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Cartagena is a fantastic city to people watch in. And my second favourite activity is simply meandering up and down the old streets and soaking up the atmosphere of daily life against the backdrop of the beautiful city. I can see the fruit sellers, the juice makers, the different salespeople walking up the street with their wares, and the people selling minutes on their phones. You can also admire the local Colombian streetwear, which can be summed up with one word - tight. It's wonderful to soak it all in.
Despite having spent two weeks here, I am still finding new adventures to do and things to see. Although the most famous and perhaps with the best Gold Museum in Colombia is reputed to be in Bogota, I made a brief visit to the museum here in Cartagena. I confess I was really looking for a bathroom. However the museum itself was quite interesting and the air conditioning was blissfully cool. This particular museum largely had exhibits and information about the Zenú culture, who lived in the region, so quite an interesting bathroom spot.
Saturday I went to
Playa Blanca, with Kandis, one of the Swedish girls from school. Playa
Fruit and vege seller
These guys are all over town Blanca is a short boat ride from downtown Cartagena, on the island of Baru. This is the white sand, turquoise water and palm tree fringed beach in my imaginings of the Caribbean, however I have to confess to being a little disappointed. It's true that it's a beautiful beach, or rather it would be stunning without the gazillion people that were there the day I went. As is inevitable with large numbers of people, unfortunately there was quite a lot of rubbish there too. As well as being a very popular spot for Colombian tourists, it's a really popular spot for hawkers. The ratio seemed to be one for one, and at times it felt like more.
Kandis is great to go on trips with because she is absolutely gorgeous, and Colombian men LOVE her, so she can do some great negotiating. The best example from our beach trip was when, finally worn down after the 1700th jewelery seller offered me a special promotion, I decided to buy two pairs of earrings. He told me they were amethyst and sterling silver (yeah right) and I managed to get both pairs for around $4US. I didn't feel like I'd been
too badly ripped off, however then he asked Kandis to pick out the ones she liked the best, and then just gave them to her as a gift! Very funny.
Anyhow we both had a great day. I had been liberally spraying my pasty white skin with my 30+ sun protection cream and thought that I had been doing a good job. Turns out not, as when I got home I realised that I had a fair amount of sunburn over my arms and legs, except in the spots where the sun screen had been sprayed. So I look like a giant red panda bear with white blotchy spots. Let's hope that TeleCaribe don't get wind of my poor sunscreen application expertise. The television career could be over before it's started, he he!
Following on from the sun burn, and to celebrate the arrival of my new credit cards, I blew my budget and tomorrow I treat myself to a special treatment at the Spa, in the
Hotel Santa Clara. Initially I really only wanted a nosy at the property as I'd heard it was gorgeous inside, so wandered in and asked about the Spa. But then as I walked
Ice cream van
Mobile sellers walk up and down all day, shouting out what they are selling. through the large shady pool area and tried not to trip on any of the guest's Prada sandals, the tranquility and beauty of the hotel was kind of mesmerising and I didn't want to leave. By the time I reached the Spa which is on the wall with a stunning view over the ocean, the scent of money had completely infected me and I was ready to sign away my life savings in order to enjoy the sumptuous surrounds. I think I spent about one week's budget on booking two and a half hours of pure heavenly bliss for tomorrow, which also includes use of the pool and other facilities for the day - I can't wait.
I've also sampled some of Cartagena's fine dining and nightlife, courtesy of a fellow guest in my new hotel. We started with cocktails at Cafe del Mar, which is a bar and restaurant on the wall with views over to Bocagrande. I'd been there before with Mary Anne, so knew just how good the Mojitos would be. We then went to dinner at La Cevicheria, a tiny little restaurant in the upmarket part of town, one of the best restaurant in Cartagena,
which was absolutely delicious. We finished off at the
Havana Club, a legendary bar and nightclub with live music, which is handily located across the road from our hotel, so all in all a great night. I met a Canadian woman at the Havana Club who used to live in NZ, and has been living in Cartagena for the last five years. She was very interesting, telling me about her Colombian boyfriend, who she thought was single until his wife and kids turned up at her work. This corresponds with what the teachers at school told us about Colombian men - "married by day, single by night".
I like it here in Cartagena, I like it a lot, but it's not a bad thing that I'm leaving soon. For starters, I've started to look at the clothes shops and let's just say there's a different style here. At the moment I still have the presence of mind to know that jeans so tight they could be painted on, and leggings as trousers are not a sensible fashion choice for my figure, but who knows what will happen if I stay another week.
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Brigitte
non-member comment
Hey Rach, glad to hear your lot has arrived.....................go crazy and enjoy the spa it sounds like you deserve it!! B xx