22nd July 2015

£43 for two nights accommodation including breakfast, dinner, beer and water – pretty good going!  Thank you 61Prado!

Memorising the view of the luscious Medellin countryside, I made my way to the airport for my next stop.

I was now on my way to the seaside city of Cartagena, stealing myself for the weather – over 30 degrees and around 90% humidity every day.

My romantic side was wondering what would be in store for me – the sun, the sea, the wedding, the fiestas.  Would I be like Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner) and meet my very own Jack T. Colton (Michael Douglas) wearing crocodile boots, Romancing the Stone styley?

I’d booked my accommodation through Airbnb and my hosts were great.  They were a married couple – the guy from Belgian and the girl from Bogota – both lawyers and wonderful, incredibly interesting people.

Once I’d settled into their apartment – red tiled flooring, white sofa, hammock, turquoise accessories, interesting artwork on the walls and the obligatory huge fans – I went to try and find the supermarket.  A 3 minute walk away selling everything you could ever need.

My hosts invited me to drink with them and we sat on their balcony covered in potted palms, overlooking the busy fortressed street on the edge of the old town where taxis and buses come and go, chiva tours cart tourists round the old town (colourful wooden buses from yonder times, with musicians and locally brewed alcohol getting everyone in the rumba spirit), the lit up Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas as the backdrop, and chatted away over rum and ice tea cocktails (thoroughly recommended) and Chilean rose wine.

I was so happy to have chosen wisely and knew I’d be happy here. My hostess and I communicated via pidgin speech but we both seemed to understand what each other was saying in our own languages although there were quite a few interjections from our very handy translator – the host! 😉

I had my own large bedroom with fan and my own bathroom.  Perfect.