It’s been a fun and busy week here in Cartagena. I started taking Spanish lessons this week and realized I’ve never formally studied Spanish and have learned a lot. I went on a bike tour of the area. I discovered the best location to be in Cartagena: Old Town, or El Centro as it is called here. It really is a great place, chock full of hostels and Spanish schools and cultural events.
This week I did a juice tasting with 10 different kinds of local fruits. Some of them great, some of them not so great. My favorite was cane juice blended with lime. I watched an interesting Spanish film called Embrace of the Serpent. YouTube it. It’s a trippy movie about some of the earlier adventurers and some would say ravagers of the Amazon area. it reminded me a little of Apocalypse Now.
And yesterday we cooked fried plantains and empenadas. I also found the best food in Colombia (so far). A little restaurant called La Vieja Gaurdia. The soup has such rich flavor and the main meal is delicious. All for around 18,000 pesos or $5.50. It even included a drink! (See pics for the meal).
Lastly I spent an evening hanging out with friends from the Spanish school watching the Colombia versus Qatar match of the Pan-American Games. Always a good time. Colombians are fierce with mucho national pride.
Today I am flying back to Grenada to help a friend, Steve Bell, sail his boat, Alkemi, to Bonaire. It should be a fun weekend sail as the winds are picking up a little and we hope to make good time. We should be setting sail tomorrow. Once I get to Bonaire I’ll be flying back to Cartagena to explore Colombia some more before heading on to Panama.
Special shout out to Keith and Mildred for putting up with an extra body in their boat as we’ve been enjoying the city together. Thanks guys. See you in a week!
#LivingLargebyLivingLittle #GlobalHitchhiking #lilliving
Columbia vs Qatar Match
Thanks for following along on the adventure. Please subscribe for updates! WordPress does update my Living Large by Living Little, Facebook page, so you can either like it to get updates, or subscribe by email at the link below, or you can follow me at the following places: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram.
Living Large by Living Little! 
Sounds fantastic! Learning the local tongue is very cool. You can experience so much more. You are lucky language comes easy to you.
I used to always say if I found a genie in a bottle and got three wishes one would definitely be to be able to speak any and all languages wherever I traveled!
Soup looks heavenly.
Happy travels 🙏☀️✨💦
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for your comment. The soup is heavenly! It’s one of those things you kind of grunt when you eat. I wish languages came easy to me. I speak French (sorta) and Haitian Creole but I earned those at 19. Learning new languages at 54 is a different ballgame. Hopefully it starts clicking as I’ve been faking my Spanish for so long. El burro es muey importante en Mexico!
LikeLike
Great photos. Damn that food looks delicious 😋
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is. I’m looking forward to coming back. This is their standard lunch. Starts with rib soup and then on to a dish similar to this. Amazing.
LikeLike