If you ever want to find out what a perfect world looks like visit Cartagena des Indias, take a small hotel or hostel in Getsemani in the “Walled City” and go after sunset to the square in front of the “Iglesia de la Trinidad”. Local people who live in this old neighborhood, visitors and tourists sitting on the steps of the church, on the concrete benches along the square eating and drinking very inexpensive food and drinks that you can buy from the street vendors or the small corner store while the children are playing in the center of the square. Everyone talks to each other, which in our case is a little difficult with our limited knowledge of Spanish but everyone is very patient and interested in each other’s stories. It happened several times that when we left we hugged and kissed people we never met before and if we do not return to this wonderful place will never meet again. At about 9:00 PM it really starts to become interesting when the music for the Zumba class starts and everyone who is interested can participate. Two people from the neighborhood “Get Fit” organization are leading the class and make it very fun and exciting. Around the square and along intersecting streets there are also a few very nice sidewalk restaurants, but although these are a little more convenient you miss out on all the fun. To give an example how cheap it is to eat and drink in the area - the local beer costs US$ 0.70 and we typically spend for the entire evening including tips for the street performers and candy for the children US$7.00 and if we cannot finish the large servings there is always somebody happy to finish it for us.

Cartagena de Indias is a city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region. The port city had a population of 892,545 as of the 2005 census and it is growing fast. It is the fifth-largest city in Colombia. The city was founded on June 1, 1533, and named after Cartagena, Spain. However, settlement in this region around Cartagena Bay by various indigenous people dates back to 4000 BC. During the colonial period Cartagena served a key role in administration and expansion of the Spanish empire. In 1984 Cartagena's colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During the 17th century, the Spanish Crown paid for the services of prominent European military engineers to construct fortresses. Today these are Cartagena's most significant identifiable features. Engineering works took well over 208 years and ended with some 6.8 miles of walls surrounding the city, including the “Castillo San Felipe de Barajas”, named in honor of Spain's King Philip IV. The Castillo was built during the governorship of Pedro Zapata de Mendoza, Marquis of Barajas and was constructed to repel land attacks. It is equipped with sentry boxes, has buildings for food and weapons storage, and contains underground tunnels connecting the fortifications. The original fort was constructed between 1639 and 1657 on top of San Lazaro Hill. In 1762 extensive expansion was undertaken, and the final result is the current bastion. Numerous attempts to storm the reinforced fort were mounted, but it was never penetrated. The fort is a 20-minute walk from downtown located in El Pie de la Popa neighborhood. The tunnels were all constructed in such a way to make it possible to hear footsteps of an approaching enemy. Some of the tunnels are open for viewing today and we walked a few of them. We visited the fort and walked all around the very impressive site and went even into the tunnels using our phone for illumination. On top of the fort we met a group of students just graduated who were very interested in our travel and insisted to take pictures together with us. When we continued our visit they said goodbye to us like close friends.

Our main interest of this visit was the “Walled City”. The places we visited outside the walls were with a tour to fort “Castillo San Felipe de Barajas”, “Convento La Popa de la Galera” and Bocagrande Neighborhood. The “Walled City” has 4 distinct neighborhoods: Centro, San Diego, La Matuna and Getsemani.
Centro neighborhood has varied architecture, mainly a colonial style, but republican and Italian style buildings, such as the Cathedral's bell tower, can be seen. The official entrance to Centro is Puerta Del Reloj, which comes out onto Plaza de los Coches from where we took a tour with horse and carriage. A few steps further is the Plaza de la Aduana, next to the mayor's office. Nearby is San Pedro Claver Square and the church also named for Saint Peter Claver, where the body of the Jesuit saint ('Saint of the African slaves') is kept in a casket, as well as the Museum of Modern Art. On this square you also find a collection of fun iron sculptures. Nearby are the Plaza de Bolívar and the Palace of Inquisition. Plaza de Bolívar is essentially a small park with a statue of Simón Bolívar in the center. A significant amount of other religious buildings are in this neighborhood like Santo Domingo Church in front of Plaza Santo Domingo. In the square is the sculpture “Mujer Reclinada” a gift from the notable Colombian artist Fernando Botero.

San Diego Neighborhood was named after the local San Diego Convent, now known as the Beaux Arts School Building. In front of it is the Convent of the Nuns of the Order of Saint Clare, now the Hotel Santa Clara. When this convent was converted to a hotel the altar was removed and used for the restoration of “Convento La Popa de la Galera”. In the surrounding area is Santo Toribio Church, the last church built in the Walled City. Next to it is Fernández de Madrid Square, honoring Cartagena's hero, José Fernández de Madrid, whose statue can be seen nearby. Inside the Old City is Las Bóvedas a construction attached to the walls of the Santa Catalina Fortress and now a tourist trap with local art and souvenirs.

Like all great emerging spots, the neighborhood of Getsemani has a storied and complicated past. But times change and old stereotypes die hard. The burgeoning barrio, just outside the fabled walls of Cartagena’s historic Old City, was formerly a haven of prostitution and drugs. But the once-seedy neighborhood is now the coolest, most invigorating and authentic, up-and-coming talk of the town.
Getsemani is so authentically charming and on the cusp of commercial explosion, that you wish it always stays like this. If you visit Cartagena you have to come down to get lost amid the Spanish colonial architecture, dance halls, graffiti art, boutique hotels, food vendors, public plazas, and poets. It is our most favorite part of Cartagena des Indias.

The Bocagrande area contains the bulk of the city's expensive tourist facilities, such as hotels, shops, restaurants, nightclubs and art galleries. It is located between Cartagena Bay to the east and the Caribbean Sea to the west. Bocagrande has long beaches and commercial activity found along Avenida San Martín. The beaches of Bocagrande, lying along the northern shore, are made of volcanic sand that is slightly greyish in color. This makes the water appear muddy, though it is not. There are breakwaters about every 200 yards. On the bay side of the peninsula of Bocagrande is a beach walk. In the center of the bay is a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Convento La Popa de la Galera is on a 500 feet high hill, the highest point in Cartagena. A beautiful image of La Virgen de la Candelaria, the patroness of the city, is in the convent's chapel, and there is a charming flower-filled patio. There is also a chilling statue of a speared Padre Alonso García de Paredes, a priest who was murdered along with five Spanish soldiers for trying to spread the good word. The views from here are outstanding and stretch all over the city; however, on the day we visited the rain clouds obscured a lot of the views. The convent's name literally means the Convent of the Stern, after the hill's apparent similarity to a ship's back end. Founded by the Augustine fathers in 1607, its official name is actually Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria. Initially it was just a small wooden chapel, which was replaced by a stouter construction when the hill was fortified two centuries later, just before Pablo Morillo's siege. The building was abandoned for many years until the government took over the building and started the restoration. The altar of the Santa Clara church was used in this restauration.

The only way you can experience the “Walled City” is by foot and we did. We walked every day from 9:00 AM until about 3:00 to 4:00 PM took most of the time a simple lunch returned to the hotel, swam in the small swimming pool and relaxed in a nice hammock along the pool. After this nice break we continued our walk, had some good dinner and spend many evenings on the square in front of the “Iglesia de la Trinidad”. Close by our B&B we found an Indonesian Restaurant called “Saint Roque” and we had the famous “Indonesian Rice Table” which typically consists of many spicy dishes. The restaurant is owned and operated by a Dutchman “Gerard Van Der Haas”.

On the evening of the Miss Colombia Pageant election we found a tile display of all the previous Miss Colombia. A beautiful lady was sitting on these tiles and pointing to her tile since she was the Miss Colombia in 2003/2004. I told her that she was more beautiful than in the year of her crowning and she responded in perfect English to thank me for the compliment.

One day we started the day by walking on top of the wall al around the walled city and only came down when needed (such as at major intersections) or if we saw something interesting we had not seen before. We strongly advise you to see our pictures and if you ever have an opportunity to visit this beautiful city. We enjoyed it every minute and hope that one day we can return. But in the meantime we are planning visits to many other places in Colombia and maybe even to other countries in South America.