Saturday, 27 December:
Nothing
really planned for today, so I just opted to once again stroll the mean streets
of Murcia.
Churros for Breakfast?
Deep
fried dough made right in front of your eyes only a two-minute walk to el
Jardin de las Tres Copas from La Hacienda. Why
not?
“And oh so good for
you too!”
As usual,
I headed to the city’s historic center to people watch and discover.
Plaza Circular
As near
as I can tell from my Tourist Office map of central Murcia, this is the
municipality’s biggest traffic circle.
There are
many.
The Plaza
Circular is beautiful with its fountain and greenery. Since tram-lines, busses,
cars and pedestrians all intersect around this plaza, you can sit in a nearby
sidewalk café and be entertained watching all of the near misses as people
decide who has the right of way.
To be
honest though, compared to traffic in Catania, Sicily, this is more like
watching a ride at Disneyland.
Sicily
was the home of offensive driving!
One of the Three Wise Men
It is
Gaspar I believe. Hopefully it is not Santa on a bike still trying to deliver
presents.
España’s #1 Department Store
This
place was a madhouse on Saturday. The products for sale are of excellent
quality but a bit too pricey for my simple tastes.
Speaking
of pricey, I walked into a nice Levi’s store on the Gran Via near this very El
Corte Inglés. A pair of new 501 jeans go for about $115 USD.
Laurie
may need to hit the Camarillo Outlet Mall’s Levi’s store and bring some with
her to España to help pay for our expenses.
I wondered what Mike, Vanessa
and Jacob were up to today?
San Miguel himself
I LOVE IT!
Not sure
who’s crest this is, perhaps it is Murcia’s?
No, not a Cuban Food Restaurant
After
completing my latest tour of la ciudad, I returned to La Hacienda having struck
out again at finding the proper TV cable to hook up to my TV.
Some
basic home entertainment would be nice.
Since I
had no TV capabilities at La Hacienda, I scoured the La Verdad newspapers to see what was playing in the local cinemas.
El Cine Rex
This plush,
one-screen cinema was only about a mile and a half walk from La Hacienda and
was located near the Cathedral. At 8:00 p.m. it was showing the movie version
of an excellent book that I had read last summer.
Invencible, a.k.a., Unbroken
The story
of the incredible life of Louis Zamperini has been made into a very good film
that I highly recommend to everyone. It concentrate’s mainly on his World War
II experience’s as first a downed airman set adrift on the Pacific Ocean, and
then the hardship he endured as a POW in the hands of the Japanese.
Cervecería
On the
way home after this inspirational film, I had to stop off at La Hacienda’s
local watering hole to debrief myself.
Sunday, 28 December:
The Real Casino de Murcia
Construction
of the eclectic Real Casino de Murcia began in
1847 and
became a mix of various architectural styles along the way. Four different
architects took turns leading the 45 years that it took to construct the
Casino. In 1983, it was declared a National Historic Monument. The word “casino” in this context means a “social meeting place” not necessarily a
place to gambling as many believe.
Although
this is a private club, the ground floor is open to the public for a fee.
Today
though, starting at 4:00 p.m., it was open to the public for free thus saving
me the three Euros that we Senior Citizens would normally have to pay to tour
the Casino.
Closing Time at La Mejillonera
I arrived
at the Casino about 30 minutes before the free entrance time so I opted for
some sustenance at this cozy little café-bar located next to the Cathedral on
Plaza Cardenal Belluga. A caña, some patatas bravas and a Catalan bocadillo did
the trick. La Mejillonera was closing at 4:00 p.m. on this cold Sunday and I
was ready to see the Casino.
Colorful Entryway
I wonder what lies beyond those
doors?
The Patio Arabe
WOW! I was blown away and it was only
the first room. I love the Moorish architectural influence emphasizing
geometric patterns throughout southern Spain. After seeing Granada’s Alhambra
two years ago, I became a fan.
The
Arabic writing that you see says the same thing over and over again, “Nothing Greater Than Allah.”
The Patio
Arabe’s luxurious neo-Nazari style is highlighted by more than 35,000 sheets of
gold leaf. Let’s take a look at more of this amazing room.
Arch
“Nothing Greater Than Allah”
Gold Leaf
Balcony Close-Up
I guess
that I needed to move on to see the rest of the Casino.
Let’s Start in the Galería Central
From here
the various rooms of the Casino that we were about to visit branched off on
both sides.
The Biblioteca Inglesa
So named
because when built in 1913 they used the plans designed by a British firm.
Biblioteca Inglesa’s Collection
The Congresillo
This is
an elegant, to say the least, sitting room for the upper class to meet on
social occasions.
Or the
elite could just traipse into the next room for a spin on the dance floor. This
Ballroom was considered to be the most important room for socializing in the
entire Casino.
Hey, is she on FIRE?
Patio Pompeyano
Why not?
The Patio Azul
Nice Yuletide Touch
Four Women in the Armory
There was
a time when fencing was the thing do in this room, today not so much.
All in
all, the Casino was quite impressive.
Now,
let’s take a look at my living accommodations, a.k.a.,
La Hacienda.
The Entryway
The Living Room
The Kitchen
The Bedroom
As stated
previously, La Hacienda is well located within easy walking distance of
shopping and most of Murcia’s main attractions.
While not
quite as sumptuous as the Real Casino de Murcia, it is cozy and meets most of
my needs.
The Louds, I have been remiss in not mentioning them sooner. These are my next door neighbors. The lady of the house only speaks in one mode 24/7 . . . FULL VOLUME!!!
Still, if
we could just find the correct cable to hook up the TV, finally get the
internet working so that I didn’t have to make the trip to the Bar-Café Gran
Via each morning to use their wifi and get the heater to work, then La Hacienda
would be perfect!
Speaking
of trips, with no practice on Wednesday due to it being New Year’s Eve, I’ve
got three straight days without any coaching duties after Monday night’s two
practices.
ROAD TRIP!!!
Now I
just have to figure out where to go? Valencia, España's third biggest city is just a couple of hours north of us, why not?
Reading
Is FUNdamental
There is
a reason that Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot is considered a classic mystery
character, a fun read.
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