Our first night in Cartagena, we walked to the plaza nearby, bought some empanadas and drinks, and ate it at the curb while listening to street music and watching the children play. Such good vibes.
The next morning we got up early to find some breakfast before our walking tour. It was a hot hot day, quite the opposite of Bogotá's cool weather, but it felt so good to be under the sun once more.
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| Plaza de la Trinidad |
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| Fruits to make fresh fruit juices |
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| Fresh fruit juices and colorful walls (so in love with this city) |
We couldn't help ourselves and decided to walk around the
Getsemaní barrio a bit before our tour, with some fresh fruit juices in hand to beat the heat. We spotted the most gorgeous colorful walls.
And some pretty fun art pieces. :)
At 10am, we headed back to
Plaza de la Trinidad to catch the free street art walking tour around
Getsemaní. Our guide started off with a quick history of Cartagena and Getsemani. Cartagena was founded in 1533, when the Spanish brought slaves from Africa to help them build the city. After Colombia's independence, the neighborhood was mainly for the poor and the working class. Then 10 years ago, the neighborhood was renovated when Colombia opened to mass tourism. Tourism boomed so much that prices went up, and the locals can no longer afford it. Nowadays, it's teeming with restaurants and hostels.
And of course, street art. Every where. It was like there was street art in every other corner, doorway, and wall in Getsemaní. There were so many beautiful pieces, each with meaningful messages. (I'll leave the stories out, so you can hear them for yourselves when you go :) A few of my favorites below:
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| "Is she crying from sadness or happiness?" |
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| Maria Mulata |
We had lunch in an air-conditioned restaurant (it was too hot!), and headed back our hostel to cool down a bit before heading back out. In the afternoon we explored
la Ciudad Murallada (the Walled City).
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| The Clock Tower and one of the main entrances to the Walled City |
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| One of the entrances to the Walled City |
The Walled City, also called the Old City, is filled with Spanish colonial-style buildings and cobblestone streets.
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| One of the main plazas |
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| Spanish buildings and cobblestone streets |
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| Iglesia de Santo Domingo |
We walked on top of the walls itself admiring the views - the Caribbean on one side, and the old style streets on the other.
We couldn't help ourselves and went touristy, asking for a picture with a
palenquera (a fruit basket lady). Jan and I also snapped a picture with each other because we realized we had close to no pictures together.
We wanted to head to the Castillo de San Felipe to catch the sunset, but when we got there, it was closed. So instead, we took a taxi up to the Convento de la Popa. The convent was actually already closed too, but our taxi driver sweet talked the guard into letting us in to take pictures. Not a bad afternoon.
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| Cartagena sunset |
Then it was back to the Walled City were we bought some street food for dinner -
- then headed to a rooftop bar (with a free drink!) to watch Colombia v. Venezuela.
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| Not a bad way to end the night |
The next day we headed to the port to go on our tour of the islands. We originally wanted to go to the
Islas Rosarios, but were told we'd need a private boat to go there. So instead, we went with a tour boat that would take us around the islands, eventually stopping at Playa Blanca. The deal sounded okay, but went terribly wrong. We spent so much time on the boat, dropping off things here and there but not getting off (a non-Spanish speaking couple worriedly asked us, "At some point we're going to get off the boat, right?"). Our first stop wasn't even at a beachfront; it was at an island with an aquarium that Jan and I didn't want to go in. We ended up chilling in a small pool of the shore water talking to the non-Spanish speaking couple who were on the boat with us.
We finally got to
Playa Blanca, and we did enjoy. (Though we wish we had more time!) We swam, had lunch, and I worked on getting a tan.
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| Life is good at the beach |
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| Playa Blanca |
We had some fish for lunch; despite my face below, it was pretty good and I actually enjoyed it.
Back in Cartagena we walked all the way down to
Bocagrande and chilled at the beach. Jan and I just hung out catching up and talking about life. It was really nice to have someone to travel Colombia with. :)
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| One of the beaches |
The next morning we ventured back to the walled city for one last breakfast before I headed to the airport.
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| stuffed arepas, coffee, fresh fruit juice |
I was sad to go, but thankful for a short but amazing time in Colombia. I fell in love with the food, fresh fruit juices (!!), the culture, and above all, the wonderful people. :)
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| ¡Hasta la próxima, Colombia! |
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