The taxi dropped us off at our hotel, an old colonial mansion converted into a eight room hotel. It was gorgeous. We were a little early, so we dropped off our bags and set off to find some lunch and explore this great city.
 |
| our hotel |
 |
| love this mansion--errr hotel |
We were sweating within seconds of crossing the street. It is HOT in Cartagena. We knew this going in, but we are so spoiled by the weather in Medellin that we were not quite prepared for how steamy a city it is. Regardless, Jay and I were both ready to sink our teeth into some seafood, and luckily there was a Cevicheria directly across the street. I looked at my notes that I took about the city before we left (nerd alert!) and score! The cevicheria is the most recommended one and the one that Anthony Bourdain visited. It did not disappoint, the ceviche was DELICOUS. Seafood heaven, we have arrived.
 |
| cevicheria! |
Jay and I started to walk around the city and I was immediately in love. It is gorgeous. It is exactly like you would picture an old Spanish colonial city surrounded by a wall to look like. Every building is painted a vivid color, flowers are hanging from rooftops, cobblestones are lining the streets...it looks like a scene from a movie. While I was wandering around all googly eyed, Jay was ready to take a break again, so we found a nice little plaza, ordered up some beer, water, and ice cream, and watched the city go by.
 |
| just your average street in cartagena |
 |
| huge doors, and then a door within a door to actually get in the building |
 |
| Plaza Santa Teresa |
 |
| park |
Cartagena is definitely a tourist destination for Colombians, Europeans, and a lot of southeast Americans. I was surprised when we sat down to hear a few English conversations going on. That is a huge change from Medellin and Cali. We enjoyed our rest and headed back to the hotel to check in. Jay cooled off in the hotel pool and I found myself taking a little siesta in the hammock outside. Once we had cooled off, we headed back out, and ate a delicious seafood pizza. Since it was nighttime and a few degrees cooler, we walked around Cartagena some more, and found ourselves sitting on the castle wall, looking out at the ocean, and having a few drinks.
 |
| wall to the ocean |
 |
| old city wall, keeping out the bad guys |
The next morning we had to get up early to go the beach. The water on Cartagena's coast is not very beautiful, since it is a port town. However, you do have the option to buy a roundtrip ticket and go to one of the many islands off the coast for the day, which offer a little more of that Caribbean beach experience that you want. Jay and I headed to the port, bought our tickets for Playa Blanca, and waited. About and hour later we were zooming along the ocean in a crazy speed boat, and another hour later we were plopped right onto the beach.
Playa Blanca is very beautiful. It is literally just a white sandy beach with green tropical forest behind it and crystal clear blue water in front of it. The beach is lined with little cabanas, restaurants, and hammocks if you want to spend the night. The cabanas and restaurants are pretty much just branches from a tree that were stuck in the ground with some cloth put over them, but it kept me from turning into a lobster so I'll take it!
 |
| playa blanca |
 |
| fruit lady selling mago |
 |
| the guy who made our coco locos. he's using that machete to break open the coconut. |
 |
| coco loco! |
 |
| little cabanas along the beach |
All along the beach locals come up to sell you seafood that they have literally just pulled from the ocean, massages, jewelry, snorkels, banana boats, and drinks. Jay and I spent the day in the cabana eating ceviche and other seafood, having some drinks, frolicking (yep, frolicking) in the water, and getting a little massage. We decided to leave when the boats came back to pick everyone up. We had every intention of spending the night in hammocks on the beach, but after the day we thought it might be nice to go back to town, shower, and enjoy Cartagena a little more. Plus, we did not bring enough money for any more food, hammocks, or the boat ride back in the morning, so that cemented the deal. They don't take cards or have an ATM machine on the island, haha! That night we had another seafood dinner (so good here!) and walked around a little more.
On Friday, we basically just continued our Cartagena eating and walking extravaganza until it was time to go to the airport. Jay also managed to talk his way into getting an awesome haircut. We were so excited to back to Medellin, our apartment, and to not be so sweaty. We were all ready to go, get back, and go out with our friends that night. Then, we ended up sitting in an airport for 7 hours thanks to a delay and a crappy airline. Definitely not the highlight of our trip. Oh well, we made it back to Medellin around 12:30 am and are now ready to spend our last few days here.
Final thoughts on Cartagena:
1. Cartagena is seriously stunning. Yeah, it's a little steamy, but once you wipe the sweat from your eyes you realize there is a photo opportunity around every corner.
2. Speaking of steamy, this is a city for lovebirds. Jay was impressed with Cartagena, but not as impressed as I was thanks to the heat and lack of a beautiful Colombian woman next to him, haha. Meanwhile, I can fall in love with buildings and ice cream so I was good to go!
3. If this is "touristy" Colombia, then this is still one of the least touristy places I have been. There were vendors everywhere but a simple "no gracias" and they left you alone.
4. If you love seafood, then this is the place to be. Anyone with a shellfish allergy might want to stay far away from here. Or you can just go to Crepes y Waffles, which is definitely a solid choice.
5. Never fly VivoColombia from Cartagena. Worst.Airline.Ever. They may or may not hand write your name on your ticket, may or may not put the wrong date on your ticket so security looks at you with crazy eyes and won't let you through, and they may or may not have 10 people working at the counter and only one person actually talking to anyone and highlighting the names on a list of any one checking in. Avianca all the way!
No comments:
Post a Comment