We had a free day in Cartagena so decided to go on one of the Free Walking Tours that they offer. We did the 2 hour tour of the old town. The guide, a lady called Mercedes, was so much better than the one we had the previous day and we understood a lot more about the town, its origins, its involvement in the slave trade and Colombian independence.
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This building is in republican architecture where the balconies are made of concrete
(colonial buildings have balconies made of wood)
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| The oldest church in Cartagena |
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In one of the squares, the road surface had come
away revealing bricks made in Glasgow
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After the walking tour we decided to go to the district called Getsemani which is still part of the old town but is outside the city walls.
Historically this district was home to servants and the lower class of Cartagena. Now it is the artistic centre of Cartagena and artists from all over the world are attracted here. Here many of the streets are decorated by the residents including fresco paintings and good quality graffiti on the walls of the houses. It got quite hot walking around so we took some snacks back to the hotel and then went to the pool.
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| The name of these biscuits made us smile. |
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| Getsemani Street |
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| Getsemani Street |
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| Getsemani Street |
For our last night in Cartagena and Colombia, we first went to see some street percussion entertainment and then had a stroll around the area and found a nice first floor restaurant where we sat outside on the terrace watching people and horses passing by below.
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| Percussion Group in the square |
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At the BBC. There are a chain of bars called BBC and this is often the supplier to hotels and restaurants.
BBC stands for Bogata Beer Club
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| View from our restaurant table |
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| Horse and carriage available for a tour around the town after dark. |
Tomorrow we have the morning in Cartagena and then make our way to Quito in Ecuador.
Think I prefer their BBC to ours, at present!
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