Move Beach get out the way!

As we further endeavor our practice of sleeping in we made it till 930am today! Today's goal is to explore the city and get some beach time. Cartagena is a modern port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. At its core is the walled Old Town, with 16th-century plazas, cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings. It was at this core were we were staying.

The city is walled and Emily educated me as to the history as we walked along the Great Wall.

The heat here is stifling, muggy, and down right oppressive. Despite the sun's rage against our feeble melanocytes we pushed on walking through the colonial streets stopping to sample the street food as the interest rose. It is fun how this walled city has been maintained. After awhile of walking Emily and I would tempt each other with ludicrous excuses to duck into an air conditioned store (neither willing to admit defeat by the heat).

Soon we grew weary of walking and headed back to the hostel where we lounged in hammock chairs, chatted, and read books as the weather melted to a pleasant (tolerable) temperature.  Now this was a vacation. After a bit we arose and grabbed a bite at the local Cuban hut before setting out to the beach. It was late afternoon and the weather was perfect. We settled in a small rent-a-tent and had fresh ceviche on the beach while taking turns swimming in the near lukewarm Caribbean Sea. As Emily was swimming this woman came up and offered to massage my feet. I politely declined but she persisted. At this point in the trip Emily and I are attempting to be money conscious. The women would not relent stating, "free sample, quick, etc."  I attempted to refuse again but she plopped down grabbed my foot and it was all over. Thank God Emily showed up or I would have given this woman all of my money, obtained a working visa, and brought her back to the states as my own personal foot masseuse.

It was heaven. Emilys simple foot massage became a leg and back massage somehow, and she jokingly chided me for spending $7 on a foot massage (worth it!).  We headed back for a bread and avocado dinner with fresh market fruits that we picked up on the way back. Ahhh, now for a beer and more relaxation. Stay tuned.