We landed in Cartagena yesterday around mid-day and that was the actual weather alert my phone sent me. Bogota's cool weather had been a nice change, but we are definitely back in summer heat mode. The Cartagena airport is small and the ride to downtown only took a few minutes; that said, our cab driver was unable to drop us off at our hotel because a pick-up baseball game had shut down the street temporarily. We strapped on our packs and walked around the block - not a big deal, but we were drenched by the time we reached Patio de Getsemani.
After we checked in, we headed to the Walled City to eat lunch and explore (we are staying just outside the wall). We spent most of the afternoon wandering around the streets - every turn seemed more beautiful than the last (so I'll let the pictures tell the story).
Clock Tower Gate.
Iglesia de San Pedro Claver.
Strolling down a deserted street.
The view of the sea from on top of the Wall.
Plaza de la Aduana.
Thoroughly sweaty and a little tired, we headed back to our hotel to clean up before dinner. We had a bit of a tough time finding a restaurant that was open (apparently many of the restaurants here are closed on Sundays); however, we eventually stumbled upon Di Silvio Trattoria, a small Italian restaurant. We weren't expecting to have Italian when we left our hotel, but we were very glad we found it - we shared a delicious antipasto plate and pizza.
Ultra-thin crust pizza - always a great end to a long day.
We woke up today well rested (our hotel has AC, which is a must in this heat!) and ready to see more of the city. We headed over to Castillo De San Felipe De Barajas (a.k.a. "the castle") for a self-guided, two-hour tour - it was interesting to see the castle, but I think the tunnels and cannons were trumped by the amazing city views.
Walking up the long ramp to the top (same temperature today as yesterday, by the way).
Spaniards must have been shorter than me in the 1500s.
The breeze that made the flag wave picturesquely in the background also kept us from melting up there!
Highest point in the castle.
By noon we were ready to get out of the sun so we headed to the shady streets of the Walled City to eat lunch and explore some more. Fortunately Sarah was able to find a bathing suit in one of the stores we stopped in - I'm probably most excited by this because now we won't need to spend any more time looking for one (and she'll stop giving me a hard time about getting one in Bogota)!
More to come as the week unfolds here in Cartagena!