in-region.html
5) Advancing a little now, grammar and verbs, sorry there is no fun way to learn these, you just have to do it the old way. The best books I have found are the "practice makes perfect" range
Learn your verbs
Conversational spanish
Basic spanish
you can purchase on amazon on above link
6) A trick to learning a verb or grammer, is buy some A2 card and write the tenses on it that you are learning, stick it on a wall near your tv and on an evening everytime a commercial break comes on read the grammar on the piece of card. Also before you drive to work, read it while having a cuppa, then practice as you drive to work
C - is inbetween a Z and a TH if before an E or an I, otherwise it is like the C we all know
So try and say CINCO (five) you would say it like THIN-CO
G - is very much like the scottish CH in loch before an E and an I or like a gutural J other letters
H - is invisible - doesnt exist - so Spanish people would call Harry potter - Arry potter
J- These are like the Scottish CH in loch again, or like a gutural H,
Ñ - is called NYE and that is how its pronounced NY . So Mañana (tommorrow) is pronounced manyana.
LL - this is between an y and a J , almost like a soft J. llamar (to call) is like Yjamar
Q is like K
RR is a scottish roll of the R´s -practise with the word regrigerator!
V - is very soft- almost undistinguishable from B
W - hardly exists in spanish so is very much like a V
8) Learning numbers - in everyday life there are numbers everywhere, so as you are driving, test yourself with number plates and road signs, in everyday life test yourself with phone numbers ect...
Here are the basics to get you started
1 - uno
2- dos
3 - tres
4 - cuatro
5 - cinco
Hola - Hello
Adios - Goodbye
Gracias - Thankyou
Buenos Dias - Good morning
Buenas tardes - good afternoon
Si - yes
No - no
Naranja - orange (pronounced naranha)
Limon - lemon
Coca Light - diet coke
Caña - small beer (pronounced canya)
Tanque - large beer
Vino Blanco - white wine
Vino Tinto - red wine
Vino Rosado - Rose wine
La cuenta - the bill
If any of you go to a class here in Spain that you can reccomend then let me know the details and will post it on here.
There is a great choice of beaches and coves around the region of Murcia, the closest to the resorts are those on the Mar Menor saltwater lake, but there are also some great coves and beaches on the mediterranean sea.
MEDITERRANEAN COVES AND BEACHES CALA CORTINA This little cove is a couple of minutes drive from Cartagena, and used by the locals, who you will see cycling up or walking up to spend the day or the afternoon. Ideal if you spen the morning in Cartagena, followed by a 4 course "menu del dia" and then nip round here for a siesta on the beach and a dip. Below are some pictures of Cala Cortina I took on Thursday 29th July 2010.
The Cove has protection nets at its entrance.
It has disabled access, toilets, shaded areas and a great seafood bar/restaurant.
Great place for a spot of snorkelling with the kids too.
A protected beach, which offers various coves with a stunning mountain back drop, The Regional Park of Calblanque is unspoilt, so there are no bars or retaurants, and limited lifeguard facilities, just virgen beach. This beach is one of the few you are allowed to take dogs down to, keep to the lower end, where you arrive or you may see the odd naked person, as further up is a nudist area!
Below is a picture of my dog on Calblanque so happy he is levatating.
Directions: Head towards Cartagena, then take the MU-312 to La Manga, after you have passed 2 red petrol stations either side of the road, and passed the turn off to Los Belones and La Manga Golf Resort, keep your eye out for a sign saying "Via de servicio Calblanque" take this turning and keep going, you will hit a fork on the road and the easiest for your first time is take the right hand fork, which will take you down to a parking area, for the more adventurous, take the left! the road is a little bumpy but worth it.
Great place for bird watching too!
THE MAR MENOR BEACHES
The Mar Menor, which means "Little Sea"is a salt water lagoon, which is approx 170 square km´s and offers a very safe place to bathe with 70km´s of beach, the waters are warmer and clearer than the med as they do not exceed 7 metres in depth and close to the beach are shallow. Separated from the mediterranean by the La Manga strip (not to be confused with La Manga Golf) this makes the water calm. The salinity content is quite high (so good for floating!) and is a great place to learn water sports
Throughout the summer, there are inflatable fun areas on the sea along the Mar Menor, it varies year from year, great fun for kids (there are inflatable rock climbing walls on the sea) and bumpy castles.
The Mar Menor is known for its curative properties and up at Lo Pagan there are the Mudbaths. Where you can have a treatment for free and then chill out on the beach, the mud is beneficial for skin complaints, arthritis,reumatism,softening and making skin feel silky and also incredibly funny and laughing and smiling is the best tonic!
The mudbaths are located in Lo Pagan, where the mar menor touches the Saltflats. Take the AP7 direction alicante, then follow the signs to Lo Pagan.
See here for a street map view, it is interactive so you can turn and navigate your way along the beach front!
Basically you walk up the pier next to the windmill, and the mudbaths are on your left, there are littl piers, you need to take a container, as you walk down the stairs off the little piers into the water and the mud is on the ground, you can feel it with your feet when you find a patch, scoop some up, then take the container full of mud back to the pier and apply all over.
Then you wait for it to dry, you can walk the pier as this goes right out to the end and there is a cafe, but I think that is a 5km walk, or you can just walk to the next windmill which is 2.5kms there and back. Or you could just sit it out!
Then once dry, you need to wash it off in the water, the water is so full of saline that you float.
On the opposite side of the pier is the Mar Menor, so you can spend the afternoon on the beach, and have lunch at "Restaurante Los Molinos" which is just across the road, and one of my reccomended places to eat. See here http://polarisworldandbeyond.blogspot.com/2010/07/restaurants-in-region.html For more cove and beach ideas click here
Kids can get bored very easily, but there is tons and tons going on which will keep them entertained.
On the below link I keep adding to the list of activities in the local area, from segway tours to quadbiking, rafting trips and boat trips..... At the Grand Designs house "Casa Pedrera" they also have activities for younger children including pony rides, or closer still go up to Peraleja golf for a pony ride.
The coastal towns of Santiago de la Ribera , San Pedro de Pinatar and Los Alcazares have quite alot of activities for kids going on, and I am keeping adding to this entry as I find out things
If the kids are older (teenagers) then a trip to one of theses beaches and coves would interest them, Cala Cortina is great for snorkelling and jumping off rocks, and the mudbaths at Lo Pagan are entertaining, check below for pictures and more info
Head down to Cartagena, there are castles, ruins, museums, boat trips and much more, you could finish the afternoon off at Cala Cortina beach . Click below for things to do in Cartagena.
Peraleja Golf Resort has opened their Horse riding facilities and also their Spanish Tasca. Both are very reasonably priced and are local.
They offer horseriding lessons for all the family, adults and children alike. Also for experienced riders there are outings into the protected environmental area that surrounds Peraleja Golf.
PRICES
1 hour with or without teacher: 15€ 8 hour vouchers with or without teacher: 100€ (Valid for 3 months) 18 hour vouchers with teacher: 200€ (Valid for 6 months) 1 hour outing: 20€ Annual season ticket without teacher: 1200€
The old spanish Tasca is a delightful place with superb views across the riding area and down to the sea, by night the horizon is lit by the seafront lights!
They have seating inside and 2 small private rooms which can be booked for groups. There is also a log fire for those cooler winter months.
Outside is a covered pergola with seating. They serve tapas and mediterranean cuisine at very reasonable prices.
OPENING HOURS
The restaurant is open:
Tuesday to Saturday: 11:00 to 24:00h Sunday: 10:00 to 17:00h Monday: Closed
The riding school is open:
Tuesday to Saturday: Morning: 10:00 to 13:00h Evening: 17:00 to 21:00h Sunday: 09:00 to 14:00h Monday: Closed
Throughout most of the summer there seems to be something on at this gorgeous beachside town. Most of the activities take place at the "Explanada Barnuevo" Which is basically the seafront.Coming from San Javier Just continue down straight until you hit the Sea.
With the festivities of the Virgen Carmen coming to a close tommorrow, at 9.30 am there is a maritime procession where they take the virgen out to sea! On the evening there is Gran Fiesta with a mobile disco on the seafront at 10.30pm
From the 19th to the 23rd of July from 7pm to 9pm it is "the week of beach fitness" down on the seafront!
Thursdsay the 22nd the band "Parrandboleros"will be playing at the seafront from 11pm
And on Saturday the 24th of July there will be a party at the seafront with the group BUDU Starting at 10.30pm
On Sunday the 25th of July celebrating the Santiago Apostol.There will be a procession at 9pm finishing with a verbena at the seafront with SHOWBAND ORQUESTA playing
And on the 8th of August there will be a gathering of Classic Motorbikes
Los Alcázares is just a short drive away, and a great place to go for dinner or to chill out on the beach. The word Alcázares is very difficult for people to say when they first come over, and people often resort to calling Alcatraz or Alka Seltza. But actually means Palace in Arabic! The easiest way to learn how to say it correctly is by stressing the sylable "ca" = al CA zares.
Throughout the year there are some great fiestas and things going on.
The Restaurant Encarnacion (description of how to get there on link above) is an old Spa hotel and is beautiful old building, well worth going down just to have a coffee and look. On the 29th of July and 5th of August they will be having Jazz Musicians in the inner patio from 8pm onwards. Entry free until full.
Circus Quiro in Los Alcazares 29th-9th August
for more info click the picture below
On the 8th of August there will be processions with bands playing, at Punta Calera in Los Narejos (los alcazares) at 6pm in honour of "The Patron Saint of Angeles", at 7pm there will be a mass with a procession, a firework display will finish off the festivities. (As far as I can see, Punta Calera is around where the Hotel los Narejos is and running down to the beach)
CHILDRENS GAMES AND ACTIVITIES IN THE SQUARES- AUGUST
There will be a variety of childrens games and activities, including varios workshops making summer ornaments, painted salt, facepainting, recycling, costumes, clay, traditional games, ballon crafting.... From 6pm to 8pm
Plaza del Espejo: 2nd to 6th of August. Plaza del Espejo: 9th to 13th of August Plaza del Ayuntamiento: 16th to 20th of August Plaza del Ayuntamiento: 23rd to 30th of August As a finale there will be a fiesta in the plaza del Ayuntamiento in los Alcázares, on the 31st of August from 6.30pm to 8.30pm
There is a cafe-restaurant there too. To get there head for the Airport but at the last roundabout before the airport turn right and its a little further down there, next to Discoteca Mana. Prices start from 6 euros and they different karts for different ages.
They offer horseriding lessons for all the family, adults and children alike.
