The Doors of Cartagena

Mike was fascinated by the thousands of wonderful, vintage doors in Cartagena and he kept snapping pictures!

May 12-14 Cartagena

Monday May 12

The walled city of Cartagena is quite spectacular. You get the feeling you're on the “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride at Disneyland or watching "Romancing the Stone" (the movie supposedly took place in Cartagena, but was actually filmed in Mexico). The modern part of Cartagena stretches along the Caribbean to the south, but we decided to stay within the walls of Old Cartagena. Our hotel, The Bantu, was a small, boutique hotel Mike found on booking.com. and it was even better than expected. We arrived a bit early and were served fresh, orange smoothies while our room was readied. The hotel was constructed by combining two houses, each one being 300-400 years old. The brick wall above our bed was original to the house and was left in place to show the old construction methods and materials. Whoever designed and decorated the hotel did a great job. Two colorful toucans reside in the courtyard, where a swing hangs from the tall tree whose branches are incorporated into the railing along the second story walkway. We were told the toucans, brother and sister, were always nipping at one another! We just settled into our room and laid down for a quick nap, when loud hammering and pounding assaulted our ears. We ignored it and fell asleep for a while, but were awakened when the noise continued. Mike opened the door to see what was going on and one of the room stewards explained that an emergency occurred which needed immediate repair. The front desk called and  explained that the problem was unforeseen and would likely take several days to repair. We were offered another room, which we immediately accepted. The second room was a bit smaller, but just as nice and most importantly, perfectly quiet. We enjoyed a second, yummy drink courtesy of the hotel, as a "sorry for the inconvenience" gift. Good customer relations.

When all the luggage was transferred, we opened our suitcases to get a change of clothes and discovered items in our bags were wet AGAIN! It was probably a result of the huge rainstorm that occurred at the Medellin airport. It was not as bad as our Cali experience, but what are the chances this would happen twice on one trip?

We left the hotel about 3:00 p.m. to walk the city. The heat hit us as we left since the AC in the room had been shielding us from the scorching, midday temperature. After twenty minutes of sweating, we hopped aboard a horse-drawn carriage that took us on a tour inside the walls. People still actually live in many of the houses, though there are hundreds of little shops also. At one point, dozens of people headed toward us up the narrow street. Apparently, a mass at the Catholic cathedral on one of the squares had just finished the evening service. How unique that the people still live in this walled city 300-400 years after it was founded and attend the cathedral that is also that old. It was a great afternoon in a colorful and exotic place. Our day walking and touring ended with a glorious sunset.

Amy Face-Timed with us after we got back to the room, so we could sing "Happy Birthday" to Livi. Logan showed us his new walking skills and Grant and Ethan did a good job looking cute.

Tuesday May 13

Today when we ventured out, we took lots of water and dressed light. We wandered the narrow streets of the city again enjoying the small shops and engaging in people-watching. We walked along the seawall which encompasses the city on the ocean side, passing by the cells which housed the "cargo" of men, women and children taken off the slave ships. These cells now function as  tourist shops. We walked and walked until Mike could walk no more.

Two Days in Cartagena

Wednesday May 14

We packed our bags for the final time and headed to the airport in a taxi. We were SO excited to be returning home to our family and friends. Doesn't KR look ready (Cartagena boarding gate) to board that plane to Houston?

May 11-12 Barranquilla Redux

Sunday May 11

It began pouring shortly after checking in at the airport – we jokingly laughed and said we hoped our bags weren’t out in the rain again.

As the time for our flight grew near, we stood near the podium to be ready when called. Looking out the huge glass windows at our plane, we could see six or seven orange-vested men standing in front of the right engine. A few held flashlights, which they pointed into the engine, apparently looking for something. When they popped open the big metal covers on both sides of the engine and began inspecting there also, I didn't take that as a good sign and asked the airline people at the desk what was happening. After a quick call on the walkie-talkies, they told me there had been a bird strike and they were inspecting the engine for damage. Great. We watched as they hauled out a vacuum and Mike and I joked that bird parts were probably being sucked up the tube. Next a water wagon came out and the workers dipped long-handled scrubbers into mop buckets and scrubbed the insides of the engine, while others hosed the suds off behind them. Everyone down by the plane seemed to have an opinion with a lot of pointing, head shaking, and looking at laptop screens. They were probably looking for the YouTube instructional video, "How to Clean an Airbus 320 Jet Engine after a Bird Strike.” After about 45 minutes, the hatches on the engine were shut and the boarding process began. The rain had stopped by then and a double rainbow appeared (I took that as a good sign). I still offered my pre-flight prayer specifically blessing all the systems by name - electrical, navigation, communication, hydraulics, etc. - and also the pilots, always the pilots:) Pictures: 1) the rain comes down in Medellin and 2) scrubbing the bird out of the engine.

We made it to Barranquilla safely (thank you) and found a nice-sized taxi to haul all of our bags to the hotel we booked when we were in Barranquilla several weeks ago. Jorge Cadena had driven past this hotel when he was showing us around in April and mentioned it was a very famous, old hotel that had seen better days, but was a national treasure. Mike asked him to stop so he could take a peek inside. It was such a cool place, that we made the reservation for our return trip on the spot.

If you google “El Prado Barranquilla”, the hotel website states it is “The Emblematic Prado, an Icon of Classic in Modern Times.” And for $90/night, it was worth the experience. Think returning to Cuba today and staying in one of the fancy hotels in Havana that has been kept up, but not upgraded or changed one iota since Castro took over. You will have the Prado. Worn, black and white checkered floors, 1000+ high-ceilinged rooms, ancient fixtures, an Olympic-size swimming pool, palm trees, old elevators requiring a valet to operate them, white paint everywhere---it was just plain cool. I swear there were only ten or so people staying in the entire hotel with us. We dumped our bags and enjoyed dinner at the open-air restaurant by the pool along with one other person. The waiter told us they were going to tear the hotel down, but the Colombian government stepped in and saved it as a national treasure. It is presently going through an auction process hoping to interest a large hotel chain into renovating it. Construction began in 1927 and it opened in 1930. At the time, it was considered the most impressive tourist hotel in all of Latin America. Its initial theme was, “If you can’t stay here, at least you will smile when you pass by.” It was designed to have multiple zones, separated by large gardens, and has maintained this structure. Some of the sections have been mothballed until the overall hotel can be renovated. In the 1980’s it became a center for narco-trafficking and money-laundering connected to Alberto Gamboa (El Caracol) of the Coastal Cartel. In 2004, it became part of the Partrimonio Nacional of Colombia. A grand ole dame for sure. Actually, the place felt haunted, if you want the truth. But we were glad we spent at least one night with the ghosts.

For color: 3) entrance to El Prado, 4-5) checking in views, 6) eating dinner at the pool-side restaurant, and 7) KR in our room.

Monday May 12

Today is a most special day. Nine years ago, Olivia Dover became the fourteenth member of the Michael Don and Kristine Merrill Anderton family. As her grandparents, we feel so blessed to count Livi as a part of our family. Her unique personality, sweet temperament and love of all things and people endears her to everyone she meets. Livi's special love is reading and when we visit, I love to sneak into her room before we turn in for the night and gaze at the number and variety of books splayed out on her covers. The last one to be read usually covers her face. The scene is engraved in my heart. We love you Livi!

We awoke at 7:00 a.m., got ready for the day, and then proceeded to the breakfast buffet. The air, already hot and humid, made us glad we would be riding in an air-conditioned car for the next two hours as we made our way to our last stop in Colombia - the old, walled city of Cartagena.

Poolside on Monday morning:

Our driver from the night before, Oscar, passed by the LDS chapel this morning before picking us up at the hotel in order to collect our third suitcase from the bishop's office. We stashed it there two weeks ago while training missionaries in the building. The thought of shlepping three big suitcases, one small suitcase and four carry-ons thru the airports of Bogota, Leticia, Cali, Medellin, and Barranquilla was not pleasant, so we planned ahead and ditched one here. We sent Mike's missionary nametag with Oscar to provide ID to the missionaries in the chapel. At 9:00 a.m. on the dot, the phone in our hotel room rang. Hermana Romero from the CAS called to verify that Señor Oscar Trujillo was supposed to collect our suitcase. Yep!

Another driver, Robin, took over for Oscar at the hotel and we were on our way to Cartagena. We passed the new Barranquilla Temple site on the way. Medellin is a much more beautiful city and is centrally located in the western half of Colombia, but we think Barranquilla was selected so some of the saints in Venezuela could be closer to a temple. With all the present turmoil in Venezuela, perhaps there will be a change in plans. We passed thru some country on the way to Cartagena that looked so similar to southern Honduras, it was eerie. Mike kept saying he was having a déjà vu. Shown below: 1) looks like Honduras, 2) good look at the Caribbean, and 3) our first view of the walls of Cartagena.