Cartegena (pronounced Cart-Ah-Hayn-Yah)

My, what a beautiful city!  This was my favorite of the trip.  We also had a great tour guide who had been giving tours for 12 years but had just started her own company in August.  We found her on Trip Advisor and she was knowledgeable, flexible and full of good cheer.  Her husband is an artist who was commissioned to do a special poster for the City's Bicentennial and she gave us each a poster!  How very nice!

We traveled with another family on this tour and we stopped to have lunch in the Old City.  We visited not only the Old City, but a monastery called El Popa, the old fort, and several other places.  I also bought an emerald ring. . not as big as the Hope Diamond, but a nice sterling silver band with 5 small emeralds.  Columbia is responsible for 98% of all emeralds mined on the planet. We saw no drug lords!

At El Popa (the Monastery) with a fabulous view

The Jesuit Monastery

Leaving Cartegena

Arriving in Cartegena

The Old Fort

One of the Squares

New Orleans with a Spanish Twist

Like Miami Beach?  See the hook of the bay?

Lots of Loose Dogs (only saw one chained!)

More of El Popa

More of the Old City

Our Tour Guide (Ms. Pena-Hall) and Driver

Most doors looked like this (small)

Lunch in the Old Town

Another Square