One of the great things about living on the Mediterranean coast is that even in winter you can enjoy some pleasant temperatures and blue skies. Doing short trips and excursions, one-day visits to different cities and all that without the need to be super warmly stuffed with clothes. When the sun comes out, you just want to take off your winter coat and it is an additional item in your hand that you have to carry. It is more practical to go lightweight and maybe just leave some extra clothes in the car if you think you will need them. This is how we went to Murcia, in February, enjoying mild temperatures and a sunny day.
It was possible as this city is not cold as it happens with Madrid for example. I remember last winter, we almost froze there. Ok, we didn't, I exaggerated but I assure you that I wished to wear warmer clothes than I had with me. Now I realize why some people were coming out of the Callao metro station, having earbuds and singing sotto voce, probably to bring back the blue sky there. But let's get back to Murcia. A city we already visited so many times. It is not so far away from the place we live, and the reasons why we were there were different. Two times as there were blockchain conferences (before we arrived at Hive, so it was not a Hive meetup, unfortunately), I think just once as tourists, without other specific reason and now as it was the wish of my son to go to Ikea. Lol, I know, I know, what a reason 😂, but he wanted a new office desk for his room and a few small items, and the closest Ikea shop is there.
But before shopping, visiting the city centre could not be left out. I almost know it by heart, its streets, buildings, the little river, the square and the Cathedral. But just look, wouldn't you also visit it? And there is always something unusual that happens here, so if you want, come with me on this city tour.
In front of the church, there is a wide square. Let's try to experiment to bring this square in an even wider angle. Well, the Cathedral was lucky, it is in the photo. The red building on the right was not of the same luck, it got a different shape than it is in reality.
The tower also seems peculiar in the next photo. It is like in a dream, or a different dimension when things can change their shape and buildings are not exempt from those transformations. They could move, walk, breathe, talk to us, or eat. I think the Cathedral's tower was very hungry and in the end, had a good meal before the photo happened.
That is all regarding weirdly shaped buildings, we are back to reality.
Let's enter now the sacral home, and see the musical giant - the organ. It was built by Joseph Merklin in 1854 in his Brussels workshops, as the website of the Cathedral of Murcia says. If you clicked the link you can also find a list of audio recordings of compositions that were played and recorded there (during liturgies and concerts).
From this cathedral, you can take a few streets to walk and look around. I like the buildings, as in the majority of the cities but also there are plenty of nice shops. As it is a bit pricy, I just pass by.
With one of the streets, you can also arrive at the river that flows through this city, The Segura River. It has several bridges, for example, one is The Old Bridge or Bridge of Dangers. This sounds better in Spanish: Puente de los peligros. Before you see the bridge and decide if would you like to cross it, there was a very nice building, with the inscription: Salus in Periculus. Salvation in danger.
If you are an adventurer, you could visit this city and get a real experience of how to cross this dangerous construction between the two parts of Murcia. You never know if some odd creature's hand would reach to get your foot while you are standing there on the Bridge of Dangers and enjoying the views. Not to mention the main feature, the creaky sound that is giving an exquisite feeling in your chest, something like between fear and excitement. Everyone would pay a huge amount of money to feel it, but the best part is that crossing this bridge is free. Yes. Well, there is a contract that you have to sign with your word, and in the small letters part, I saw that the bridge is haunted by some ghosts and they can catch the crossers-by. It is just a tiny price everyone would gladly pay for the unforgettable adventure. But I will show the bridge just from a distance.
And the next bridge you can see in this post is The Miguel Caballero footbridge, a lot younger and probably safer bridge than the dangerous one... but, I want to question the safety of this bridge right now. If you look in the middle of this huge river Segura, what do you see? Do you see the shark too? 😱 Or just the dreams arrived back, buildings changing their shape and sharks appearing in a little river? 😂
The river story ends here but if you would like to visit the theatre and enjoy more plays, I can help you to find the right place for it. That is the theatre, Teatro de Romea.
Learning about some coins is available in the Archaeological Museum of Murcia, through the exposition La moneda en la región de Murcia. We didn't visit the museum this time.
The last building that we can see on this tour is the City Hall. The clock shows 11 am, a moment that was caught in the city after experiencing all the other phenomena already explained in this post. Btw, today is April Fools' Day, so if you felt this writing is a bit strange, don't pay attention lol. Though I hope it brought a bit of laughter too ;)
