Cartagena, my friend. How you wow us with your crashing ocean waves, twisting narrow streets, impenetrable (and centuries-old) city walls and beaming sun. Oh. That sun.
Kristin and I started our adventure yesterday at 9 am, by which time it was already 90-degrees. We enjoyed a leisurely (and relatively quiet...cabbies were still sleeping, I guess) walk to Castillo de San Filepe de Barajas, a fort built in the 17th (ish) century on top of a tall hill and once was the strongest, most impenetrable fort in South America. It was incredible (internet isn't letting me post pics. See KC'S Facebook).
The fort had seven main fortresses with different lines of defense and an intricate network of tunnels, so with purposeful dead ends. Kristin enjoyed exploring the tunnels. :)
We wrapped up the day in "old city," which is the section of Cartagena enclosed in stone walls. There are tons of museums and cathedrals to keep two girls entertained, so we elected for the Church of San Pedro Claver, which was both a museum and cathedral and features the skull of San Pedro himself at the altar. It was super cool. He was also a small dude. The museum is connected to the church and used to be where the monks and such lived (including the quarters of Pedro who lived and died there). Now it's a museum (obviously) and a neat little indoor/outdoor courtyard with the cities cutest two parrots (Pedeo and Claver).
After all that, KC and I were toast. Literally. No amount of sunscreen is any match for the Cartagena sun and heat. So we regrouped at the hostel for a few hours before heading out to dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment