The Mothers visit started off quite well (apart from the BA flight to Alicante that was 20 minutes late and the baggage that took an hour to arrive) The problem was that one of the original reasons for the visit was to see the Easter Parades and the last night-time parade was that evening. We had planned on being able to get back to the boat, eat a meal and then go off to town. With the delay the Mothers were fortified with a handful of crisps and a slug of water and hustled off to see the parade. It was worth it as they enjoyed the spectacle and the sense of community that pervades the event. Many young children participated in the procession and were handing out sweets to the spectators including the Mothers along the route. It meant that our meal that night was being cooked at 11.00pm!
Unfortunately the next morning, Audrey (Chris’s mum) could hardly move with pain down the back of her right leg. Carolyn and her mum, Janine, went off to visit a museum and Chris took Audrey in the car to the local hospital. A couple of cruiser friends kindly came along to do the introductory Spanish. Five hours, various tests and x-rays later they diagnosed a trapped nerve in her back and prescribed two painkillers and rest. The hospital was modern, clean and fairly efficient (probably more so if you spoke the language) but with a couple of exceptions the staff were ‘putting you through a process’ rather than caring for you. Having the EHIC card did however mean no cost other than the drugs. The best fun was getting her back on board. Already with a damaged wrist and now unable to walk more that a shuffle, the swell was kindly washing through the marina and causing the passarelle to move a bit. We put a lifejacket on Audrey and hooked her to the main halyard before supporting her as we edged back across the ‘plank’. Not the best way for Mum to spend her first day with us.
Luckily by the next morning the drugs had helped and Audrey was reasonably mobile. We were able to join the last of the regular winter cruisers BBQ’s for a couple of hours and then Audrey rested on board whilst Janine and Carolyn went visiting Cartagena and Chris took off the bimini and one of our trampolines to be picked up for replacement/repair. They are promised back for the 6th April – we shall see.
Tuesday brought more improvement in Audrey’s condition and Chris used the hire car to drop everyone in the town centre to visit the ‘Villa Fortuna’ museum and the view over the Amphitheatre followed by a relaxed lunch in a sunny spot at one of the restaurants offering the ‘Menu del Dia’, again good value and good food. Some ‘fizz’ with bread, cheese and cold meats rounded off the evening.
On Wednesday we all visited the Underwater Archeological Museum which is conveniently next to the marina. It was very interesting and kept us engaged for a couple of hours. Lunch on board and it was then time for the shorter trip to Murcia for their return EasyJet flight. We had booked special assistance for Audrey, particularly for the long walk at Gatwick, and it all worked very smoothly with good support. Overall not the visit that was planned but the Mothers got to see a bit of the lifestyle we have on Splice and enjoy a bit of winter sunshine. Airlines? In football terminology: BA: 1 - Easyjet: 3

After dropping off the Mothers at the airport, we did a bit of shopping whilst we still had the car. Dropped the shopping back to Splice to unload, Carolyn got the key out ready to open the door whilst still on the passarelle (mistake!) only to hear a ‘plop’ as the floating key-ring had opened and detached from the key which was now at the bottom of the marina! Just as well the marina keeps a spare one.
We dropped the hire car back to Cartagena Station, booked on the internet via ‘Do you Spain’ this was an ‘Enterprise’ vehicle, brand new Toyota Avensis estate (we had booked a Ford Fiesta or equivalent) and good service at both ends of the rental - recommended.

Photo - l-r: Carolyn, Janine and Audrey on the pontoon by Splice