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
We took some good pictures, we talked a lot, we read a lot, we were super happy in Islas del Encanto.
Some pictures from Cartagena:
And some more from Isla del Encanto:
