Thursday, Nov 2 - Cartagena, Colombia

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Ahhh back to civilization.  We’ve been on the boat for so many weeks and I’ve almost forgotten where we are heading.  Cartagena built an old walled city in the 15th century to keep pirates out and from England try to take over.  Nowadays, Cartegena is modern city that has the biggest supply of emeralds to satisfy the millions of cruisers and their appetite for this stone.


The visitors centre is walking distance to the ship and housed in an organized building and grounds.  All the souvenirs are in one place and outside are beer gardens for the gentleman to wait until the ladies shop.  Flamingos, peacocks, parrots, monkeys and other exotic birds roam freely for photo ops with visitors.


Our taxi dropped us off just inside the old walled city.   Beautifully preserved colonial architecture is on display on every block.  The buildings are colourfully painted and are often covered with bougainvilleas.  Gary loves fountains.

I of course look for shopping opportunities when ever possible.  Check out these leather goodies with butterflies stamped on them. Too cool!

Gary quickly pulls me to the other side of the street in to a cute cafe for a glass of ####### de coco break. Yummy! It’s humid and 33 degrees out there.



We only have a few hours here so moving fast is necessary.  We arrived at the Plaza de Santo Domingo where lots of sidewalk cafes, antique shops and the famous statue Gertrudis by Fernando Botero is located. Quick a photo!

Time just flew by in the Centro Historico as every street is narrow and are full of interesting shops.  I did manage to stop by an emerald shop to meet a lady named Lucy who designs and make all her own pre-Colombian jewelry.  Although, her modern inventory is worth a second look.

My prince doesn’t waste anytime and hops over to Juan Valdez Cafe to pick some of their famous Colombian beans.  


We head back to the port earlier as traffic here can be nasty because of the narrow streets and too many tourists.  One of my purchases - Panama hat, u like it?  

It’s kinda sad this is our last port of call before head back to Florida to catch our flight home but hey, there’s at least two more sea days left.


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