We reached the colonial city of Cartagena where the Latin spirit feels at home: colorful clothes, salsa, street dance, football and passionate people.
Cartagena is famous for its culture, history and colourful colonial buildings and of course its fascinating history.
From Santa Marta we took a bus that arrived in Cartagena late at night.
From the bus station we caught a taxi to our hotel in Gistemaní neighborhood near the old town.
That night we took part in a very interesting race on the crowded city streets. We thought that our drivers were a bite crazy but later on we realized that this was their way of driving and we were very happy to reach the hotel in one piece.
At night, the town was alive, bars were full, and people were partying on the streets. We could tell that the city had its own energy.
Our hotel was a very old colonial building and had a charming look.
Unfortunately, the room was very small and it had no running hot water, so we had to take a cold shower before going to bed.
The next morning we had a lovely breakfast on the top terrace of the hotel and soon after we started to explore the old town of Cartagena.
Once we reached the old town, we were fascinated of the brilliantly colored pastel buildings, narrow cobble streets and vendors of all kinds.
Each building was painted in brilliant colors with bright pastel balconies.
We just got lost in the maze of fascinating streets which opened into beautiful plazas.
Of course, it was touristy and very crowed, but Cartagena is one of those cities that is so beautiful and so charming that you understand why it’s so touristy.
You feel the vibe and you fall in love with it.
The city reminded us a lot of Cuba as it has a certain feel that can’t be described.
At one point we discovered a green oasis in the middle of the city. It was the terrace of La Presentation, Casa Museo Arte y Cultura, the perfect place for a cold lemonade on that hot, hot day.
In the evening we had watched a fantastic sunset, and had cold drinks at the famous Café de Mar.
The old town was large enough that we continuously found new streets, quiet parks and new places even on our second day there. The next day we walked around again and never felt bored.
The next evening we went to the top terrace of the hotel Torre del Reloj for a drink and another amazing sunset.
Cartagena is a very beautiful and very charming city and one day we will return here because we loved it too much.
