We Visit Cartagena, Colombia ... for a Few Hours

On Friday, I shared some commentary on our visits to Puntarenas, Costa Rica and Fuerta Amador, Panama, and our trip through the Panama Canal. Today, I have a few comments and pictures on our brief visit to Cartagena, Colombia.

The Coral Princess docked in Cartagena shortly before 8:00, and by 8:30 we were off the ship and on our bus for a short tour of the old city (and the obligatory shopping expedition which seems to be mandatory for all cruise ships stopping anywhere). You don't really need to go to the stores to shop, though, because there are vast swarms of street vendors everywhere, selling everything from Panama hats (in Colombia?) to Cuban cigars to t-shirts to Colombian lace tablecloths (many of them actually made in China, if you look closely at the tags). The street vendors were annoying and persistent, but not as aggressively in-your-face as those we encountered when we visited Mexico ... most of the time they would actually go away if you told them "no."

Our first stop was at the fortress of San Felipe de Barajas, an imposing edifice perched high on a hill overlooking the city, and built to protect the Spanish treasure fleets from pirates and English privateers. Yes, the hike up the hill is as steep as it looks ... and as #$@%! hot and humid as it was, I was pretty well soaked by about a third of the way up ...

This view is from about halfway up the switchbacking hill ... you can see the street vendors with their piles of hats, t-shirts, jewelry, and such arrayed all the way along the road ...

After leaving the fortress and en route to the Mandatory Shopping Place we stopped briefly for a look out over the wall that surrounds the old city. Along with the fortress, it was part of the city's defense against pirates and hedge fund managers*. Very imposing, and very beautiful ...

It was but a short jaunt from there to Playa de las Bovedas (literally translated as something like "Place of the Vaults") ... 

The "vaults" were at one time parts of the city's dungeons, but are now a long series of hole-in-the-wall tourist shops which can be visited by swimming through the sea of street vendors who clog the sidewalks in hopes of poaching customers before they can get to the stores. Note to future visitors: the street vendors will haggle with you (and Agnes is very good at haggling), but the shops will not.

After about 15 minutes at the former dungeon shops, we drove into the center of the old city of Cartagena and disembarked (again through the swarms of street vendors) for a short walking tour. The streets are narrow and colorful, as you can see in these three photos ...

We ended up at the "Palacio de la Inquisition" ("Palace of the Inquisition"), a museum which featured - as you might suspect - gruesome displays of implements of torture once used by the Catholic Church to enforce proper belief in a merciful and loving God. I will not share any of those photos with you. Just around the corner from the main entrance to the palacio was a small, barred window topped with a cross - the "Ventana de la Denuncia," or "Window of Denunciation." It was here that people could slip anonymous notes through the window to denounce their enemies as witches or blasphemers, ensuring that those hapless persons would enjoy the attention of the inquisitors and the tender mercies of the evil devices within ...

There was a pleasant garden in the middle of the palacio complex, where one could rest comfortably in the shade ... there was even a nice swing set which you can see on the left ...

After the sparkling entertainment of that museum, we paid a brief visit to the Church of San Pedro Claver**, the patron saint of slaves, and its associated display of religious art housed in a former monastery. While we were there, we encountered a street vendor who offered (for a fee, of course) the opportunity to pose for pictures with his partner ... 

Well, you can only see so much of fortresses, former dungeons, museums, and displays of religious art before doing what everyone does at cruise stops - shopping. Our last stop of the day was at the Pierino Gallo Shopping Center, which featured dozens of shops selling jewelry, coffee, cigars, and all the other things the street vendors sold, only for many times the cost and tougher haggling (at which Agnes again showed her skill). There was also another fellow lurking outside offering photos with his partner ... a three-toed sloth who charmed Agnes into posing with him. Agnes thought he was cute and cuddly, and when the time was up, the little guy didn't want to let go of her ... the owner had literally to peel him off. I can understand ... I'd rather have her hugging me than that guy.

After the stop at the shopping center, it was time for the bus to deliver us back to the harbor, as the Coral Princess was scheduled to leave Cartagena shortly after 2:00. On the way, the guide drove us past the hotel that became infamous as the Secret Service's party hotel during President Obama's visit to Cartagena earlier this year ... not one of the more inspiring sights of the city, but good for a few laughs.

And that was our all-too-short visit to a very beautiful and colorful city. I'd had some trepidation about visiting Colombia, but because we kept to the safe tourist areas, we had no trouble other than navigating through the swarms of street vendors. I think I'd like to go back again sometime when I could spend more time and see more of the city.

But that's in the distant future. First, we have to discuss the last leg of our vacation ... which will appear in this space tomorrow.

Have a good day. Tomorrow, we'll visit the amazing island of Aruba. Be here.

Bilbo

* Just kidding. About the pirates, ha, ha.

** In an example of bizarre religious imagery, the mortal remains of San Pedro Claver are on display in a gold and glass coffin at the front of the church. I did not feel compelled to take any pictures.