sailing_away

I went to Cartagena to take the TOELF because the dates worked for me, I had some miles to spend and 2 weekend days, therefore I bought a ticket for 14 dollars and hop on the plane, I stayed with an amazing cartagena guy, he offered me his own bed, his bathroom and his refrigerator, An amazing guy!
When I bought the ticket, I wasn´t expecting anything, it was by pure change that I went to that beautiful city, all I had in my mind was the TOELF and that I would get some hard walking under the sunshine.
The first thing you see when you get to Cartagena in the night plane is a beautiful shinny coast with tall buildings on one side and a huge medieval looking construction on the other, a tranquil sea and inside the sea some tiny little illuminated boats (I´m sure they weren´t so tiny, after all, I was on a plane)
Cartagena is an amazing city, can´t quite call her pretty, she´s too attractive, alluring and smelly to be called pretty. The first thing I learned from new friend was that Cartagena´s taxis don´t have a chronometer that tells you how much you have to pay, so before you get inside the cap you have to negotiate how much the taxi driver will charge you for the ride, my first though was that Cartagena was nobody´s land, No chronometer! That meant anarchy and chaos! And I was on the right track.
The buses don´t have a ringing bell to stop, you have to tell (or scream in some cases) to the bus driver to stop, cars are driven by crazy people and the downtown is a huge anachronistic place that is surrounded by a wall built so the pirates wouldn’t get inside the city. A city that all you need to sit on a bench and start talking to a stranger to learn about his family, about how the city´s money is so badly spent, you´ll get some interesting facts about the city (for example where to get the best shrimp cocktail) and on top of that, you will learn that you have pretty eyes (compliments flow out of the gentlemen lips surprisingly easy in the hot weathers)
I´m in love with the city and even more in love with the easy connections you make with the locals because you are a tourist and because you want to hear their stories. The tobacco seller and his assistant, the car watchman, the water seller, the endearing and a bit insane person from the street, the new friend and the taxi driver. I must come back, but this time with more time and more money (although the delicious fried cheap food from the street will always be in my heart, I love you yucca empanadas!)