Cartagena! Colombia

Sorry folks for the lack of blog post. Many events have happened. Some stories will be longer in the next few cities, while some may be overlooked. Either way, it's more to read! Lets begin:

Cartagena! Wahoo. The sailboat pulled up into this gigantic bay and the captain, still shaken up and actually talking to us with real conversations decided to buy us breakfast on the mainland. This included us walking 10 feet to the street and getting street food. Though what a treat it was. The food was empanada style filled will eggs, beef and potatoes. Tiny looking meal with a heavy punch. To top it off the drink of choice was Maracuya (passion fruit)! The best of the best, seriously. This made me love Colombia from the get go.

At this point we are still aliens in the country, no customs were at the dock. German told us to follow him in a taxi to the embassy. We jumped in, and instantly lost him. From my travels having a taxi follow another taxi is one huge mistake. They always have there specific shortcuts and want to be number one. So of course, we get dropped off at the embassy and have no idea where German is. In the meantime, me and Karst decided to walk around to try and find him, and do a bit of exploring. Everywhere was juice stands, and all filled with my favorite fruits. This was heaven. Anyways, German decided to show up and we went through customs. Easy. Got my stamp and we headed off to old town where all the hostels are at and the nice part of the city.

After getting dropped off in the small narrow alley way, we walked around looking for hostels. The streets were filled with street vendors and locals walking around. Each house had its own style and bright colonial colors. It was truly a city I could stay at for a year, instantly. All of the good hostels were full so we found this temporary hostel for the night while we reserved a good one for the next night. This hostel was pretty nice though. Friendly staff and very basic, but extremely fast internet. The smaller, less popular hostels always have the fastest internet.

Today was Wednesday, and I guess this was a huge party night for the city. While my friends were getting ready, I headed out to meet up with a couchsurfer at the Plaza de la Trinadad. I got to the plaza, filled with people, lots of weird Peruvian street bands and tons of street food! I mean beef shiscababs galore...everywhere!

Couchsurfing always feels like a blind date. You know what they look like but sort of don't at the same time. I think I see Anny, so I went up to her and say "Anny?",  and she goes "Sean?". haha. We meet and talk for a bit and decide to walk around so she can show me her city. At this point, all I know is the backpacker area and this plaza. We walk for a bit and finally come up to the real old town. Massive colonial buildings, side streets that look like canals and no cars. This part of the city was very upperclass and very romantic. The city is known for this. Almost like Italy. We kept walking and Anny was like my tour guide. Except we were on a mission to see everything fast so we could get back for the party. Surrounding the city are these large cement walls that protect the wind from the ocean. These walls span out for 20 km and wrap the whole city. Super cool. We ended up walking out to the beach and Anny showing me her "thinking" spot when she is off work. It was a nice bench overlooking the ocean. I can see why she comes here.

We walked back into old town from the backside and kept exploring. Building after building blew me away. Besides Antigua, Guatemala, this was the best city I've seen so far. Each house has its own style door, incredible balconies and weird crafts that made it its own. So cool. The businesses don't have large signs soliciting you to come in. You really have to know the city to know what your looking for. We randomly passed this Popsicle store (yes store filled with only Popsicles) and I got a bit excited. Maybe, so excited Anny couldn't wrap her head around me and why I had this fetish. The store literally had everything in life I needed (well every flavor I could imagine, plus more). I got the flavor "Lulo". It was this new fruit in Colombia that is having a battle with Passion Fruit its so good. It's a flavor I've never had before and still have no idea how to explain it. It's something I've never experience and don't know how to relate to it. But it's on the top list for best fruits in the world for me!

We kept walking and she showed me all of the best places and where to come back tomorrow. We jetted back to the plaza to get some food. This involved eating the local treat called "Arepas" and lots of beef sticks. An Arepa is a like a pancake filled with anything (like butter or meat). The beef sticks were amazing! Simple beef with onion and tomato in between and one potato on the end. You get a dab of salsa picante and your set! These cost less than a dollar and for the next week I was here I came to this guy every night for dinner. While we were at the plaza eating dinner I ran into Karst, Nina, and Stefan! They knew I was here and told them to come, but with all the people it was awesome we found each other. I brought them over and introduced Anny. At the same time, where we were sitting was a Couchsurfer gathering. Maybe 10 others from around the city and world were all chatting up a storm. This was awesome. Pre-gaming starting and we bought some beers. The beers here either made you look like a giant or a Benjamin button and super small. One bottle is like one of those Corona kid bottles. A few drinks and its done. While the other one is 2 beers in one bottle and you get a workout holding the thing. After pre-gaming everyone was heading to Media Luna. This was the main party hostel in town but they also have a bar the size of a club. Upstairs was a salsa, live band and on top of that was a sky balcony overlooking the whole city playing rave music. The line went out the door full of Colombian women and Argentinian women. Good god. Oh and a few gringos. At this point I see fellow Americans/Europeans and I don't have any desire to talk with them. These South American girls drive me crazy!

Were inside on the 2nd floor trying to dance. There are way too many people all trying to salsa dance and scream of excitement. The line to go to the balcony also went out the door but we all decided to wait in that line b/c of how hot it was down here. The top of the balcony overlooked the whole city, both new and old town. Just incredible site seeing. I love Colombia!

The night escalated and went on until the sun came up....That was day 1

The next day we packed up our bags and moved to the next hostel. More people and better environment. Today, we were on a mission to figure out how or where to stay for Carnival. Carnival here in Colombia rivals the Carnival in Brazil. Carnival is in Barranquilla. Besides this Carnival here, the city is a large ghost town and nothing to offer. We started to look around all day for hostels but they were all booked. I called Anny to see what her plans were and if she could help us figure out a place to stay. My friend Rose who lives and works in Barranquilla (I met Rose and Juan in Nicaragua and we climbed a volcano together). I talked to her to see if we could crash at her house. She lived at a host family and no guest were aloud, but she had a few phone numbers on apartments you could rent for a few days. I passed that info to Anny and she made a few phone calls for us. She found a 8 bed apartment right next to Carnival for super cheap! Sold.

That day we explored the city a bit more and geared up with crazy color outfits so we could blend in better for the upcoming Carnival!