Cartagena II

We slept in a bit but it was a bit difficult finding sleep in the hostel we were staying at because it has a patio so when someone talks in the lower floor or lobby the sound is transported and magnified to our room 🙄 But we were tired and needed the sleep... In the morning we checked if we could stay another night because there were a few things we'd like to see and one day wasn't enough. Unfortunately our hostel and also almost everything else in the whole city center has been booked out 🙈 So we packed our stuff and wanted to check other hostels but when we came to the lobby, the receptionist greeted us with the good news that someone had cancelled and we could stay 😮‍💨 We'd have probably found something, but like this it was a lot easier...

Then we went out to explore the old city that we had a little glimpse of yesterday at night. Just about 200m away from the hostel we walked through a park where a little crowd had gathered. On closer inspection there was a super active sloth 🦥 climbing through the tree 😍 On his way it was disturbing the chilling iguanas and we feared for it to fall down as the branches weren't looking very sturdy... But it climbed on without falling and after half an hour we continued on into the old city center where we were greeted by beautiful colourful buildings. Walking the decorated streets was amazing and we enjoyed the views, especially from up at the (completely intact) city walls that lead around it. Then we made a little stop at the bus operator to check the schedule to go to Santa Marta (tomorrow at 8). Right next to it is a public beach where we cooled down our feet in the coolish water. The atmosphere in the city is very lively and friendly and it feels very different even though it was just about 500km from Panamá to here. We continued our exploration at the old theater that was converted into a modern mall while keeping the old structures intact which resulted in a beautiful combination 🥰

From the theater it was just a short walk to the Castle San Felipe de Barajas overlooking the city. The castle offers magnificent views, a nice little walk on the walls and tunnels to explore. The tunnels were especially tempting as it was nice and cool there. Then we went back to the hostel for a bit of recovery and hydration and to look up what to do next. Also I went to a barber shop and we bought a large backpack to carry our stuff a little more comfortable. Afterwards we checked out a restaurant nearby that was recommended by the receptionist. The menu offered quite a lot of interesting options and I decided on a fish while Julia had a vegetarian rice. The taste was really good and we were both happy with our choices ☺️

For the evening we took a walk through the old city center again to see it illuminated. It was a whole different experience but I'd say it looks prettier at the day when you can see the colourful buildings. But the plazas were more lively with music, dancing and food and drink stalls. Then we went back to hostel to rearrange our luggage with the new backpack.Read more