We were hardly back from our 2010 five-month-long summer odyssey we call our Hurricane Evacuation Plan - the one we execute each year to avoid the hazards and the discomforts of the Florida summers (See “Evacuation Plan - 2010 - Parts I, II and III”) when we began packing again! You see, before we left last June, we had made plans to spend New Years with Hortensia (Hortie) and Alberto Linero, who are now our neighbors on Key Biscayne, but who had lived, and in many respects still live vicariously, in Cartagena, Colombia.

Cartagena is a city of well over a million in population located about 2 1/2 hours South of Miami on the Caribbean Sea. It is bracketed by Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. It could be exhaustively described in terms of its Venice-like geography, as it is made up of some ten urban islands, interconnected by bridges, lagoons and waterways. But that would really miss the essential qualities, charm and character of this very unique city.

Those qualities begin with the fact that Cartagena is a real city. Its historic center, the “Centro” as it is called, follows the classic Spanish and Moroccan format of the “Medina”, the term usually used for the central city in Arabian countries. In the case of Cartagena, and more specifically in the Centro, the Medina is defined and encircled by a two or three story high stone wall full of battlements and massive gun emplacements. The top of the city wall is populated with a wide range of activities including, of course, bars, restaurants and popular music spots. It is also a favorite local venue for observing the magnificent sunsets!

The Centro and other parts of Cartagena are replete with parks and plazas. The city is also rich with heroic monuments; several to Columbus, others to Bolivar and many to an assortment of Saints and local leaders. And there is no end to the churches, public buildings and museums, including one dedicated to the Spanish Inquisition!

For the casual visitor, the Centro really emerges as the center of Cartagena, and walking or riding through the streets leaves a most lasting impression. The Centro is a very dense and compact area, with virtually all its buildings historically restored to reflect the days of Christopher Columbus and the Conquistadores of the fourteenth Century. Some of the buildings in the district seemed a bit frayed, aligned a little unevenly along impossibly narrow streets. But despite the virtually non-existent sidewalks, they were inviting and oozing with charm. Many facades along these streets had wooden balconies and window bays that projected out a few feet over the sidewalks. At night, the little streets assume a festive quality, as sconce-like street lights attached to the building facades extend their arms to mark the maze of walking paths within the district.

This all adds to the charm of Cartagena, particularly when the Latin rhythms we heard everywhere as we walked the streets were folded into the sound of the clop-clop-clop of the horse’s hoofs from the carriages that were constantly moving past us. We hired one the first night we were there (and it was such fun we did it again, and again during the week). Just as our ride got underway, we were thrilled to suddenly be invaded by a local troubadour who, without ceremony, jumped into our carriage and launched into a marathon of serenades … in Spanish of course; it was magic!

In a typical Disney experience, one sometimes feels as if they are being handled or managed like a puppet on a theatrical set. Cartagena, however, felt genuine. It was as if by some miracle we had time-travelled back and stumbled into an old friendly neighborhood that hadn’t changed in all these years. I should also note in this connection that, while we were there, we felt supremely safe, without any sense of fear even from something minor like pickpocketing.

The architecture of the city, and specifically that in the Centro, is unabashedly Moroccan. Touches of Andalusia and Moorish detailing could be seen everywhere. And the Spanish culture, even down to having built a new bull-fighting arena, dominates everything. So much so, that language is a real problem. Unlike so many other places in Latin America, where most people employed in the service industries speak at least a little English, no one during our visit in Cartagena seemed to do so. If you don’t speak or understand Spanish there, you’re plain out of luck! The desk at our hotel tried their best, but not very successfully. Most attempts resulted in misunderstandings or misinterpretations. Communication usually turned into a game of charades and the good citizen of Cartagena, while exceedingly friendly, are far from intuitive.

But the Centro is but one of the nine districts that make up the city. Its non-colonial, non-historic counterpoise is called Boca Grande, namely “Big Mouth”! This is the new downtown or business district. It is characterized by Miami-style hi-rises, mostly apartment buildings, filled with eateries, boutiques and other retail establishments set along wide avenues. The buildings line the Caribbean shore like a finger that extends out from the Centro and represent a dramatic rebirth of a heretofore declining area.

We saw this area up close and personal thanks to Hortie, who had booked us on a joy ride on the Chivas Bus, an open sided, graffiti laden party bus with a loud, live band emplaced in the back few rows of the seats. After a test run, during which the emcee seated to the right of the driver kept jumping off and on the bus to pick up bodies to occupy any remaining open seats, the bus finally got underway and turned onto Boca Grande’s main drag, a wide avenue resplendent with fine stores and a very prominent McDonald’s and KFC among its stars. Preparations were now being made to start the party. The music started, the emcee revved up his microphone and every row was given an ice bucket full of ice, plastic cups and a bottle of Cartagena’s own rum.

The emcee’s instructions were simple to follow - first, “all the men stand up and dance”; then, “Now the ladies”; finally, ‘now we’ll dance by country”. The festive mood was aided and abetted by the Latin songs and music and gradually overwhelmed the spirit on the bus. It turned into something close to a moving lap dancing event, with a rum and ice chaser!

The Chivas Bus travelled to the bottom of the Pie de la Popa (a hill shaped like the back of a galleon) from which we had an amazing view of the Castillo San Felipe. By 10:00 pm, were were parked there with four or five other Chivas Busses that were sharing our merrymaking mission. This stop signaled the beginning of the dancing phase of the evening’s agenda, with lots of kids wanting to breakdance for a tip and the rest of us just moving to the latin beat … all in the shadow of the imposing Castillo San Felipe.

Soon, the effects of the rum and the Latin rhythms overwhelmed our senses. Also, we had fulfilled our obligation to dancing lest, had we failed to dance on the Plaza, we would not be allowed back on the bus. So we decided against any further exertions and waited inside the bus, where another treat awaited us - Empanadas (basically, deep fried carbohydrates)! Soon, the Chivas headed back to the Old City and on to a famous Club where we danced briefly, but soon decided that the breeze-swept, romantically lit streets of the city were too alluring to miss, so we left our group inside, and wandered the streets until we were totally exhausted.

The next day, we hired a guide who made it possible for us to climb the Cerro de la Popa and crawl all over the Castillo, which was built in the XVI Century by the Spanish to protect the city against the English and French pirates who were roaming the Caribbean seas. Driving around with our guide, we gained a much better understanding of Cartagena. We had the opportunity to view both the old city and the new from the highest point in the region, referred to as “Cartagena’s Balcony”. This gave us the geographic context within which to spot the entire waterfront, the impressive naval defense establishment and, of course, the city’s wonderful collection of churches, squares and those monuments large enough to be seen from a high hill.

As a hospitality experience, we would give exceedingly high marks to the Ananda Boutique Hotel where we stayed for five days. The place was very beautiful, newly renovated within the shell of a centuries-old building, well equipped with respect to its climate control and mechanical systems and everything was well thought out and well designed. The architecture was interesting in that it was meticulously consistent with the Moroccan configuration of a Riad which, in its essential concept, focuses the public areas internally, on an open atrium surrounded on the upper floors by private rooms, bedrooms and sleeping areas.

The effect is an introverted space with mostly blank walls facing the street and with a very public gateway secured by an enormously heavy pair of doors, reinforced with a wrought iron, massive spikes and long braces that signaled its strength and the fact that, once locked, they were not to be trifled with. These thresholds are in accordance with the traditions of the times when they were built. They are wide and tall enough to accommodate a man on horseback. After clearing it, the rider would emerge in a small courtyard which functioned as the anti-room for the garden and the rest of the Riad’s atrium. However, since access to the hotel and the Riad is no longer by horse, the anti-room is used today as the reception area and front desk for the establishment.

The pool area was delightful and there was a lot of staff. Everybody was very friendly and did their best to serve us. However, service in general was epically slow; it took forever to fulfill the slightest and simplest order. But then again, this is a reflection not on our hotel or its staff, but of the entire culture, which is clearly afflicted with a National Mañana attitude.

It was now New Years Eve. The epicenter of the event took place in the Plaza San Pedro at the foot of the Cathedral by the same name. The streets leading to the large plaza had been barred to vehicular traffic, and the entire square had been turned into a mass eatery, with long trestle tables with wooden benches and a small army of servers. The entertainment had already started when we got there. The stage was a huge flatbed festooned with party decorations, balloons and the like. The Latin beat was increasing in intensity and so were the gyrations of a chorus line of gorgeous sexy maidens. They seemed animated by a super-human force, compelling them to sustain the wild movements of their hips.

We had arrived with Hortie and Alberto. Our table was very close to the stage, and big enough to accommodate their very large family and friends. This was our first hint that Hortie’s family went way beyond her daughter Jessie! Yes, the fifty or so people we would meet on New Year’s Eve would just be the beginning of the seemingly endless stream of “cousins” which we had the pleasure of meeting everywhere we went in Cartagena; on the street, in restaurants, at events, in shops … everywhere! No joke, there were HUNDREDS of them, all warm, friendly and delighted to meet Hortie’s Gringo friends.

We were enchanted by the exuberance of the New Year’s Eve celebration; not so much by the wine or the food, which we found forgettable, but by the spirit of our friends who shared the trestle with us. We were warmly accepted as one of them … well after all, I was wearing my new Guayabera and sporting my new Panama straw hat. I had even picked up a few words of Spanish. The celebration would continue on until dawn, but alas, we wimped out around 1am and began the long walk back to our Hotel. Not only were there no taxis or horse carts allowed on the streets, but every hotel and restaurant had taken their tables out onto the streets for the festivities, and it was nearly impossible to get through the crowds.

This brings us now to shopping and food. One name emerges as the leader on both these fronts: Silvia Tcherassi. Her restaurant was an impeccable class act and all I can say is that it was a pity we did not have the opportunity to go back a second time. The food was excellent and refined and the water-themed setting in the Riad-styled Boutique Hotel was idyllic. With respect to her shop, it did not take long Joyce to bond with her styles and the goods she was selling at her shop in the middle of the Centro.

Further on the shopping front, Joyce had, as usual, done her homework. Her agenda included gaining an education on the Emeralds which are extracted from the Colombian mines. This landed us in what can only be described as a “Center for all things Emerald”. Somehow, terms like “Emerald Museum” or “Emerald Factory” or “Emerald Mart” did not work, as the place we visited performed all these functions. Fortunately for our financial wellbeing, she was only interested in Trapiche Emeralds - very rare cabochon cut gems with a natural six-pointed star in the center. If fact, turns out that they are so rare and precious that the Center for all things Emerald couldn’t even find the key to the case that held the two or three stones they had, nor could anyone quote her a price! Wheeeeeeew, dodged that bullet with grace!

As to food, the first evening we ate at what I can only describe a Cartagena’s Joe’s Stone Crab - very important to see and be seen, but impossible to get into unless you have a connection. This was an incredibly popular eatery, and Hortie was treated like a queen! We had the best table in the house, the music was magical (bought the CD, of course), but I simply cannot recall what we ate! During the rest of the week, we tried a couple of other first class restaurants - Club de Pesca, a gorgeous waterfront setting in an old, elite Yacht Club; Cafe del Mar, all outdoor seating, perched on the top of the Old City Wall, with a spectacular view of the setting sun; even an Argentinean eatery where my lust for a succulent churrasco could be quelled. Alas, it wasn’t up to snuff - tough and tasteless. By the end of our stay, we had to admit that cuisine and wine would never draw us back to Cartagena … but that the beauty of the place, the festive spirit of its population and the friendliness of all we encountered most definitely would!!!