... and fine workmanship in these pieces (ear-rings we think), those nearest are approximately 75mm (3 inches) across.
...More photos will be added to the Cartagena album.
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06/Aug/2012, Cartagena - Colombia
A couple of days so far spent in Cartagena doing some sightseeing and settling in to a new location. Moored at Club de Pesca we have the luxury of just walking ashore and a short stroll to the city walls. In the embrace of the old harbour we have plenty of high rise buildings behind us and the old city a short distance away. Together with the shallow water and re-radiated sunshine from stonework and concrete the temperature and humidity is higher than back in Tayrona and Santa Marta. The gentle breeze that funnels below the bridge from ahead is most gratefully received.
Like many cities graced with spectacular architecture and grand curches tourism is big business here. A mixture of foreign and national visitors cluster and throng in the picturesque squares and narrow streets lined with balconied houses. Founded in 1533 the city has enjoyed and suffered during a long history dating back nearly to the earliest European occupation of these shores...
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... Perhaps this is the low season, summer heat being less popular for tourists; there seem to be many vendors chasing too few visitors. Serenaders with nobody to charm, cafes with tables to spare and street sellers clutching full displays and attempting to strike up profitable conversations....
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... The Monty Python team warned our generation "Not the Spanish Inquisition!"...Yes, the inquisition did visit these distant shores and a museum in Cartagena proudly displays many instruments of dastardly torture. Unlucky victims could be asked a series of no win questions and the penalties allegedly included an introduction to various nasty devices. All the tortures displayed explained their nasty nature before finishing with a claim that "This was never used in Cartagena"; maybe the mere threat was instantly sufficient to render the most heretical prisoner more devout than the interrogators themselves ...
Photo shows a horrible piece of apparatus said to weigh 5 Kilograms.
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... an attempt to dodge the attentions of street vendors by going for a stroll through the old city at 7am failed miserably. Many offers of unwanted tours and trips were politely declined. The early foray provided interesting sights of the city coming to life; the multitudes of folks out and about being locals and workers rather than visitors. Stalls being set up and stocked, fast food sellers supplying locals with breakfast on the hoof, policemen starting their shifts and street cleaners battling against the unenviable daily task left by an army of trippers... The crowds were less and the air much cooler, the sun still low in the sky meant only 32 Celsius so a good time to be walking the streets...
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... and the police either coming on or going off shift tucking into snacks as motor bike patrols swapped vehicles ...
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