Cartagena

You know how you debate options when getting ready for a trip? "Well, I could stay here one night or two... I want to leave time to swim, but don't want to miss that restaurant that everyone loves so much..." Sound familiar? Well, this trip was one for the books. The planning all worked out -- and so did Mother Nature!


On Friday I was done teaching at 11:40 AM. Leaving school at 12:15 with no backpack, I could stop off for some new flowers and head home for lunch. At 1:15 I called a taxi and was sitting at the gate, ready for my 3:05 flight, dessert in hand.


At 4:45 I left the Cartagena airport. With no need for the baggage claim I walked right up to the taxi stand, got a prepaid amount ticket for the driver, and was at my hotel in the walled city by 5:00. 

My goal had been to check in, change, and head straight to Cafe del Mar for appetizers and an unblocked view of the 6:00 sunset over the ocean. Success!

One beer, a spicy tuna plate of food, and half an hour later, I was on my way to dinner. El Bistro is known for German-influenced Columbian food. While waiting for my food, I enjoyed a Paulander Moreno and some rye bread.  Then came my Lomo -- a superb cut of steak -- medium, topped in a peanut and almond sauce, served with ultra fresh mashed potatoes and small herbed salad. I told the waitress, "Gracias! Quizas fue la major comida de me vida!" (Thank you! That was maybe the best food I've ever had!) 

Strolling a bit around the walled city enroute back to my hotel, I bought some Colombian coffee (NOT Juan Valdez) and a small metal handicraft statue.


After a nice Saturday breakfast at the hotel, they arranged a taxi to take me to their speedboat. By 11:30 AM I was in my swim trunks, on La Isla Tierra Bomba, along with the dolphin necklace I bought in Providencia and my "vacation watch" from Villa de Leyva. 

There were *no* clouds for the next 48 hours, and with a temperature around 85 degrees I alternately spent the next three daytimes swimming at the pool and reading Agassi's autobiography on the beach facing Bocagrande.

Both evenings on the island I met nice, interesting people. These included a Captain and his friends from Curacao, and a couple David (30) from Sweden and Sarah (24) from Denmark. They all spoke English. P.S. It turns out Captain Phil likes rum. He also had Tampico (basically Sunny Delight). I have learned that the two together are delicious enough that when everyone else went to bed,  the two of us stayed up and finished off the bottle. SO much fun. Dad- ask me about the bridge to Hawaii joke next time I'm there.


Arriving back in the Old City, I went for the audio tour of a large castle. Though the history didn't totally keep my attention, there were some tunnels to explore and the audio guide took me on a good route around the castle. 

I also lucked out with my second good sunset. This time I was about 40 meters up, with an unblocked view not only over the ocean but also an interior bay. 

This trip got my hunger up, so you know what's next! Yes, there are places for cevice, seafood, hamburgers, and pizza. But for me it was back to El Bistro! This time their lomo was covered with a red sauce and mozzarella. Brilliant! 

I was expecting my flight to be at least a half hour late, because Carlee told me their experience was Aires (Colombian Air) has been the last flight out of town always gets delayed. So, rather than heed the advice of showing up one hour before the flight, I decided to leave the hotel one hour before the flight. Everything went really smoothly. As I ordered coffee and cheesecake for dessert near the six-gate terminal, they actually started to call us on board... early! We were able to leave 30 minutes early and made such good time that we had to circle Bogota for ten minutes before landing. I was able to get home shortly after 11:30 PM.


Ciao for now, Cartagena -- I'll be seeing you again!

The Autumn Here Was Rainy and Cold Every Day

With a possible record snowfall fast approaching, the City of Chicago has obtained 50 snowmobiles to try to ensure that firefighters can reach residents on snow-clogged side streets who might need their help tonight or tomorrow.


Brookfield Zoo will be closed Wednesday due to the weather, and so the groundhog Tumbleweed will make an early prediction this afternoon.


Bogota:

 

64°F | °C

Current: Haze

Wind: SE at 26 km/h
Humidity: 42%

Tomorrow
71°F | 39°F

Did you know...

...that the Spanish word for wife is the same as the Spanish word for handcuffs? (The opinion of the language referenced is not necessarily the opinion of the columnist.)

Redemption

My Portero, who I can *never* understand, calls me down to talk over renting my parking space with the same guy from December. Cool. Now I'm not sure if he parked there in December without paying me, but he made it sound like I left before he could take advantage of it. So, I head downstairs. We shake hands. He really is a nice guy. But I'm ready. He starts talking to me quickly in Spanish -- knowing full well I know some of it but prefer English. Still, I understood him asking how long I would be here, because he wants to rent the space through the end of the year, though of course I can only rent it for as long as I'm around. Not being sure when my lease technically ends, I said through June.

He counted on his fingers. "Febrero, Marzo, Abril, Mayo, Junio. Entonces, 250 mil?" 

"Uh," I replied, "sesenta por cinco meses es tres cientos." (300 mil)

Suddenly he switches to English, "But you remember, you said if I pay you in advance it's only 50 mil." 

"Yes, but I thought that was only for one month. Normally it's 60 mil."

He looks down, rubs his neck, and then looks up at me to see if I'm serious. So I just wait a beat without saying anything. (Thank you, theater.)

"Okay," he says. "I'll call you Monday?" 

"Si," I reply, "lunes esta bien."

We shake hands. Parting ways I call out to the portero, "Hay un domicilio de Carulla en una hora, mas o menos." (There's a home delivery from the grocery store in an hour, more or less.) I wonder what he thought when I said that. :-)
Woo-hoo!

The Price is Right

Can you price these items? Comment first... answers later!

Don't even try to price this one...because it's PRICELESS! (Dad, you might not want Mom to see this part.)

Question of the Day

Dear France, 


     Thank you very much for Emmental Français cheese! Just today, I enjoyed your smokey taste for the first time (as far as I know). 


     However, I have a question. Why, when shredded and melted over fried plantains. did your taste not mix well? After all, mozzarella and other cheeses do. So I ask you most sincerely, "What gives?" 


               Warmest wishes, 


                    My Taste-buds

Phrase of the Day

The Three Stooges = Los Tres Chiftanos