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~