So I'm at the end of my first day of this, my travelling life for the foreseeable future! And what a nice first day it has been! It was spent wandering around the old town of Cartagena- I had thought of following the walking tour in my guidebook but soon seemed to have strayed off the walking tour route and not wanting to have the book permanently in my hand I decided to just wander. It was the perfect place to do this and the perfect thing to do after over 24 hours travelling to get here yesterday!
The old town has lots of narrow streets with many old buildings, the type with overhanging wooden balconies and in various colours. I enjoyed the wander and taking in the sights of life here. I'd forgotten how many street sellers you get in Latin America, ranging from T-shirts, jewellery, pictures for tourists to the sellers of fruit, ice-cream, drinks and even knives! Yes, I saw a man setting up a knife stall, it appeared to be the kitchen knife variety, seemed a bit odd! Two new types of sellers/stalls I saw was coffee and mobile phone… 1) coffee- saw quite a few guys walking round with a wooden box of flasks and little cups. They appeared to sell to people sat in the square, walking down the street and even to shop staff…which left me wondering if they had a kettle! 2) mobile phone stalls- not the kind selling mobiles, but for people to use! I saw one when I first went out this morning and wondered what it was for, and then read about it in the guidebook. People set up these mobile phone stalls which may consist of a table and chair or just a waistcoat with phones in the pockets and sell the use of the mobile to people. I guess this means Colombians in general may not have mobiles, or at least, not as commonly as in England. I've seen lots of people chatting on the phone this way today! Luckily the sellers to tourists are not too persistent, a simple 'no gracias' is enough and they move on- I'm glad about that as I've been some places in the past where they just won't leave you alone. I also sat on the town's walls for a bit, looking out to sea, enjoying the sea breeze which was good as it's so hot and humid!
One of the highlights of my day was meeting a group of 11 year old school children whilst I sat in the shade, escaping the heat, in the Plaza de Bolivar. Took them a while to pluck up the courage to say hello but they were clearly interested in and excited at the idea of speaking to a 'gringo' (foreigner) and they probably would have stayed all afternoon if they hadn't been called to go to the museum! It was like being famous, with 10 or more kids gathered round; they even wanted to take a photo of me! I got to practise my Spanish and they enjoyed asking questions about various things, including, do I know Wayne Rooney?! When I said I am a teacher they wanted to know about school uniforms and the number of children per class- they have 50 per class. I couldn't understand everything they said or asked but they patiently explained or re-worded. I was hoping to get opportunities to speak to local people so this was a great (unexpected) first encounter! On walking back to my hotel I passed a dance group dancing I think samba style and then a group of children/young people roller-skated by on some sort of protest- they were chanting, but I'm not sure what it was all about……
By the time I got out today (after getting some much needed sleep- was exhausted after the long journey plus very little sleep the night before I left) I appeared to have missed breakfast in the places I tried so I settled for a sort of croissant as it felt too early to have lunch….however an hour later I decided to have lunch and went into a restaurant where it was a welcome break from the heat and humidity to sit by a fan! I had 'Mote de Queso' which turned out to be a creamy sauce with bits of yucca and cheese in. The cheese wasn't the nicest I've ever had but the waiter did say it was a bit salty. It came with rice, salad and a piece of plaintain so was a nice meal- cost 10,000 Colombian pesos- approx. £3. I had Limonade de Coco (coconut lemonade) which was refreshing, but expensive at 8,000- juices were only 4,000! I love the juices and also had a melon juice and strawberry juice- most restaurants and cafes have a range of them- fresh fruit mixed with water and ice. Had an early dinner as by 4.30 I was hungry again- caught the menu del dia before it changed to the evening meal. It cost 17,500 and included a starter, main and a drink. I had tuna pate on toasted bread and fish with plaintans. The fish was great with a really tasty sauce. There are cheaper set lunches around 'almuerzo' so I will keep an eye out for them.
With no time constraints I was able to just wander- a luxury! It doesn't really seem real that I am going to be travelling indefinitely….guess it hasn't really sunk in yet! So I guess I'll do some more wandering tomorrow, though will see if there is anything I want to visit/see both in Cartagena and in the surrounding area so I will perhaps start making some plans….at the moment there really is no plan! :-)