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.