We gained an hour last night, so we are back on Houston time. The rest of the gang went to work out but I was waiting to hear from Pam, and we just missed each other...so no exercise for me today. After breakfast, we met up with Peter and Sarah, our shopping hosts for the day. Cartagena is known worldwide for their emeralds and there are a lot of stores selling them. We signed up to join them for the day for several reasons--safety being high on the list, along with price--only $30 a couple for the whole day!

We boarded a nice tour bus and left for the city. Traffic was terrible and it took us about an hour or so to go a short distance. The owner of the bus, Douglas, was quite a character. He was originally from Pennsylvania but had lived in Cartagena for the past 27 years. He spoke Spanish like a native and you would never have known he wasn't a native! He entertained us with some history of the area and pointed out several sights. He was quite proud of his city and saw it through different eyes than we did. Lots of trash and small streets, poor housing, etc.

We finally arrived at our destination which was an emerald museum and store called Joyere Caribe. We had the cutest guide, Luis, that took us through the museum. I found it fascinating to see actual emeralds in chunks of stone as it has been mined out. They still mine by hand as it is better for the economy. We were served refreshments and Mike tried a local beer, which he said was pretty good.

After the tour of the museum, we went to the store where I found out I have very good (expensive) taste! The ring I found was $10,500 and that was with our discount! The rings that were about $1,000 weren't what I wanted, so I decided I could live without an emerald.

We drove a short distance to another section of the city, which was called the old walled city. There were remnants of a huge wall that used to protect the city from invaders. We visited Mr. Emerald, another jewelry store. Lots of beautiful things there, but again--nothing I couldn't live without. There was a raffle drawing and the lady standing next to me won, a pretty pendant necklace.

A short walk through the city streets took us to the restaurant that Peter recommended. We opted to share a fried fish dish, and were surprised when the waiter brought out a whole fried fish, head and all! It included coconut rice, which was very tasty.

After lunch, it was almost time to return to the ship. We had a short day in Aruba--7:30 to 11:30, and Cartagena was 9:00 to 2:30. We will be cruising the Panama Canal tomorrow, no stopping and the next day is another sea day!

The internet has been weak and since we haven't had much time to find wifi on shore, I haven't been able to post any pictures. You'll have to check back later to see photos cause we have taken a BUNCH!

We were the last tour group to board our ship, and had to rush through the terminal. I would've liked a few more minutes there as there were all kinds of exotic birds, including parrots of all types and sizes as well as pink flamingos.

Once on board, Pam wanted some dessert, so she and I went to the 14th deck to get some iced tea and cookies. We got a seat right at the front and could watch our sail away.

After that, we went back to our rooms and hung out until time for dinner. We had reservations at the Bayou Cafe which is this ship's equivalent to the Crown Grill. I ordered Gator ribs, Shrimp and Grits and Gumbo as my appetizers. The gator tasted like a beef rib to me. The gumbo was red based and needed to be eaten w a fork, it was so thick! Rich & Mike got the oysters and Pam the gumbo.

Next were our entrees, Mike and I had the grilled prawns and Pam and Rich ordered the filet mignon. OMG, Rich shared some of his steak w me and it was melt in your mouth good. We also shared an 8 oz lobster, also good. You'd think after all that good I would've skipped dessert, but not so. We all got something different, and all 3 were yummy (Pam and Mike shared).

We wandered around for a bit after we finished eating and Rich and I went to the movie, Cafe Society. It was playing on the screen outside. We got a great seat and enjoyed the movie until the ending--which we both found to be blunt. Mike and Pam went to see the headliner at the princess theater, Duncan Tuck. We had seen him on another cruise and they said he was pretty good.