cartagena

my oh my is cartagena one postcard perfect place!  old town cartegena is street after street of colonial buildings painted bright colors with flowers dripping from balconies....truly magnificent!   home to the author of one of my favorite books, one hundred years of solitude, it is no wonder that gabriel garcia marquez's magical realism was inspired by this city.

it is also hella hot!  we strolled through old town in the morning hours from plaza to plaza and within mintues it seemed we were dripping with sweat (todd was quite literally soaked!).   by 10 am we were desperately searching for a museum with air conditioning...for example the palacio de la inquisicion.  maybe a bit macabre, but did i mention the air conditioning!

by evening the heat cooled a bit and everyone filled the streets again. we watched a spectacular sunset and later a fabulous dance group that performed in the plaza mayor.

the second day in cartagena it was overcast and raining.....what a wonderful break from the heat!!  we took advantage of the weather and checked out the massive old spanish fort just outside of old town called castillo de san felipe.

from the top of the castillo you can see old town cartegena straight ahead and then to the left you can see part of the new city....often called 'little miami'

that afternoon riley was determined to catch a fish off the city wall by the local method of just throwing in a line and hook (no rod).  i suppose he comes by this fishing thing naturally as my mother's family has been fishing the seas for generations and my father is an avid fisherman of the rivers.  he didn't catch anything but was thrilled by the nibbles.

our last day in cartagena we took a day trip out to playa blanca on the isla banu.......about an hour away from cartagena.  the kids really wanted some beach time and the beaches in cartagena are not particularly nice, but playa blanca is all white sandy beaches and green blue waters.  a beautiful stretch of caribbean coast!

being a tourist beach it was full of vendors, and the beach itself was packed by the end of the day!!  i got suckered into a foot massage and todd quickly followed suit.  i also enjoyed myself a coconut cocktail!

this guy makes pineapple and coconut cocktails out of his wheelbarrow

mostly we just relaxed in the water.  instead of a foot massage the kids opted to ride this 'banana' thing.

we were all deliciously exhausted by the time we boarded the bus back to cartagena.  the kids got a bit too much sun (bad parents!) but otherwise we had a spectacular day at the beach!

an amazing few days in an unforgettable city!!

today we left cartagena and traveled up the coast a few hours. we are now in the city of santa marta and will be exploring things around these parts for the next couple days.
hasta luego!