MB around or MBA round: Cartagena de Indias

The third stop of our honeymoon gained a place in our hearts. Cartagena de Indias (or simply Cartagena) is a special place in the North of Colombia, facing the Caribbean Sea. It was founded in the 16th century, under Spanish colonization, and its Old Town is probably the most colorful city in the world. There are blue, red, yellow, orange, green, pink, white, brown, purple colonial buildings all over the place, inside military walls, as well as many colorful squares and endless cobblestone streets. Oh, and the massive doors, and flowers in the balconies! There are no words to describe how beautiful Cartagena is...

We stayed in a cute boutique hotel called Bantu, in the calmer part of the historical town. It was a colonial house with a few interior squares converted into a small hotel. With just about 10 rooms, a few lounges, a library, green areas every now and then, a cute rooftop with a swimming pool, a spa, and a bar, beauuuuutiful decor and very kind and personalized service, Bantu was as romantic as we could have asked for, without being luxurious or fancy shmancy. It perfectly matched the vibe of Cartagena - the most hippie chic place we've ever been to.

Cartagena to us was all about wandering in the colorful streets, eating extremely good food, and enjoying time on our own. Talking about food, let me tell you that I will list here all the restaurants and coffee shops worth being registered for future reference! Sorry for the exaggerated details but this blog has officially become my (public) personal notebook.

We arrived in Cartagena around lunch time. After leaving our stuff at our beloved boutique hotel, we left with the mission of finding a lunch place and then starting to explore the city. Our first lunch was at La Sandwichería, just by our hotel, and it was a great surprise. We had hummus and falafel as an appetizer, and then I had a very rich salad (full of local seasonal ingredients) while gorda had some kind of fish stew. The place was quite cute and ideal for a quick bite - too bad that the waiter was a bit of a weirdo.

We decided to start exploring Cartagena by walking all around the wall of the old city, checking the views and the streets from above. We quickly understood that that was probably the worst way to enjoy Cartagena, as all its magic is within the colorful streets. By the end of the day, we enjoyed the rooftop of our hotel, and then it was dinner time!

Dinner that day was the perfect definition of an ideal honeymoon meal. We went to Moshi (same owner and same place as Carmen), and ate a delicious 7-food tasting menu. From scallops to Ceviche, from miso soup to truffles, from grilled octopus to duck, from local fish to pan-fried seafood rice, we had it all. And it was one memorable meal! We then attempted to go dancing but could not find the ideal spot.

On the second day, we went on a mission to explore every street of Cartagena that we did not have the chance to see the day before. We found out the lively Getsemani neighborhood and its street art, its street football matches and its enormous amount of hostels and bars. We went back to a good coffee shop (where we went literally everyday we spent in Cartagena) - Juan Valdez Café -, and we found out the coolest caffe+library - Abaco -, where gorda bought a Colombian book about Escobar. Gorda has always been super into the conflicts in Central America. What else did we do? We visited the Historical Museum of Cartagena (meh... a flop!), we walked and walked, and we took plenty of good pictures with our new Canon EOS 6D - wedding present from my dear INSEADers.

Lunch was a delight at La Cevicheria. Again, SO YUM! We had to wait a bit to be seated, which was already a sign of what was coming up. We had delicious platano chips, and then shared two unbelievable ceviches: a Peruvian Ceviche of seabass and shrimps, and a (warm) Mexican Ceviche of shrimps. We decided that I need to try to make some ceviches when we go back home. No words for how fresh, healthy and yummy this dish can be! Because gorda cannot really survive without a dessert, we then headed to the most famous ice cream place in town - Gelataria Paradiso -, where he had a mango and chocolate (buhhhh) ice cream. Fun fact: gorda and I are totally incompatible in what comes to desserts. This is not necessarily bad for me: this way it is easier for me to avoid sharing desserts with him.

After a few more miles wandering around the old town, we spent the late afternoon at the hotel, by the pool, where we took a nap, and gorda even received a massage at the spa.

Dinner was a bit disappointing. We went to one of the most famous restaurants in Town - 1621 - in the most famous hotel in town - Santa Clara Hotel -, but instead of staying in the absolutely lovely courtyard, we were seated inside. The tartare we shared as an appetizer was probably the best we've ever had, but we were so sad for being inside that the whole meal did not taste especially good. The restaurant lacked the Cartagena vibe, and was way too formal for our style. Because we could not go to bed after such disappointment, we decided to go salsa dancing. What better spot than Havana Club for that? We had a few (too many margaritas), we danced "salsa", and we had lots of fun, until a very fat woman stepped on my foot and made me drop some tears in the middle of the bar. Hehe

The next day we were woken up at 7:30 am. The local travel agency made a mistake with the planning, and thought we were supposed to leave to Islas del Rosario that day. They had actually changed our reservations both at Bantu Hotel and Isla del Encanto hotel without letting us know. Their reservations did not match our vouchers. It was a true mess!

Thankfully enough, the manager of Bantu Hotel was a real machine and solved everything for us. We managed to stay one more night in Cartagena, as initially planned. The only thing we could not get back was the hours of sleep that we had lost.

We decided to take it easy that day. After a long breakfast, we had a killing late morning workout and then chilled by the pool. We left for lunch and found an empty Cartagena on a Sunday early afternoon. After walking for a while, Gorda made me have lunch in a meh-Spanish restaurant as he did not want to keep walking on an empty stomach. We had meet for the first time in a looong time. He tried another ice cream in another good ice cream spot, another coffee at Juan Valdez, and that was it for the day. We just chilled in the sun and then in the shade for a few hours.

Dinner was glorious at Cuzco Cartagena. What a venue, what a vibe, what a food! And, actually, what a waiter - José! A dinner in Cuzco was a great way of putting an end to our days in Cartagena.

We woke up to a lot of rain on Monday, the 31st. So much rain that our boat to Isla del Encanto, our next destination, got cancelled. We were already inside a boat full of people when the guide announced that no boat could leave the port due to weather conditions. At first, we got confused about what would happen to us, as we were supposed to spend 3 days in the islands and, therefore, did not have any hotel booked in Cartagena. Thankfully, the guys from the travel agency solved the issue for us. They drove us through some weird roads and even more weird villages until a place closer to the island we were supposed to go to, and we took a small boat, just for the two of us there. In the end, we had a much nicer and intimate boat trip, and another story to tell you on the blog.

When we arrived in Isla del Encanto, we got a bit disappointed. Actually, we got a lot disappointed. The place where we were staying didn't have much more than a dozen bungalows, one or two structures where they served meals, another structure where two ladies offered (very expensive massages), two swimming pools, and the sea. This would sound awesome if it was not raining or if the structures weren't so old.

What we didn't know is that the weather would become better and better, and that we were in a huge need of not doing much for a few days. We ended up staying 3 lovely days in Isla del Encanto, where we repeated this routine:

Wake up around 8 am, after 10+ hours of sleep
Have a generous breakfast of tropical fruit, scrambled eggs, arepas (and waffles with dulce de leche for gorda)
Do a 1-hour workout
Shower
Read
Swim in the sea
Read
Have lunch (yummy food btw)
Read
Kayak for about one hour
Nap (just gorda)
Read
Massage
Shower
Dinner (yummy food)
Sleep before 10 pm