India Catalina, a Cartagena´s hero. Her image was used as the inspiration for the national costume of Miss Colombia 2009, Natalia Navarro, in Miss Universe 2010.
The annual location of Miss Colombia, the Convention Centres of Cartagena. It´s all decorated with Concurso Nacional de Belleza´s logo and Colombian motifs.
The colorful houses and balconies in the historic centre behind the Puerto de Reloj.
The monument of the founder of Cartagena, Pedro de Heredia.
Another beautiful alley.
Mighty buildings with ampe alley near the Plaza de Bolívar.
Another gorgeous view of the old town.
The entrance of the lush Plaza de Bolívar.
Leafy balconies, a rare scene in colonial architecture that I´ve seen so far.
Another beautiful alley. In fact, there are countless in Cartagena!
A magnificent building below situated with a cafe.
Behind the wall of Cartagena.
The wall was used to protect against the pirates.
The historic centre was protected by this grand wall.
An old pirate boat displayed in the harbor of Cartagena.
During the gay parade, part of the Cartagena´s independence day celebration, people sprayed foam on each other. It was totally offensive but totally fun as well!
Around the Puerto de Reloj, hundreds of people were here to celebrate the festivity.
After all the spraying and splashing, my face turned out to be like this. LOLArriving in Cartagena is a great relief. Not that I didn´t enjoy Bogotá. In fact I love it so much. However, it was quite cold and rainy, and I got a little sick. But being in hot and tropical Cartagena means that I don´t have to worry about cold weather anymore!
Being the most touristy city in Colombia, Cartagena remains a good amount of genuineness to it, unlike say Cusco or Costa Rica. People are very warm, welcoming and eager to talk to you. You don´t get ripped off as heavily as in those previously mentioned locations. And they love you to integrate with them.
Today, I spent a good portion of time to rest, because I still felt quite weak and tired. But I managed to go out and took a stroll at the city. There was still a strong sense of festivity out there, with lots of people spraying foams and vendors selling them. The old town is just gorgeous! Before I came here, I thought to myself that maybe I wouldn´t be impressed with Cartagena because I have seen so many colonial architecture already and it might seem repetitive. But no. Cartagena has its own unique aura. The great wall, the colorful well-preserved building with leafy green plants, alleys that no cars are allowed in make you feel like you just went back 5 centuries. Architecture styles also vary a lot which make the whole site very interesting.
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