After the recent Hive Open Days in Alicante, I stayed behind in the region for a few more days. If you read my previous post, you'd know I wasn't a fan of Alicante, so I moved a bit further out to Murcia. I had no idea what was there. It seemed like a biggish town, wasn't too far from Alicante, and had good transport links to other nearby places.
Plaza Cardenal Belluga
The Plaza Cardenal Belluga and the Cathedral are the heart of the Old Town. My hotel was just a one-minute walk away and I passed by the plaza every day. There's an entry fee to the Cathedral. I'm not religious (I wonder, do worshippers have to pay the entrance fee?) and have seen many cathedrals, so there was no point in paying a fee to visit for a couple of minutes only.
There's a network of small alleys feeding off the plaza, and extending into many parts of the old town. I found most of them very clean and safe to walk, which is very nice.
Real Casino de Murcia
To be honest, there isn't much to do in Murcia town. I read that the Casino is one of the top tourist attractions. Casino? That's odd I thought, when I first heard about it. Turns out the Casino isn't a gambling place as we know like in Las Vegas. It's a private members' club founded in 1847, and currently has 1600 members. Very elite. Just look at the front entrance.
As soon as we enter the building, my eyes were immediately drawn towards the central hall. This used to be an indoor street in between the two buildings on either side. Over the years it's had a makeover including a magnificent glass dome, drawing in loads of natural light. Before we venture down the central hall, we have to stop and admire the Arabic Court first.
Moorish influenced buildings can be found in many places in Spain, and this is one of the more famous ones. Visitors can go up to the second floor of the Arabic Court, but can't walk out beyond where I took the photo. The entire court is really breathtaking, not a suprise given it's lined with 35000 pieces of gold sheets!!!
The Casino has an eclectic mix of architectural style. We've just seen the Arabic Court. Next is the English style library. It's the first room along the central corridor According to the official website, it has twenty thousand books here but it didn't seem that many to me. Regardless, it's a beautiful wooden carved library, very fitting for the elite members.
This is the lady's room. Nice to see the men haven't forgotten about their other half. I think they said the original silver toilets are still behind the silk curtains hanging off the wall. I quickly peeked behind one of the curtains and it seems like there was some sort wall or door there, so perhaps the rumours are true...
The most extravagant and lavish room is undoubtedly the ballroom. Inspired by the French, this neo-Baroque style ballroom has 5 massive Baccarat crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, complete with a grand piano.
My favourite room at the Casino is the tea room. Customers coming here for tea don't need to pay any entrance fee. Yes, I forgot to say there's a very affordable €5 entrance fee to the Casino. Sadly I didn't have time to stop for afternoon tea, and quickly snapped a few photos before leaving.
There are quite a few other rooms along the central hallway, but you get the idea of what this building looks like. It's worth the €5 entrance fee if you're ever in Murcia.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fuensanta
On our penultimate day, I was running out of things to do in town. After having the most expensive 90 day aged steak in my life for lunch, which by the way was worth every cent no regrets there, I decided to venture out town a little.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fuensanta Viewpoint (Mirador del Santuario de la Virgen de la Fuensanta) is about 8km away from Murcia town. It takes 30 minutes by bus, followed by a kilometer walk up a steep hill which nearly killed me under the sun. It was worth it though, the viewpoint lived up to its name. The view was quite spectacular. There weren't many other people around, and we lingered around not doing much, just chilling out.
At one stage, we had considered to go to the cafe next to the sanctuary. It looked as though it had great views and we could kill a few more hours since we didn't have anything else to do. I checked the reviews online and saw the service was terrible. Plus, they demanded a minimum charge, which was something like €12, if I remember correctly. I wasn't prepared to pay that for crappy service when I could enjoy the same views sitting at the foot of the sanctuary under the shade. It's a pity how businesses exploit people just because they can.
Palacio Almudi
It was my last day in Murcia and I still had a few hours to kill before catching the plane home in the afternoon. On the previous day I found the Palacio Almudi, a 15th century building that has been a grain warehouse, a court, and is now the city archives and an art exhibition hall. Art isn't my thing and I hadn't planned to go despite it being free. Alas, the rain made me go that morning.
The exhibition hall inside is quite impressive. The massive columns and arches form a nice contrast to the modern art on exhibit. Though I have to admit, I really don't get art 😬
I grabbed a quick bite for lunch before I left Murcia. Pastelería Bonache is nearly 200 hundred years old and is the town's oldest bakery. It's signature product is a flake puff pastry pork pie, with an optional ingredient 🐷🧠. It's not as bad as it sounds, tasteless and nice and creamy. Nice way to round off my Murcia trip.
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