We arrived in Cartegena yesterday and were immediately hit by the heat and humidity. Our guide, John, said it was 85 degrees with 90% humidity: he said we would sweat a lot and should drink a lot (but I'm not sure he meant Sauvignon Blanc!) On arrival at our hotel, Casa India Catalina, at 11.30am, we were told check in was 3pm. We returned after lunch to find a room ready early at 2pm. That was the good news, the bad is that it was next to a room that was undergoing refurbishment and above the front entrance which was also being done up. Consequently, there was lots of banging and a strong smell of varnish. We asked to move rooms and were led to a split level room with the bathroom on the ground floor and a very precarious sets of steps and wobbly handrail leading to the bedroom, making going to the loo in the night, a bit of an obstacle course! Having declined this room, we went for the third option, but had to wait for it to be cleaned. Still it was on one floor and at the back, away from some of the noise!
Having unpacked at last (4pm) we enjoyed the afternoon sunshine in a more relaxed mood to enjoy what is a lovely walled city. On return we found a bottle of vino tinto by way of apology.
We have spent our first full day here wandering the narrow, cobbled streets of the old town, enjoying the sights of the many interesting buildings framed by the wonderful backdrop of the Caribbean sea and in the background the tall towers of the modern Cartegena.
A second surprise for us was the offer of an evening horse drawn carriage ride around the town. Everyone involved in these arrangements deserves a big thank you.
We are now sat drinking our vino tinto and find it muffles the drilling and banging very well! Perhaps RM is lucky becuase he has put the cork in his one good ear!
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