Seafood for Mark's second breakfast

From the museum, we crossed the road to Plaza de Bolivar.  Obviously, Simon de Bolivar is the most famous character in this part of Central and South America.  We are going to continue to find references to him as our journey continues.  His connection to Santa Marta is that this is where he died. On December 17th, 1830, he succumbed to tuberculosis.  He was in the port city looking for passage to Europe for treatment, but no country there wanted him, fearing reprisals from Spain if they hosted him.  So, he died here.  The memorial statue in the plaza depicts him on a rampant horse, suggesting that he was killed in battle.  This is not the case – it is one of the many myths surrounding the man.

There was a liberal protest going on outside the town hall in the light of the recent election of a conservative mayor.  Javier explained the two-party system in the city and said that the protest wasn’t serious.  When the next liberal mayor is chosen, there will be conservative protests in the same place!

Our next stop was at a popular street food stall where they were selling a local seafood stew for 10,000 pesos a cup (around £2).  Despite the early hour and the recent breakfast, Mark couldn’t resist!  He said it was absolutely delicious!  While he was eating, the rest of us went to look inside the Church of San Francisco de Asís, a Catholic temple attached to the Franciscan Order located in Santa Marta.  It was built in the  16th century, and in its external structure, there are architectural elements that date from this era. Its interior was completely rebuilt after a fire in 1962.Read more