Today we docked in Cartagena (population around 230,000), which is a key military sea base due to its strategic position. It is a beautiful harbour with a fortress and is surrounded by hills.

That said, as wine lovers, we drove 1.5 hours out to Jumilla (100 kilometres north) where we visited two bodegas. The Jumilla DOP has been cultivated back to the Iberian, Roman and Greek periods.

The first stop was BSI (Bodegas San Isidro) which is the local cooperative. The main grape is Monastrell and they are forbidden to irrigate. What struck us with the dryness. It reminded us of the driest parts of Texas with very little natural vegetation. For this reason the vines dig themselves down 11 meters in order to find a source of water.

The area is the most rugged and dry of any wine region we have visited. Beautiful in its own way but a far cry from the lush green beauty of most wine growing regions.

We then visited a 4th generation family winery, Bodegas Vina Elena. Our guide was a character and showed us where they made wines 150 years ago, basically by stomping the grapes with their feet or pressing them against the wall and letting the juice flow naturally into a cistern in the floor. The wines are now made with modern technology and were pleasant.

Overall the six wines we tasted were nice but not spectacular. A lot of the wines are considered table wines and all are generally very affordable.

Driving back and forth we saw a huge amount of cultivated crop lands. But given there is limited rain in the area they survive with water from the sea that is desalinated and piped out miles to the fields. Apparently all of us who live in Europe enjoy the fruits of these farmer's labours.

We also drove through Murcia, the capital of the region. The Murcia Cathedral has a

bell tower, built between 1521 and 1791, that stands 90 metres (300 ft) tall that is currently the tallest campanile in Spain. Apparently Sangrada Familia will eventually be taller.