It’s official. I’m the worst blogger of all time. But in all fairness, it’s only because I’ve been devoting most of my time to working (which is writing) so we can save as much money as possible before our next big ‘thing’. Anyway, after a long day of writing, I generally just want to step away from the screen. So…yeah…I’m a slacker. Sorry about that.

To catch you up to speed – we went to Colombia last month! You know, the country with an ‘o,’ not the city with a ‘u’. 

Colombia had been on my bucket list for quite some time, more specifically, the city of Cartagena. I forget where I first saw or heard about Cartagena, but I just know I was drawn in by the skyline on the beach from the moment I saw a picture. So – naturally, our first stop on our two-week Colombian adventure was Cartagena!

Cartagena sits in northern Colombia on the Caribbean Sea. There are essentially three parts to the city: the old walled city, the new modern city (Bocagrande), and basically, the rest of Cartagena that tourists will probably never see.

Kile and I stayed just walking distance from the old walled city. Our Airbnb was in a lively part of town near the Plaza de la Santísima Trinidad.

 

What was great about our Airbnb location was that it was super walkable. That’s one thing we really love about traveling, we prefer foot travel over any other, so it’s nice to be in a city or area that is easy to walk around.

One of the best things about Cartagena, aside from the fact that it has a ton of history, is that it’s absolutely beautiful. All of the streets in the older part of town are lined with really vibrantly painted buildings. It reminded us a bit of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The doors in Cartagena! Oh my god, the DOORS!

I immediately became obsessed with all of the doors in the old city. They were absolutely massive but had a smaller door that people would actually use to walk in and out from. Not to mention, each one had an incredible knocker – I couldn’t stop taking pictures.

 

Cartagena was founded back in 1533, so we basically just wandered around the city just staring at all of the historic statues, churches, and architecture. One thing I might note is that it was HOT. Like, really hot. We’re talking around 100 degrees or so. Being drenched in sweat was normal for these few days. Although, since our Airbnb didn’t have hot water, the shower was a nice refresher.

During one of our days exploring in Cartagena, we made our way up to the Convento de la Popa which is a convent overlooking the entire city.

From the Convento, you can see the entire skyline of Cartagena. The port is to the left, the new modern part of the city is on the peninsula in the center, and the old town is a bit hard to see and out of the picture to the right.

What’s so cool about exploring country’s that are so rich in history like this is that you can walk around in a religious structure that was built in 1607 while looking down at highrises built last month.

We only had three quick days in Cartagena before we would set off for Bogota, so sadly, we didn’t have much time. However, the time we did spend here totally exceeded my bucket list expectations.

Thank goodness for seafood (and coffee!)

We really, really had high expectations for food in Colombia, and to be totally honest – we were kinda disappointed. Thankfully, though, Cartagena at least had really fresh seafood (ceviche!) and fresh fruit. Everything else seemed to be fried, like empanadas or arepas. These are absolutely delicious, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a heavy eat. Oh, and another thing, the Colombians know their coffee, that’s for damn sure.

A trip to Cartagena wouldn’t be complete without a sunset. 

The way Cartagena sits on the Caribbean Sea makes it the primetime viewing spot for incredible sunsets. Kile and I made our way to a well-known place in the corner of the walled city, fittingly named Cafe del Mar, and snagged a table before the crowds made it in. I mean…check out how cool we looked.

 

It wasn’t long before the entire place was packed with people. Everyone was trying to snag the perfect sunset photo, which is always funny because it seems like no one is actually paying attention to the sunset. Lots of great people watching at Cafe del Mar, and I gotta say – the sunset was pretty great.

That’s our Cartagena trip in a nutshell…

I want to apologize for this post being a bit vague or ‘skipped over,’ since it’s been so long since I’ve caught everyone up, I figured a summary was better than nothing. During our Colombia trip, we visited Cartagena, Bogota, Santa Marta, and Medellin. I really hope to write a post for each one, aiming for one every week.

I will say that Kile and I have some excitingly epic plans in our future and I really look forward to dedicating more time to this blog again. I miss it! And I miss traveling! This Colombia trip definitely reminded us how good it feels to be out and about in the world. It really feels like ‘living’ – in the truest sense.

I also want to say that I hope to do more posts involving the reality of our lives and traveling. I want to write posts that talk about juggling work and travel, the shitty sides and problems of traveling and how we overcome them, or just about how I can be a complete nervous and anxious wreck sometimes, and Kile has to deal with my craziness! Or, maybe it sounds like I need a personal blog. Anyway, regardless, I’m hoping in the next 4 to 6 months I can really start picking this blog back up again.

In the meantime – stay tuned for Part 2: Bogota!