ukintheus
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2009
We got back on the bus and made a short trip to be dropped off for the walking tour of the old city. This was the part that I wasn’t sure Mum would be able to do, but Dora had already come up to me and said she would take it very slow so that Mum could keep up, because she really wanted Mum to see it. Awww... it was so kind of her.
The streets reminded me of Old San Juan with beautiful, old, Spanish architecture. The streets in the old city are pedestrian only, unless you have a disabled permit.
We stopped in this plaza that had the La Gorda Gertrudis (Fat Lady Sculpture) by Ferando Botero. Dora explained that it was supposed to be good fortune if you touched the statue - she then pointed out the parts that were shinier than others - those were what you were meant to touch!
Right next to the statue was the Convento de Santa Domingo and we went inside to take a look around. All of the stops in the churches in town were fairly brief and it was hard to hear everything that Dora said because they are all active churches so she spoke more quietly.
Another beautiful and very elaborate altar.
We continued our walk through the old city. There were a lot of places that had elaborate gates and very beautiful courtyards. This was a restaurant but there were also small boutique hotels like this.
Our walk continued and we went through the Bolivar Plaza. I didn't hear a word Dora said about this as there were several beggars and vendors there, all of whom seemed to be hell bent on getting to Mum. I was too busy defending the space to pay attention.
Our next stop was at the Iglesia Santa Catarina De Alexandria, the Cartagena Cathedral. It was another beautiful example of their architecture. This church had been attacked by Sir Francis Drake during it's construction, but Dora said she wouldn't hold it against Mum. She told us that there was a lot of bad blood between the Colombians and the British. This is not new news to us Brits - we tried to take over most of the world at some point - not many are happy about it.
We continued on to the Iglesia de San Pedro Claver.
Once inside Dora took us to the cloisters where we all took a very welcomed break and sat on the cloister walls while she was explaining the history.
We then walked through some of the beautiful old cloister gardens to get into the church.
Another beautiful church, with a quick stop here sitting on the benches to take some photographs.
The remains of Saint Peter Clavar are displayed at the altar. You couldn't get really close enough to take a good look though.
The walking tour concluded with a stop to either get a drink or to do some shopping. There were several coffee and cigar shops. We found a small café that had a table outside and welcomed the chance to sit and relax for a bit.
I got another iced coffee but this one was so strong I couldn’t even drink it!! It would put hairs on your chest and braid them!! Scott got a local beer - he was smart.
We had about 20 minutes here and then met Dora back outside and walked down the road to get out of the city walls where our bus driver was waiting for us to go back to the ship. We said goodbye to Dora, she was great, and I highly recommend her to anybody looking to do a tour. I'm so glad now that we did this.
We did a little bit of shopping in the stores at the end of the pier. I had offered to buy Maggie some caramels that she was looking for as she wasn't going to be going ashore. There was a big gift shop that you enter first that didn't have them, and then once we got outside we realized there was a Juan Valdez shop. I got some coffee for us and the caramels there.
Meanwhile, Scott was busy snapping away. He took loads of photos here, but I'll just share a couple.
They have a shuttle that takes you back and forth along the pier and we used that to go back although it was hot on board. By now the temperature had really started to climb and although it hadn’t been as awful as I had feared, it was definitely warm.
The streets reminded me of Old San Juan with beautiful, old, Spanish architecture. The streets in the old city are pedestrian only, unless you have a disabled permit.
We stopped in this plaza that had the La Gorda Gertrudis (Fat Lady Sculpture) by Ferando Botero. Dora explained that it was supposed to be good fortune if you touched the statue - she then pointed out the parts that were shinier than others - those were what you were meant to touch!
Right next to the statue was the Convento de Santa Domingo and we went inside to take a look around. All of the stops in the churches in town were fairly brief and it was hard to hear everything that Dora said because they are all active churches so she spoke more quietly.
Another beautiful and very elaborate altar.
We continued our walk through the old city. There were a lot of places that had elaborate gates and very beautiful courtyards. This was a restaurant but there were also small boutique hotels like this.
Our walk continued and we went through the Bolivar Plaza. I didn't hear a word Dora said about this as there were several beggars and vendors there, all of whom seemed to be hell bent on getting to Mum. I was too busy defending the space to pay attention.
Our next stop was at the Iglesia Santa Catarina De Alexandria, the Cartagena Cathedral. It was another beautiful example of their architecture. This church had been attacked by Sir Francis Drake during it's construction, but Dora said she wouldn't hold it against Mum. She told us that there was a lot of bad blood between the Colombians and the British. This is not new news to us Brits - we tried to take over most of the world at some point - not many are happy about it.
We continued on to the Iglesia de San Pedro Claver.
Once inside Dora took us to the cloisters where we all took a very welcomed break and sat on the cloister walls while she was explaining the history.
We then walked through some of the beautiful old cloister gardens to get into the church.
Another beautiful church, with a quick stop here sitting on the benches to take some photographs.
The remains of Saint Peter Clavar are displayed at the altar. You couldn't get really close enough to take a good look though.
The walking tour concluded with a stop to either get a drink or to do some shopping. There were several coffee and cigar shops. We found a small café that had a table outside and welcomed the chance to sit and relax for a bit.
I got another iced coffee but this one was so strong I couldn’t even drink it!! It would put hairs on your chest and braid them!! Scott got a local beer - he was smart.
We had about 20 minutes here and then met Dora back outside and walked down the road to get out of the city walls where our bus driver was waiting for us to go back to the ship. We said goodbye to Dora, she was great, and I highly recommend her to anybody looking to do a tour. I'm so glad now that we did this.
We did a little bit of shopping in the stores at the end of the pier. I had offered to buy Maggie some caramels that she was looking for as she wasn't going to be going ashore. There was a big gift shop that you enter first that didn't have them, and then once we got outside we realized there was a Juan Valdez shop. I got some coffee for us and the caramels there.
Meanwhile, Scott was busy snapping away. He took loads of photos here, but I'll just share a couple.
They have a shuttle that takes you back and forth along the pier and we used that to go back although it was hot on board. By now the temperature had really started to climb and although it hadn’t been as awful as I had feared, it was definitely warm.
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