Dearest Friends and Family,

I wouldn’t bother so much with writing this long overdue Chaligram, except for the fact that in my August ChaliGram I promised to send photos of the annual Roman Carthaginian Festival in late September as well as photos from our land travels. Although I DID post a few pictures on Facebook, I realize that not everyone is one Facebook. So! Here we are.

Even with the big buildup of the R-C festival, I have to say that we were rather blown away by the sheer numbers of local residents (at least 3000 or so! ) who dressed up and participated in the many parades, plays, battles and other spectacles over the course of 9 days. I was really impressed by the costume-ing, and was later informed by our Spanish boat neighbor that they were purchased by the town from Hollywood’s various Ancient Roman-themed movies of long ago. It looked like it. One of the climactic events was the BATTLE, and it was a doozy! One play that we went to was about Hannibal (the Carthaginian) trying to convince the local leadership that he should take the battle to Rome itself with his troops and lots of mercenaries (not to mention the elephants!) SO! for those of you familiar with the whole Hannibal crossing the Alps with his elephants story, you’ll be interested to know that he started from good old Cartagena! Unfortunately for the locals that were left behind, the Romans showed up in their ships not long after Hannibal left, (Cartagena offers a magnificent natural harbour!) so with only a "skeleton crew” left, the Romans took over Cartagena!

After the festival was over, our good new Aussi pals on both AnneCam and then later, ThorangLa left Cartagena. But…. Mark and Ginny showed up on “Lone Rival” so we made MORE new friends… Alas, Mark was heading up to Barcelona for the winter. So, life got a little quieter onboard ChaliVentures.

Towards the end of October, we “put the boat to bed” for the winter, hopped in our cute little FIAT 500 rental car and took off for Toledo, Spain (about an hour south of Madrid). Toledo, historically known for its excellent sword-making industry, was the first major center of the Moorish Dynasty in Spain to fall to Alfonso VI in the 11th century during the Christian "Spanish Reconquest.” And….for the next 4 centuries Christians, Moslems and Jews all co-existed peacefully, and to everyone’s benefit. The buildings and monuments still standing make Toledo a stunning place to visit! It was also one of the most advanced centers of learning during the middle ages! Sadly, Isabel & Fernando kicked out all the Moors and Jews in 1492 (the same king & queen who financed/sponsored Columbus)….after which things went downhill.

Next stop was Segovia, about an hour NW of Madrid: another beautiful medieval city in Castille which featured the last cathedral constructed in the gothic style in Spain. There was also an Alcazar (a Moorish fortress/castle) that was rebuilt in the 16th century in the northern European style by King Felipe II in honor of his Austrian wife. When you see the pictures, it might be slightly reminiscent of the Walt Disney castle. Indeed, it was used as the model! The most spectacular sight in Segovia was the 1st C. AD Roman Aqueduct that runs right through the middle of town! It carried water from a mountain river 17 kilometers away into the city with a final stop at the Alcazar. We took a day trip from Segovia to Avila, a beautiful walled city — walls built between 11th and 14th centuries — and sometimes referred to as the “The Most 16c. Town in Spain;" ITS cathedral was one of the FIRST gothic cathedrals in Spain with a construction date between the 11th and 12th centuries. It also boasts being one of the towns with the most gothic and romanesque churches per capita in Spain. This central part of Spain sure does have some beautiful historic towns!

We flew from Madrid to Amsterdam to visit our dear friends Albert & Ineke. They sailed their boat back to Holland last year, so we no longer have cruising reunions, but land reunions are lots of fun, too!!

SO! That’s the summary of our last 2.5 months in Europe. We arrived back in the States in mid November, and have been enjoying our family and friends since then, with multiple trips planned to see son Jonathan and family in Boulder, my sister Dori in Knoxville, TN and our other beloved cruising buddies, Martin & Sandy in Seattle. Before we know it, it’ll be time to head back to ChaliVentures in Cartagena! I wonder what we’re going to do and where we’re going to go THIS season!!! So many options; so many places. Do we leave the boat in Cartagena and hop on the train to do a LOT more land travels through northern/central and eastern Europe???? — Do we head west through the straits of Gibraltar and north up the Spanish/Portuguese coast (already been there) and cross the Bay of Biscaye to Atlantic France? and then north to the UK and beyond? Or indeed, do we head east again, hang out in the Balearic Islands, then Sardinia (again) then the west coast of Italy. There’s a town, Nettuno, that friends have stayed in for the winter, that is an hour to Rome by train and the town itself has a lot of charm…plus, the marina is right in the middle of town (our specialty!) Hopefully, we will solve this dilemma …. when we need to!

So, dear friends…. enjoy the photos and the first 2015 ChaliGram will be sometime in May probably. We already have a land trip to Granada planned.

the photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/chaliventures/ChaliGram144CartagenaToledoSegoviaAvilaHolland?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMC00ojY4KHQnwE&feat=directlink

Love, Alison, Chuck and Zoey