Y como el tiempo vuela, nosotros también. De camino a Cartagena, Colombia.

This place is so different from Panamá City, as the part of town we stayed in there was the modern city and in Cartagena we chose to stay in old town.

In this world,we’re presently living in this very odd apartment that we rented with many bedrooms on 3 floors versus a modern hotel with an elevator.

With this situation, we had to devise a plan because, the circular staircase is very small. I cannot inagine dragging luggage up these stairs. We decided the luggage stays in the first floor bedroom, and we stay on the 2nd floor, sleeping in any of the 3 beds. As to the 3rd floor, it is an open-air patio with a small cooking kitchen but, with the temperatures reaching an average of 90 and the humidity around the same, we prefer the comfort of air conditioning.

On our first night, we did sit up there enjoying the view for 10 minutes before it got too hot.

We prefer living on the 2nd floor with air-conditioned comfort, a funky bathroom with an electric hot water shower, a small sink, and a toilet.

I am in heaven. After months of sharing a bathroom with Maximo, we now have separate bathrooms. Wahoo!

Cartagena is definitely a party town with a restaurant or bar every 20 feet, but also, what you really notice is that everybody is trying to sell you something. A boat tour, a city tour, fresh çut up mango or coconut or a massage.

But if you look somewhat different then, here you are a tourist, and it is a selling opportunity for all the vendors to approach you.
You try to be polite in saying no gracias, but after the 15th person in the space of one block tries to sell you something. I feel like saying Talk to the Hand… but I’m not sure they would understand that, and I really don’t want to be rude here as the venders are persistent but do accept no gracias and will stop.

At night, we hear lots of salsa, but no tango except in the Argentinean Steak house. [ another story] We did go out one night and listened to a jazz concert in the lobby of a small hotel.

The music was more along the lines of Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and Edith Piaf. And we did dance a tango for a bit!!! Three talented young men who were dressed in white evening clothes playing a saxophone, drums and guitar.

The event room,was actually the lobby of this boutique hotel, was small, maybe 9 tables, a small stage area in front of the room. We had the table directly opposite the band but at the rear of the room.

With the company of my partner, my love and I were celebrating the evening with a bottle of Italian prosecco. We were raising a toast to my actual retirement as I had sold my business.
The food at the venue, Voila Hotel, was very good. We had a lovely celebratory experience.

With the weather being very warm, we try to get up early, but it’s difficult as we are used to going to sleep at 1am.

Most days, we dont succeed. It’s more like we get moving at 11 am. in the morning before we finally leave the apartment in search of breakfast and coffee.

There is a nice place around the corner from us called Moloka. We have gotten to know the place well, and love the place as the staff are very kind and welcoming.

As a matter of record, I find most Colombians are very kind and welcoming people in general. Ready to help in whatever way they can.

As on our last day, we walked our suitcases around the corner to Moloka to get the final cup of coffee. They make a great cup of Colombian. They called us a taxi and helped load our stuff into this small cab for the 15-minute drive to the Cartagena International Airport.

A while ago, we started to get the luggage wrapped in plastic as we found less wear and tear on the bags, and you can tell when they have been opened.

With an early morning flight, we departed Cartagena on a beautiful sunny day bound for Panamá city and then to Buenos Aires, where we will live for a while .

We would return to Cartagena for another visit. Maybe in the future, there will be tango.