These Adidas were made for walking
- jill
- Nov 13, 2019
- 7 min read
Up early for a light breakfast (Omaira provides it as part of the stay there)--bananas, toast, scrambled eggs and coffee. I sit and plan out my day: I have a walking tour of the city, then my Gabriel Garcia Marquez audio tour, and finally a food tour. I start the day by heading into the humidity (seriously, it was almost as bad as Bangkok) and trying to use the EasyTaxi and Uber apps to get a ride into the older part of town (I'm staying in El Laguita, the southernmost part of Cartagena and the nicer part of town) but neither app is working.
There are several cabs around, so one of the guys walks over and asks where I am going and offers a ride. At first, I'm not sure, as I've heard that it is easy to get ripped off as a tourist...but I don't really have much of a choice. On the ride in, I point out the colorful stuffed caterpillar he has on his dashboard, and it begins a conversation (via Google Translate, of course). The driver's name was Ricki, and he offers to give me his Whatsapp info so I can call him if I need any more rides. I'm so grateful, I hug him...which turns out to be kind of a mistake.
He drops me at Plaza of Martyrs (Camellon de los Martires) across from the Pegasos (pegasus) statues. It is here that they murdered all the men who were leading the rebels demanding Cartagena's independence from Spain. I'm a bit early, and it is very hot...so I find a bench and sit to wait for my tour leader to arrive. Sitting in this square, you are innundated by vendors selling water, juices, snacks, hats, and various trinkets. It is never-ending.
We begin the tour at the main gate/clock tower of the Old City. The tour itself is very informative and features a lot of historical background, which I love. From there, we walk to Slave Square/Carriage Square and the statue of Heredias, then to Aduana/Rafel Nunez Square (where they hold a lot of festivals, and the mayor's house is located). I learn about the Colombian flag (which I will hear a lot about over the next couple of weeks): the yellow represents the treasures of Colombia (particularly gold, which is why this stripe is the largest), the blue represents the water which brings life (the Atlantic, Pacific, and Carribean Sea), and the red represents the blood of the people who fought for independence, which was finally achieved in 1811.
Next up, San Pedro Claver Square where the museum of modern art is located. You can tell the buildings that are pre-independence--they have wooden posts on their balconies. After independence, they used concrete. I learned that the women used to braid their hair a certain way to send messages telling people how to escape. From here, we climbed up a ramp to the top of the wall that surrounds the city and saw one of the remaining ramparts--replicas of the cannons are everywhere.
Then to Santa Theresa Square where the Naval museum is. Here we learned that you can tell a lot about who lived in the houses based on several things. For example, the more floors they had meant the more money they had. The more round iron dots on the door means more money. But most of all, you can tell about the occupants of the homes based on the door knockers (aldabas) they have. A large lion head means they were a high ranking military family. A smaller head meant a lower rank. An iguana means they were Spanish royalty, sea animals/mermaids meant they were of the merchant class, hands with a cross meant a church family, owls meant a family in education, etc. Another fun fact: several of the homes also have spikes on the roof--there to kill witches.
The large peach colored dome in the distance is the first Cathedral founded in 1594 by Francis Drake. A nearby pink building which now houses the Inquisition Museum used to be the original jail. And I see my first Botero sculpture in front of the Santo Domingo Square Church--a large reclining nude woman (it is lucky to touch her left breast, btw). Apparently, it was specifically placed there, facing the church as a statement. At this point, our tour guide encouraged us to try a vendor's lemon/orange juice drink--and it was delicious.
Our tour ended at another corner of the wall where we learned to dance the champeto--the dance of the lower class because it is "dirty." While we were there, a man sitting in a chair with a large fan and parachute attached flew by with a large banner that said "Jessica I love you, marry me." I hope she said yes. On the way there, I passed what I thought was a once in a lifetime thing...but turns out to be ALL over Cartagena and Bogota--Big Ass Ants!
I was on my own for a few hours, so I headed back to the Botero square to get some lunch. I ate in an Italian restaurant called Sabores Del Mar Restaurante--they LOVE Italian food in Colombia. Before I went in, a man stopped me and asked if I was American. Apparently, he had lived in America for several years, so we chatted a bit before I realized he was a shop owner--a jewelry store nearby--and he was just trying to get me to buy some stuff. I had some pizza and juice while listening to "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" is playing on the muzak. I feel culturally confused.
It looked like the Garcia-Marquez audio tour started nearby...but it turns out that is where the tour ENDS...and you can't listen to it backwards! So I walk all the way to the beginning of the tour which is near the Circo Teatro--a wooden building built in the 1930s and has been used as a bull ring, as a boxing venue, and for various shows...and now also houses shopping. I continue down the top of the wall on the audio tour, and reach another rampart (Baluarte de Santa Catalina)--this one facing the Carribean and offering amazing views.
As I'm standing there, a man tries to sell me a bracelet from a box of them he's selling. I tell him I'm not interested, and he starts talking to me about where I'm standing and the surrounding area (he knows a bit of English--his name is Victor). Turns out, there is special exhibition underneath where I'm standing of an old escape route that slaves and prisoners used to get out of the city and out to the water. Since Victor speaks only a little English and I speak only a little Spanish...to be honest, I had no idea where he was taking me as he led me down a ramp and to a door that was locked. Turns out he also works for the tourist bureau. He got the guard to let us in and led me through a watery dungeon-y looking place. I suppose I could have been murdered there...but instead, I had a really fascinating experience. So much so, that I bought one of his bracelets when we came back out because he was so kind to show me around something I never would have seen otherwise. He had 3 kids, one in university and claimed that his family made them.
Leaving the wall, I passed Las Bovedas--a series of what used to be jail cells, but now house souvenir shops. Then I saw the Hotel Santa Clara which was built in the 1800s and has been used as a convent, a hospital, jail, morgue, and is now a high-end hotel, and also passed the apartment building where Garcia-Marquez lived whenever he visited Cartagena. My phone battery was starting to run low, so I couldn't finish the tour...but I made it back to the Plaza of Martyrs before I lost Google maps. The food tour began at 4, but I got there almost an hour early.
I had some time to kill, so I walked around inside Centennial Park across the street from the Plaza. They have wild iguanas, sloths and monkeys that live there...and I actually saw a couple of iguanas and a sloth while I walked around. There was some construction work going on inside the park, so I couldn't see the whole thing...but they had several used book stalls along one side which was pretty cool.
Finally, it is time for the food tour, meeting in the Plaza of Martyrs again...near the statue of Cervantes. This group is much smaller--only 6 other people (Adrian, a guy from Boston who has 4 kids and whose mom wants to retire to Atlanta; a woman travelling solo from Seattle; a couple from Germany and Colombia; and a couple from Brazil) and the guide with me. First stop: a place with ceviche. I don't eat seafood, so I skipped that one :-) Next, a stand for patacon--a twice fried plantain flattened with cheese--delicious. Next up, a special juice stand. I got the guanabanazo. Then we went into Getsemani (more on this later) and tried carimagnola--fried yuca with a meat filling--delicious. They also had obleas (a dessert) here, but I was full! Finally, we went to Cafe del Mural, which is famous for its coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker, but it was pretty good.
I asked our guide Mercedes to take me back to a place where I could catch a taxi. On our way out of Getsemani, she told me about her grandson, about her job as a tour guide, and she helped me find a cab willing to drive me back to the beach area--there is a lot of traffic there, so some cabs don't want to make the trip. For the second time today, I hugged someone for helping me. I made it back to the airBNB in one piece. Thanks to this brief visit to Getsemani, I'm very excited about my walking tour there tomorrow. It is very colorful and filled with street art.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
so far, I've seen no McDonald's or Starbucks--only Subway
people here seem unfazed by the heat--some of them even wear long sleeves!
this city is BEAUTIFUL, and the people are very kind and helpful
toilets, like Thailand, cannot handle toilet paper. But unlike Thailand, they don't use the sprayers to clean themselves...they just use toilet paper and throw it in the garbage can
lines on the streets are merely a suggestion--sometimes, a 2 lane road becomes a 3 lane road
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