Romancing the Stone maybe but not Maridee

So we have been a little quiet the past few days. I will attempt to catch up on our adventures. Let’s back up to Florida………

We enjoyed our time there. Our last full day in Florida, Sunday October 6^th, we drove down to Key West, Florida.  It took us about 4 hours to get there from Miami (including various Circle K stops and potty breaks). The drive there was beautiful as we drove on the US 1 and the causeway that connects all the keys together.  Not knowing much about Key West I thought we would be encountering a Palm Springs, Beverly Hills kind of atmosphere. Boy was I ever wrong!

It reminded me of a cross between Venice Beach, California and New Orleans during Mardi gras. Talk about an eclectic group of people, stores and locals!! Our driver the day before asked us why we were going there if we didn’t drink. Now I know why! It was a lively place to be---for 2 hours! Then we left. We did see Ernest Hemingway’s home, Truman’s home, ate conch fritters at Caroline’s and we even put our toes in the Southernmost Point of the United States.

It was strange seeing water on both sides of our highway and the Everglades and alligators and critters were nearby too.

Monday October 7^th we checked into our cruise on the Celebrity Millennium. It is a beautiful ship and so far we like the food, the accommodations and the crew. Tuesday and Wednesday were sea days which are always nice to have. Today we landed in Cartagena, Columbia. I will try to be positive.

First, our tour guide told us that we were experiencing 90 degree weather and 90% humidity. Thankfully the bus had air conditioning though it was hard to feel cool when I was completely and utterly soaked.

Now for our history lesson of the day.  Cartagena was the transit port for all the wealth Spain derived from South America. The famous "Old City" is comprised of 12 square blocks filled with attractions, boutiques and restaurants.

Throughout Colombia, the Spanish Empire's influence in the New World is self-evident. Its fortress walls, quaint narrow streets, and balconied houses are all vivid reminders of Spain's hold on Cartagena and throughout the Caribbean and South America. This is the land of El Dorado and flamboyant adventurers in search of the ever-elusive gold. Cartagena's well-constructed fortifications defended its borders against seafaring pirates whose attacks lasted for more than 200 years. Today this modern and bustling city, seaport, and commercial center still boasts much of its original colonial architecture.

Our first stop was the Fortress, Castillo de San Felipe. After a steep climb to the top of the Fortress (which would have been fine if the perspiration pouring off of me didn’t keep making the stones so slippery) we stayed up there for about half an hour. Originally it was a much smaller fortress but it has been added onto.

“Majestically standing guard on a hillside overlooking the city and harbor is Castillo de San Felipe, a fortress built by the Spanish for protection against pirates while shipping gold out to Europe. “

 

This fortress’s claim to fame is in the movie Romancing the Stone.

From there we went into the Old City a UNESCO World Heritage site. Our first stop was the Inquisition Palace; a place where witches and warlocks were sentenced and put to death. In the Palace there were all sorts of gruesome paraphernalia that was used to kill these innocent people because someone accused them of witchery. They even had a scale that according to the powers that be if you weighed more than you should according to your height you were a witch because you were filled with evil spirits that added to your weight. If you weighed less than you should have you were also a witch because that meant you were light enough to fly! Seriously I hate this part of history and it made me sick seeing the instruments that were used to twist out a person’s brain and other methods of horrific torture. I pretty much checked out by this point.

We then saw the beautiful Cartagena Cathedral (opposite the Inquisition Palace) that had huge fans to cool off the parishioners. 

Of course anytime we were walking we were approached by numerous beggars and peddlers hoping that we would buy their wares. No does not mean no to them. No thank you doesn’t mean no thank you to them. And each one looked as needy as the others. I just couldn’t stand it. I have never been one to enjoy negotiating prices. Some people love it but I don’t and by the end I wanted to escape to the bus and get back to the ship.

Tomorrow we dock at Colon, Panama. I have cancelled our participation in the shore excursion due to the heat, length of excursion and utter exhaustion both Jim and I felt today. Harold and LaReda are going ahead with the excursion since they are tougher than I am. We are going to swim in the pool and venture out to the ship terminal. We have been warned not to go past the gates without an escort or ship excursion as it is dangerous.

 

Print this post