Kevin and I just returned from a fabulous trip to Cartagena. A lot of people have asked us why we picked Cartagena. What they really mean is - why did we pick Colombia? We first took an interest in Cartagena when we were shopping around for honeymoons. We weighed Martha's Vineyard, Ireland, Cartagena, and Greece, so we were all over the place. We crossed out the practical Martha's Vineyard, and the still-too-cold-in-June Ireland. Cartagena seemed like a good combo of affordability and romance. The more we looked into it, the more excited we got. Ultimately however, I realized that hundreds of people would ask us where we were going on our honeymoon and instead of getting a response with the happiness and excitement that I wanted surrounding all wedding-related topics, people would warn us that we would get kidnapped. And what if they were right? No one would even feel bad for us or send us ransom money. So we went to Greece and saved Cartagena for when no one was looking.
The Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas
It turned out however, that Cartagena was very safe. There were policeman and military men on nearly every block of anywhere a tourist would want to go. And the old city within the city walls is beautiful, especially at night. You could just go to the old city and be happy. The food there is delicious too. But we stayed near the beach, so we also spent some time there, and explored the Castle (go through the underground tunnels!) and the much less inspiring view from La Popa. We also took a day trip boat ride around Las Islas del Rosario (take the big boat if you don't want to spend the next couple of days sore) and stopped at Playa Blanca for sunning and swimming.
It was a fabulous trip with the caveat that air travel is officially awful in this country now. Not checking bags, multiple security lines, customs, and shorter lines for visitors than US citizens inside the US. After this summer is over, or rather the wedding-season is over, we are going to cut down or cut out air travel.
On top of Cartagena's City Walls
Outskirts of town
Fernando Botero statue at the Plaza de Santo Domingo
Entertainers at the beach in Boca Grande
Heading to our favorite bar at Plaza de los Coches
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