Cartagena April 2017

So after a day in Bogota I decided it was time to experience some South American heat for a few days so I headed to Cartagena. A coastal city in the north of Colombia. 


A quick one hour flight with Avianca and I had arrived to 30 degree
heat and an island life feel. I embraced the heat after stepping off the airport and got a taxi to my hostel, Mamallena on Calle Media Luna located in the Getsemini area. I dumped my stuff, said hi to a couple of girls from the US that were staying in my room, got a map and headed off exploring.  


There is a walled city in Cartagena which I headed to. Inside the walled city there are several vendors selling water, street food and ice creams. The buildings are old and colourful, there's several taxis buzzing around in addition to the odd horse and carriage. There are also loads of plazas in the walled city, restaurants, hotels and a few museums. 


I meandered for a few hours along the old streets, stopping for lunch to refuel. Along the way I asked a guy to take a photo of me and we ended up talking and discovering the city together for a while. In one of the plazas there was a Colombian dance show which was quite entertaining. 


At around 5pm I headed back to my hostel to soak up some air conditioning then headed out to this bar, Cafe del Mar on the edge of the walled city. Whilst having a drink a girl sitting next to me asked if I was alone so we ended up having a drink together. She was an artist and was painting portraits of other people at the bar then selling the portraits to them if they wanted.
She painted one guy then headed over to make the sale. When she came back she confirmed the group of guys had asked her to paint a portrait of all 3 of them. She asked minded if I minded sitting with them while she painted. I did not and we sat with these guys from Austria, had a few drinks then decided to get dinner at this Argentine restaurant called Quebracho. It was like all my Christmases had come at once. We all had steak naturally plus beer and Malbec. After dinner we went to Plaza de Trinidad where a couple were performing salsa. I was getting a little tired by this point so I headed back to my hostel. 


There was fresh blood in the form of a cool Canadian couple (then again I think all Canadians are cool) in my room. They had just arrived from the north and we got chatting then had a few drinks on the terrace before I actually went to bed. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Praha 14th April 2011

Image
Trdelnik We woke up at 8:45 to the sound of drilling as there were some roadworks going on outside our windows :(  Everyone got showered and dressed and we left at 10am to go to the Old Market Square, we saw the Astronomical Clock, walked around the market and had these sugary sweets called trdelnik. There were several stalls selling them. They are the most devine dessert I've ever had and the thing I miss the most about Prague. It is made out of dough and like a pretzel but with a more crispy consistency. It is made by wrapping the dough around a roll pin type device which is then rolled above hot coals to cook the dough. After it's golden brown it is then rolled in a sugar and cinnamon mix. Then you get to wat it! This has to be tried and searched for when you go to Prague as it's delicious! Trdelnik Outside the town hall there are several tour guides waiting to with umbrellas which is a sign that they are tour guides. Some are free and others you need to
Read more

Buenos Aires April 2013

Image
Today I attended my first Spanish class. I was supposed to have group classes but there is nobody else at my beginner level so I am having 1:1 classes at the moment. I currently have 2 hours of lessons per day and if I change to a group classes I will have four hours a day. It was a bit weird at the beginning, kind of like my first day of school. I was introduced to my professor Bruno and was given a textbook and a tour of the school which took no time at all. There are a few computers, wifi throughout and several leaflets with information about Buenos Aires and things to do. The first class was good and I was given homework for the next day so it really felt like I was 14 again. I continued classes for the rest of the week in addition to my own form of studying from reading Spanish books, magazines, watching telenovelas and talking to as many Argentines as possible. One night this week me and Corrie had heard of the round the world party at a bar in Soho. Basically you are given
Read more

Amsterdam 10th December 2010

Image
We woke up at about 8am so that we could leave at 9am to see the house of Anne Frank. We got dressed and went downstairs for our free breakfast which consisted of juice, toast or cereal. We used our map and walked to the Anne Frank House which was on Prinsengract which was about a 20-25 minute walk from our hostel, I would recommend walking as much as you can in Amsterdam as most things are nearby plus you get to see more when you walk. The Anne Frank House costs €9 or €4.50 if you are between 10-17 years, those under 10 only have to pay €0.50. You can buy tickets online and print them or buy them on the day. I would recommend purchasing your tickets in advance if you are visiting Amsterdam in the tourist season and if you are going in the afternoon or if there is a group of you. We went early in the day so there wasn't much of a queue so we didn't buy our tickets online. The House's opening times vary depending on the time of year.  Signpost The House was very in
Read more