R.I.P. Star Trek Experience

Boo! Yesterday, I learned from my parents that Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas is going to close on Monday! Argh -- nooooo!! This was maybe my favorite thing to visit/do in Las Vegas. Now I won't be able to ever have another Warp Core in Quark's Bar or have conversations with Klingons and Borgs....waaaah! This is a sad day for America folks.

Well, at least the King Tut tomb replica at the Luxor is still in operation! And you can still buy Dippin' Dots at vending machines in the casinos!

PS. If anyone goes to the Star Trek Experience before it closes, could you pick up a Star Fleet Academy T-shirt for me (size: small)?

All done with Cartagena posts

Well, I am all done writing about my awesome trip to Cartagena. It was pretty fun to go back through my journal and sort of re-live the trip by writing about it here, but alas I must now come back to the present and start finding other blog-worthy things going on here to write about!

Day 10 -- Leaving Cartagena

Today we had to leave Cartagena and travel back to Costa Rica, but we were able to take a leisurely morning since our flight from Cartagena didn’t leave until 5pm (however we had to be at the airport 3 hours prior to that). Carlos and I slept in a bit, had a final breakfast and watched some more Olympics until we had to check out of Centro Hotel. I would definitely stay here again on another trip to Cartagena!

We were able to leave our bag with the front desk while we ventured out to lunch at a little bistro called Kokoriko. This is actually a fried chicken chain, but the Kokoriko we ate at was very fancy and more of a sit-down restaurant. I had a nice tropical salad with mangos, peaches, strawberries, and ricotta.

After lunch, we stopped by the hotel for our bag then took a taxi to the airport. The airport was pretty interesting -- lots of drug-detecting dogs and army officers. Every bag that went through the x-ray machine was searched (i.e. all the stuff was taken out). Any items in bags/boxes were sniffed, probed with a stick, or opened -- it was quite intense. The lady who searched our bag even broke up all my hot chocolate bars!

After two short flights, Carlos and I were back in San José. We traveled to Hotel Pacandé in Alajuela for the night and due to a reservation mix-up on their part we were able to stay in a fancy room with a private bathroom at the rate for a room with a shared bathroom! We watched more of the Olympics and saw Michael Phelps win his 8th gold. Our vacation was over, but Carlos and I had a really great time and we know that one day we will go back to Cartagena!

Day 9 -- Wandering El Centro and taking a carriage ride

Today was out last full day in Cartagena so Carlos and I decided to take our time to wander around the walled city, visit some of our favorite spots there, and shop for souvenirs. We made another stop at Brianzola and I tried a new flavor of gelato: veteado de agraz (vanilla with veins of agraz berries running throughout). This gelato was delicious, but I liked pistachio a tad more.

In our wanderings we made our way to Las Bóvedas (former dungeons-turned-souvenir shops that I’ve mentioned before). I found a few things for my family and myself here, but there really wasn’t much of an interesting selection of souvenirs as I’d hoped. Most stores in Cartagena seem more interested in selling emeralds to people rather than little handicrafts. While in the neighborhood we stopped at Exito (the big grocery store here) to purchase snacks for lunch. I made gouda and tomato sandwiches on baguettes while Carlos made his own shrimp ceviche with frozen shrimp, limes, onion, and ketchup -- it was really good!

We escaped the heat of midday by napping in our hotel room (he he he, we are like old folks!) and watching some TV -- such a luxury since we don’t have a TV at home. For our final dinner in Cartagena, Carlos and I decided to take it back to where we started -- to Crepes & Waffles of course! I had another delicious strawberry waffle with ice cream and Carlos ate a tasty crepe with crab.

After dinner, we decided to take a horse-drawn carriage ride through the walled city. We looked for a well-fed and well-cared for horse and happened to get one with a huge carriage bedecked with white flowers -- it looked like a “just-married” carriage. So...we drew lots of attention to ourselves with this carriage, but the ride was really nice and definitely a highlight of the trip. We started off in a little plaza near Crepes & Waffles then we rode through the center of town to Barrio San Deigo. From there we rode near the city walls until we ended up back where we started. The ride lasted about 30 minutes and our “driver” pointed out all the landmarks along the way. It was really nice and fun to take a slow horse-carriage ride through the old city -- it really made me feel as if I was transported back in history. Our horse was named El Abuelito (the little grandpa) and he was nice enough to let me pet him.

The carriage ride was an extremely nice note to end our vacation on -- the perfect way to revisit all of our favorite landmarks in El Centro!

Day 8 -- Islas del Rosario

Today started a little earlier than usual since we had to be at the port by 8am to check in for our boat trip to the Islas del Rosario. We boarded our ship (Alcatraz III) a little after 8am and we set sail at 8:30. The Islas del Rosario are a set of small coralline islands located south of Cartagena and the Bocagrande peninsula. There are many reefs surrounding the islands and the entire group of islands has been protected and designated a national park by Colombia.

Our trip began as we traveled slowly through the Bahía (Bay) de Cartagena (there was a lot of boat traffic in this bay). As we passed through the Canal de Bocachica into the Caribbean, we saw 2 forts that historically served as the front line of protection for Cartagena against pirates: Fuerte San José de Bocachica and Castillo San Fernando de Bocachica.

After a couple of hours at sea, we docked at Isla del Rosario and visited the small aquarium there for about an hour. At the aquarium we watched cat sharks feed on fish (while Snowy Egrets sat on their heads trying to steal some snacks from the sharks!), huge groupers, and a short little dolphin show. There was a little tide pool and some flamingos to look at, but nothing on par with the Seattle or Monterey Bay aquaria!

Next, we traveled to Isla Barú and visited Playa Blanca after eating a traditional lunch of fried fish (with the head and everything -- I didn’t eat the head though). The beach was very pretty with soft white sand and the water was a lovely Caribbean turquoise. The only drawbacks here were the vendors. They were absolutely everywhere and very annoying. Carlos and I simply went into the water to avoid them.

After 2-3 hours of playing on the beach, we got back on the Alcatraz III and set out to return to the port of Cartagena. We arrived back in Cartagena around 6pm -- this was a really fun day at sea and a very worthwhile day trip from the city.

Once back in El Centro, we took showers then walked to Brianzola to recharge with more gelato. I had pistachio again -- I wanted to try a different flavor, but the pistachio was so good! After our pre-dinner dessert, Carlos and I walked to Parque Fernandez de Madrid to order pizza at Pizza en el Parque (we ate here once before and the thin crust pizza was very delicious so we came back again). We ordered 2 medium pear and ham pizzas (same price as one large pizza) to take back to the hotel. Today’s trip to the Islas del Rosario was extremely fun, but also pretty tiring so it was nice to have a laid-back evening.

Day 7 -- Naval museum, gelato, and Las Bovedas

This morning began with a short walk to the Plaza north of the Santuario San Pedro Claver (near the portion of the city wall called Baluarte de San Francisco) to visit the Naval Museum. This plaza is really beautiful (one of my favorites within the walled city) with many sculptures and, more interesting, a little fountain replica. It doesn’t have any water but it is a replica of one that provided water in the 17th century. It reminded me of the fountain/sink in the movie Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!

Since Cartagena was a major port in the past, the Naval Museum provided a lot of information about this city’s major battles and other aspects pertaining to naval military history. I especially liked the model ships and replicas of the forts and bastions built to defend Cartagena from invaders. I also really liked the modern story of Chicote, a little yellow lab/cocker spaniel that lived on a naval training ship (the Gloria) for more than 13 years in the 1980’s. Chicote is in the Guinness book of World Records as the dog who has visited the most ports (>100) and spent the most time at sea! The museum was surprisingly large with a lot to see so we ended up spending most of our morning there.

After our visit to the Naval Museum, Carlos and I walked back to the area near our hotel to visit a little gelato store called Brianzola. I have never really had gelato before so I thought I would give it a try -- it was even better than ice cream! I had pistachio gelato that was very rich and creamy and good because it didn’t have a lot of pistachios in it (I love nut flavors, but not the nuts themselves...yes, I am a little strange). This was the best/only gelato in the city and we returned almost every day for a treat thereafter -- I highly recommend it!

Our afternoon was spent meandering around the city and visiting an area in the northern portion of the walled city called Las Bóvedas: former dungeons that have been converted into souvenir shops. Most of the shops offer the same, boring old junk, but a couple had some nice, quality souvenirs.

For dinner, Carlos and I visited a Chinese restaurant near Brianzola: Dragón de la Marina. The food was really tasty and plentiful; we were able to bring the leftovers back to the hotel for a snack later. Tomorrow is our day trip to the Islas del Rosario!

Day 6 -- Modern Art Museum, Santuario San Pedro Claver, Caribe Plaza

After another tasty breakfast at the hotel, Carlos and I walked to the Plaza de la Aduana and then to Plaza San Pedro Calver to visit the modern art museum: Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena. Although this museum was a little small, it was a well put-together museum with some nice pieces. Admission was only ~$2US so this visit was a good deal. The museum consisted of two floors (with the majority of the artwork located on the first floor) and two buildings -- one of which was built in the 17th century and served as Cartagena’s customs house. In the back of the gallery was a door that led out to a portion of the city walls -- it was a really nice location! We saw many nice paintings and sculptures by famous Latin American artists (e.g. Alejandro Obregon and Enrique Grau); one of my favorite pieces was a little fish sculpture made by Grau and located above the desk at the museum’s entrance.

Once we were finished exploring the art museum, Carlos and I walked across the plaza to visit the Santuario San Pedro Claver. Known as the “Slave of the slaves,” Pedro Claver spent his life caring for and defending the African slaves that came to the Americas via Cartagena -- and now he is a saint. The Santuario was one of the most beautiful buildings in El Centro and was comprised of a huge church (under renovation at the time we visited) connected to the cloisters and courtyard of the Santuario. I liked walking in the courtyard here -- there were mysteriously two macaws in a cage here and they were fun to talk to. The Santuario also contained a museum of religious artifacts and assorted items. (That's me in a stairwell leading down to the first level of the Santuario).

We returned to Caribe Plaza to eat lunch and of course to have more Yogen Früz yoghurt! This time, I had agraz berries smooshed into vanilla yoghurt. The agraz berries reminded me of cranberries and lingonberries -- really tart and delicious!

Later in the afternoon, Carlos and I walked from the walled city to the Monumento de los Pegasos (Pegasus Monument) and from there to the Muelle Turistico -- the only place to buy tickets for boat tours of the Islas del Rosario. We chose to take a large ship, which is a slower, but safer, ride than those offered in small boats. For dinner, we had chicken sandwiches (made from our grocery leftovers) and finished that off with almond ice cream in a waffle cone at -- where else -- Crepes & Waffles! After dessert, we walked all over the south walls to see everything lit up at night. During our wanderings we saw another museum that we hadn’t yet visited (the Naval Museum) -- we will go there tomorrow!

Day 5 -- Bocagrande and assorted wanderings

The morning started off with a bit of a rainstorm so Carlos and I read and watched TV in the hotel room until the rain stopped (I also ate a marshmallow brownie that I brought from a bakery called Mila last night). Although the storm was fairly short (especially compared to what we get in La Selva during the rainy season!), when we went outside, all the streets were flooded.

After sloshing towards the outside of the city walls, we hailed a cab and took a short trip to Bocagrande to look around. Bocagrande is a little peninsula south of the walled city and is the place where most high-rise hotels and resorts are located. Many tourists end up staying in Bocagrande as part of resort package deals (kind of a pity since it takes a taxi ride to get to the old city). Bocagrande was really boring and offered nothing special to see -- it kind of resembled a more run-down South Beach. After our exploration, I was even happier that Carlos and I had chosen to stay in El Centro rather than Bocagrande.

We took a taxi back to the walled city and walked to our old standby for lunch: Crepes & Waffles! I had a pita siciliana: pita covered with melted mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and basil (I think this was my favorite meal here). For dessert, I had pistachio ice cream in a waffle cone. Our meal was delicious and inexpensive as usual.

We spent the night wandering around again and taking in all the lighted monuments, sculptures, and plazas. There is always a lot of activity on the streets at night, but it isn’t annoyingly crowded. I really liked feeling safe enough to walk around all the side streets at night while taking pictures. Dinner was relaxed again, consisting of roasted chicken and baked potatoes from Exito. I also bought some snacks that were my favorite in Colombia: Rizada™ mayonnaise-flavored potato chips. They may sound kind of gross (especially to my sister), but there were really good!

And so ended another beautiful night in Cartagena~

Day 4 -- Caribe Plaza

One of the best things about this vacation was that Carlos and I allowed ourselves to take it easy and relax throughout the trip. We never felt rushed into seeing everything in a short amount of time -- there was plenty to see in Cartagena and we were able to experience it all at a very leisurely pace.

On that note, we took a taxi from the Puerta del Reloj to the neighborhood of Manga to visit Caribe Plaza -- a new large mall that recently opened in Cartagena. Carlos and I each needed to find some more vacation clothes (we didn’t bring much since we wear field clothes mostly in Costa Rica) so we browsed the stores in the mall looking for shirts and pants which we both eventually found -- at prices much cheaper than what we see in Costa Rica!

In the food court I found one of the most amazing things ever: Yogen Früz. This is a frozen yoghurt store that is pretty unique: they offer a variety of frozen fruits on display (e.g. kiwi, raspberry, guava, guanabana, agraz berries, feijoa, cherries) which you choose and then get to smoosh with vanilla frozen yoghurt. There is a special machine used to combine the ingredients and the result is a well-combined mixture of yoghurt and fruit! I was enthralled with this place and ended up eating a medium (it was pretty huge) kiwi frozen yoghurt for my lunch. They definitely need to import Yogen Früz to the states!

We returned to the walled city and spent the remainder of the day taking it easy and walking around the city walls, taking in the sights, and visiting the beautiful parks and plazas. For dinner, we took a low-key approach and bought a few items at the local grocery store Exito to make sandwiches. Sometimes it is fun to take it easy and relax while on vacation -- especially in the Caribbean!

Day 3 -- Visiting Castillo San Felipe and the Gold Museum

This morning, Carlos and I decided to visit Castillo San Felipe de Barajas and walked there from El Centro. Castillo San Felipe is located just outside the city and was the largest Spanish fort in the New World. It was built between 1536 and 1657 to defend the rich port of Cartagena from invaders. I really loved the Castillo (it may be one of my favorite places that we visited in Cartagena); it was huge with lots of ramps and tunnels used to transport cannons, ammunition, and soldiers. The tunnels were really fun to explore, but very easy to get lost in! It was fun to explore all the aspects of the Castillo and to peek out of the many thin slit windows over the harbor imagining what it was like to be on the look-out for pirate attacks. Although we only spent the morning and early afternoon there, Castillo San Felipe also looks beautiful at night when all the walls are lit up with spotlights.

After returning to the walled city, we headed to Crepes & Waffles (again!) for lunch. I had a waffle deleite de fresas (waffle covered in strawberries and ice cream), which was really nice and tasty.

In the afternoon, Carlos and I walked to the Plaza de Bolivar area to visit the Museo de Oro y Arqueología (Gold and Archaeology Museum). Entrance was free and we both thoroughly enjoyed this museum. The exhibits were well-presented and they had an impressive amount of fine gold artifacts on display. Most of the gold items were from the Sinú culture.

Prior to dinner, we explored the city at night a little more before deciding on a simple meal at the pizza and pasta restaurant next door to our hotel. I think that the night is one of the best times to explore the walled city -- there are lights everywhere shining on the beautiful buildings, many people walking around, and the temperature is nice and cool (contrasting to the sometimes overbearing heat and humidity during the day).

Day 2 -- First full day in Cartagena

This morning after a nice breakfast at the hotel, Carlos and I started a little walking tour of El Centro and the rest of the walled city. We visited the Puerta del Reloj (a large clock tower marking the main entrance through the city walls and into the Plaza de los Coches) and looked at all the hand-made candy at stalls in the Portal de los Dulces. I really thought I would buy some candies, but they didn’t look as if I would like them -- lots of nut and sticky coconut mixtures. There were, however, some cute pig-shaped candies, but I didn’t get any.

The plazas are beautiful and plentiful in the walled city and we walked around the following three that morning: Plaza de los Coches, Plaza de la Aduana, and Plaza de San Pedro Claver. The Plaza de los Coches served as a slave market in the past and the Plaza de la Aduana was the city’s old customs and administrative area.

Next, we walked back to the park near our hotel -- Parque de Bolivar -- and visited the Palacio de la Inquisición. Housed in a beautiful colonial building, the Palacio de la Inquisición served as the “Penalties Tribunal for the Holy Office” from 1610 - 1821. Within the museum, we saw an assortment of absurd yet horrific torture and execution instruments used on heretics and witches. Carlos and I also visited the Museo Histórico de Cartagena (inside the same building), which detailed the history of this port city.

We stopped for lunch at a little bistro called El Bistro for a sandwich. It was good, but not as tasty as the food at Crepes & Waffles!

After lunch, we continued our walking tour and visited Las Bóvedas (a row of former dungeons converted into souvenir shops), Plaza de San Diego, and Plaza Fernandez de Madrid. Cartagena is just a really nice city to explore and get lost in. The walled city isn’t very big and is easy to traverse.

For dinner, we had take-out pizza from Pizza en el Parque. Carlos and I brought a pear and bacon pizza back to the hotel to eat while watching more Olympics. Today was a great day to walk around and get acquainted with the major landmarks of the city.

Day 1 -- Flying from Costa Rica to Cartagena

After spending the previous night in San José in order to catch our early morning flight, Carlos and I were off and on our way to Cartagena via Panama City.

Each of our two flights (Costa Rica -- Panama and Panama -- Colombia) was only about an hour, but we had a 4-hour layover in Panama! The Panama airport wasn’t anything special (I was expecting better shopping since it’s in a tax-free zone), but the Copa terminal’s seats are great for catching a little nap since they don’t have dividers or arm rests.

We arrived in Cartagena around 5pm and took a taxi to our hotel (Centro Hotel) in the old city (known as El Centro). Our hotel was really great and although slightly outside our student-level budgets, it was well worth it to stay in a comfortable place in the middle of the old walled city.

After getting settled, Carlos and I wandered around the old town to get our bearings and watched the sun set from the stone walls surrounding the city. The beach was only a hop away from the walls and it was a really nice scene. I felt completely safe walking everywhere in Cartagena with a purse and camera. I actually felt safer there than I usually do in Costa Rica!

For dinner, we ate at a chain restaurant called Crepes & Waffles (this turned out to be our favorite restaurant of the trip!) where I had a pita topped with melted mozzerella, arugala, tomatoes, and Portobello mushroom. We also had a strawberry ice cream sundae for dessert.

The city and walls are lit up at night and the colonial architecture in El Centro is gorgeous. Every night, you can see and hear horse-drawn carriages trotting through the narrow streets of the old city. After walking off our dinner, Carlos and I returned to the hotel where we watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Such a nice start to our trip!

I'm back!

(Note: I wrote this post yesterday evening, but the internet was not working so I couldn’t post it until now)

I just returned from Cartagena last night and after traveling from Alajuela to San José to Puerto Viejo Sarapiqui, I am finally back on station. It is raining very hard outside, but I am glad to be home after such a great trip.

My plan is to blog retroactively about each day of my trip to Cartagena, Colombia. I also kept a little travel journal/scrapbook while abroad that I may be able to scan the pages of to include in my posts. The weather was perfect, the city was gorgeous, and our hotel was excellent -- this was such a nice trip and served as a most welcome break during Carlos’ and my hectic work schedules. Stay tuned for more trip details!

Gone vacationing

Tomorrow Carlos and I leave for a night in San Jose before flying out to Cartagena early the next day. I am so excited to almost be on vacation and actually have time to relax. While in Colombia I will pretty much be incommunicado, but I might be able to get to an internet cafe for an hour or so at some point. I won't be able to blog until I get back on the 16th -- then I will have lots to talk about! Byebye~~

Stick insect

Yesterday, Carlos found a huge stick insect (or walking stick bug) right outside the lab building -- this was the biggest stick insect I had ever seen! I think it was approximately 25 cm long -- huge! It actually scared some girls that walked by when we were petting it. Stick insects eat leaves and don't bite (I think). Apparently they can also make nice pets.