36 Hours in Cartagena

My last Colombia post will be about the little bit of time we had in Cartagena. It was boiling hot and I'm actually pretty pleased with how everything worked out. At first I felt like I might've wanted a bit longer but I think that a day or two is really all you need to enjoy Getsemani, get some yummy food, and watch the sunset.

At least, that's all that was on my agenda.

I had booked the same car transfer that took us to Las Islas to take us to our next hotel. It was raining on the way but by the time we got to Cartagena, the weather wasn't too wet.

Ermita Cartagena

We stayed at the Ermita, mainly because I had Marriott points, but also because it looked clean, cute, and it was close to the airport and to the old city.

Restaurante La Casa de Socorro

For dinner, we went to Socorro. The food was exquisite. I got a sea bass filet that was fried and came with patacones, salad, and coconut rice.

Getsemani

After dinner, we decided to walk around the old city. Everything was so picturesque and the architecture was so pretty and the sky was making gorgeous colors; it was a lovely evening.

La Paletteria

Because it was such a warm evening, we stopped into La Paletteria for dessert. I got a pistachio pop and it was delicious.

On our way back to the hotel, we walked along the old city walls.

Once we got back to the hotel, we went to the rooftop bar for a nightcap.

In the morning, we had complimentary breakfast at our hotel before getting ready to go out for the day. I wanted to see Getsemani in the daylight so the intention was to head into the old city again. But I also wanted to see the city from a bit higher up so we took a taxi Castillo San Felipe.

Castillo de San Felipe

It was boiling hot but there was a lovely breeze at the top. Plus there were opportunities to be in shade and to go inside the castle in some parts so it wasn't unbearable.

After castle time, we headed into the old city and meandered around so I could snap some more photos of the gorgeousness of Getsemani.

La Cevicheria

J and I wanted to go to La Cevicheria because we'd seen Anthony Bourdain dine there. We all loved our ceviches. We also shared a black rice paella made with squid ink; I thought it was good but L thought it needed salt and more flavor.

After lunch, we kept walking around a bit and then headed back to our hotel to relax a bit. I really wanted to come back out early enough to see the sunset from the west side though so we planned acoordingly.

Cafe del Mar

After we enjoyed the sunset, we grabbed some more dessert at La Paletteria and then went to Cafe Del Mar for some cocktails. And then after cocktails, we went to a club to dance our hearts out and share a bottle of aguardiente, which basically translates to "fire water." It has an underlying flavor of licorice and it's pretty gross, but it's worth trying if you ever visit Colombia.

We all had to wake up really early the next morning to catch our flight back to Bogota. We weren't quite as sad to leave Cartagena as we were to leave Baru, but thinking back on it now, I miss the ocean views and lovely architecture.

And here's my video diary: