Cartagena

Aug 10-13, 2018
UA1007 IAH-BOG, AV9754 BOG-CTG, CM160 CTG-PTY, UA1033 PTY-IAH

I have been wanting to go to Colombia for some time, and decided to check out Cartegena, which is definitely the highlight of the country.  We ended up with some scheduling challenges with the flights down, so ended up with an overnight stay in Bogota near the airport.  Tom was a little paranoid about security in Colombia, but ultimately didn’t feel too unsafe, and we enjoyed the time there.  We stayed in a nice resort off the beach, so got to mix the culture of older Cartagena with a full resort experience.  We even managed to drag along our friend Karen, from Houston, who managed to keep up with us.

Aug 10

We had an evening flight from Houston to Bogota. With the late arrival, we decided to stay close to the airport and got to the hotel just before midnight, allowing for a pretty short rest.

Aug 11

We had a very early flight to Cartagena, so had an early start, and headed to the airport for a quick breakfast in the lounge before our flight. From the airport, we had a transfer to our hotel to check in, before catching an Uber to explore the old city.

City walls (“Las Murallas”) and the Bastion of Santo Domingo,

Looking down the coast from the walls to the modern high rises including our hotel

Parque de la Marina

San Pedro Claver statue in San Pedro Claver Square. San Pedro was a Spanish Jesuit priest known as the patron saint of slaves

San Pedro Claver Church

The Palace of Inquisition and Museum interior courtyard

Karen testing out the machinery in the palace grounds

Looking across the greenery to the tower of the Cartagena Cathedral

The full Cartagena Cathedral, now-completed, built from 1577-1612

Open-air interior of the cathedral

Standing in the old streets, showing a bit of sweat from the humid day

Santa Domingo Convent, established in the 16th century

Exploring the Costa del Sol Beaches outside our hotel

View of the port and the modern high rises from our hotel

Sunset

Looking at the beaches from our hotel as the day ends

Back at the hotel, we ended the day in the Club Lounge with some cocktails and snacks before heading back to the room and re-watching Romancing the Stone, our previous cultural reference to Cartagena. However, about 30 minutes into the movie, we recognized that it wasn’t even filmed in Colombia.

Aug 12

For our last full day in the city, we decided to start out early, before we got into the full heat of the day. The morning August heat was more than enough for us.

San Felipe de Barajas Castle, constructed from 1536-1657

Lower walls of the Castle

Good perspective on the massive scope of the Castle

Continuing to explore

Looking down at the old and new cities from the Castle. The moisture on my shirt demonstrating the already hot day

One last look at the massive structure

Making our way into the old city

The slightly gritty Getsemani neighbourhood has its own charm

Still sweating on our way through Getsemani

Camellón de los Mártires (the walk of the martyrs) connects Getsemani to the old town

Karen outside Puerta del Reloj, the main city gate into the old town

Plaza de los Coches, just inside the entrance, with statue of city founder Pedro de Heredia

Back at the hotel relaxing

One last Colombian sunset

Aug 13

After a nice weekend in Colombia, we flew our separate ways home.