Colorful Cartagena

Day 12  Tuesday,  February 13, 2018  Cartagena, Colombia

Beautiful day in Colombia, both of our first visits to South America. This picture was from the huge fortress on the hill looking back to the main town. Our excursion tour took us to many highlights, with much strolling in the walled old city. Our tour guide, however, thought he was funnier than we thought he was, and he seemed to be promoting his "cousins'"businesses as we toured the Old City!

After a rough night on the seas, it was comforting to be inside the harbor in the morning as we approached our dock (which was right next to a huge Holland America cruise ship). The fortress photo above was from our bus as we were about to park to tour it.

From street level, the Castillo de San Felipe Barajas was quite imposing, with the long and steep walkway up to the top. The fortress was built in 1536 and greatly expanded in 1657. The street below was jam-packed with tour buses, tourists, and vendors.

A view over to the walled Old City, which we toured later. The fortress and the Old City are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The dome dominating the Old City is the Church of Pedro Claver. 

The fortress had a maze of tunnels, so that the defenders could surprise any attackers.

The batteries and parapets protected one another, making it practically impossible to take a battery without taking the whole defense system.

Everything in this photo is OLD.

Everything in this photo is BEAUTIFUL.

A view of the skyscrapers which are to the left of the Old City. I took this from an opening in the guard tower in the photo below.

A touristy shot!

You can see how vast and thick the fortress is.

Once we worked our way back onto the bus through the crowded sidewalk, we drove through crowded streets to the Old City and this marketplace. Our guide led us to a particular stall to recommend we shop there, so it must have been one of his "cousins."

We then bused to the far side of the Old City nearest to the ocean toward the west. Those old walls sure are tall.

We walked along this narrow street toward the central plaza, and it was lined with these flowered balconies that make this part of town so charming.

More of their famous flowered balconies.

At the side of the street was another likely "cousin" who demonstrated his "lightning artwork". He would paint the 5x7s in less than two minutes. We liked them, so we bought two to bring home.

Another excellent example of their balconies in this part of town.

Once we reached the central Simón Bolívar Plaza, we visited this Inquisition Palace (museum). It showed the various forms of torture used to elicit confessions from the supposed heretics. We learned that they were damned if they confessed, and damned if they continued to proclaim their innocence. The Spanish Inquisition was imposed here in 1610, but originally began with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Christopher Columbus fame, in 1478.

Our guide decided to make a photo op for us, but the guillotine was never used to execute a heretic during the Inquisition.

On the other side of Bolívar Plaza was a gold jewelry museum/store that probably also belonged to a "cousin." It was during this time that our tour group became confused because or guide "set us free" without ever telling us where or when to meet up again. When anyone asked him about it, his story and instructions always seemed to change.

A dazzling display in the gold museum.

Here is the statue of Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco, or just Simón Bolívar for short (or The Liberator) in "his" plaza. In the early 1800s, he liberated five South American countries from Spain (and ended the Inquisition). He famously said near the end of his life: "If Caracas gave me life, Cartagena gave me glory." His ancestors came from the Basque Country in Spain!

A statue of Pedro de Heredia, the 16th-century conquistador who founded Cartagena in 1533.

A pretty Janet in a pretty square in front of the Iglesia de San Pedro Claver (1654). Pedro Claver, during the 40 years of his ministry in Colombia, personally baptized around 300,000 people. He is the patron saint for slaves and seafarers. Our tour guide did not show us inside the church, perhaps because none of his cousins was selling there.

Here we are at a corner of the wall of the Old City. A masted ship lies in the view of the new city skyscrapers.

Speaking of, there's the masted ship as seen out a porthole of the guard tower in the photo above this one.

We assembled back onto the bus and drove along the beach, south around the peninsula and then back up toward where our ship was docked. All along the ocean were beach tents and umbrellas and people!

Why, there is our ship over there across the bay. We got dropped off over there and still had several hours to eat, drink, and lounge around the ship before we departed. We read and napped on the 7th level promenade, and went into the hot tub and pool. We had dinner at the Cagney's Steakhouse (free to Latitude Platinum members), which included a free bottle of wine. What I had not noticed on our coupons was that there was a $20 maximum that was free, and you paid the difference of your order beyond the $20. We did need to pay a bit extra, but it wasn't too bad, just a surprise. Janet had lamb, and I had a filet mignon.