#blueapplebeachhouse

[historyinhighheels]

Sharing this little slice of paradise on the blog today. Check out my latest post to see why you don’t want to miss this stunning and exclusive beach resort in Cartagena! • • • #blueapplebeachhouse #cartagena #paradise #cntraveler #traveldeeper #travelcolorfully #passionpassport #welltraveled #travelinstyle #travelblogger #abmtravelbug #verytandctravel (at Blue Apple Beach House)

[postcards-fromafar]

Cartagena

South America has been untapped territory for the two of us so far. Prior to this trip, Costa Rica was the most southern country we had been to in the Americas. We chose Colombia based on rave reviews from friends, the ease of traveling there, and the ability to have a variety of experiences ranging from hanging at the beach to exploring more urban areas. After a quick flight to Atlanta, we hopped on a 3.5 hour flight down to Cartagena. Check out the view from our hotel below...

Highlights

-Exploring the Old City- As soon as we arrived in Cartagena and dropped our stuff off at the hotel, we hopped in a taxi to go to the old city (a quick 5 minute drive). We went on a free walking tour and learned more about the history of the city.

-Palacio de la Inquisición- A beautiful example of Spanish colonial architecture, this building also housed the Inquisition in Cartagena and now is a museum that details the horrors of that time. We read about the history and viewed various torture instruments, including a spiked collar. Targets of the Inquisition included witches, Jews, and heretics, among others. 

-Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas- A Spanish fortress built atop San Lázaro hill with a complex series of tunnels. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984. 

-Wandering around Getsemani- We stayed in Bocagrande, a thin strip of land with ocean on both sides and lots of newer hotels. Gestemani is the edgier, more hipster neighborhood in Cartagena with lots of cool street art, hostels, and happening night life. When we went there one night for dinner and drinks, there was a giant street party of sorts going on, with lots of people dancing and singing. There were also mimes- one of whom followed me down the street and scared me half to death. After dinner, we hit up a craft beer bar and did some exploring to check out the street art. If we ever return to Cartagena, Getsemani would be a neat place to stay and explore further. 

-Chiva- I was torn about whether to put this in the highlight or bummer section but decided to leave it here for its value as a cultural experience. A chiva is a colorful party bus that transports you around the town while listening to live music (the musicians ride on the back of the bus) and drinking rum and coke. It was completely in Spanish, so we were not able to fully understand the commentary by the leader but enjoyed checking out the city at night. Halfway through, they dropped us off at part of the old wall to explore, get snacks, and hang out with other chiva tour groups. 

-Staying at the Blue Apple Beach House on Isla de Tierra Bomba- This is pretty self explanatory. We took a half hour boat ride over to Tierra Bomba and then stayed at an island beach house for two nights. This was good for all of the reasons you might expect- we went swimming in the ocean and the pool, kayaked, sunbathed, played games, got massages, and generally relaxed. They also had a restaurant and bar on site.

-Being goofy with each other- It’s always nice to hang out with people you can let loose around and be weird :) 

Bummers

-Hyatt Regency Cartagena charging us extra- When we booked the hotel room with two double beds, they did not ask how many people would be in the room. However, upon arrival, they insisted on charging us more for having four people.

-The bathrobes at Blue Apple were... a bit small for Dan and Gabe. 

-The inability to take Lisa (the dog) home with us from Blue Apple- Added by special request from Gabe and Elise. Lisa was the friendly local Blue Apple dog. She clearly has the best life- she hangs out with guests during the day and each night goes down to the beach to lie on the sand while the sun sets. Also, she didn’t beg the way the cats did while we were eating dinner. 

Eats

-Seafood- Cooked fish, ceviche, seafood salad. You name it, we ate it (or at least, Dan did). I really enjoyed the fish with coconut rice. Since Cartagena is on the coast, the seafood is super fresh and delicious.

-Dan’s meal at La Cevicheria:  Mulata Tropical Paella was a special seafood paella that was taken to the max with the addition of coconut milk. He could barely put words together while he was eating; it was a spiritual experience.

-Ceviche from La Cevicheria- Gabe and Elise got the ceviche and shared a taste with us. It was fresh and delicious. When asked for his commentary about the ceviche, Dan said, “I don’t know, I was blacked out.” (See aforementioned bliss about his paella).

-Coconut rice- Cooked using coconut milk and sugar, coconut rice is super tasty, especially with fish.

-Arepas- A thick tortilla type food made of ground maize dough or cooked flour. We had a lot of these while in Colombia- sometimes filled with egg and sausage, sometimes by themselves, sometimes with cheese or other toppings.

-Food at Blue Apple Beach House- We had lots of tasty food at Blue Apple, including the chicken sandwich below, tomato salad, paella, and more.

-La Mulada- As a last hurrah in Cartagena before heading to Medellín, we went to La Mulada for lunch. One of Gabe’s friends, Dale, had described it as “My senses had never had such an experience. Amazing.” In addition to the complimentary soup and plantains, I had fish and coconut rice again and Dan had shrimp. 

Drinks

-Club Colombia beer- Standard international lager. In Dan’s words, “it did the job.” 

-Cocktails at the pool and on the beach- Well mixed and a delightful addition to our time in the sun.

-Limonada de coco- Coconut limeade was the single greatest discovery of the trip. I'm not sure how to describe it other than to say it’s an absolute party in your mouth. Elise and I fully intend to try making this at home. Bonus: it tastes good with a shot of rum added in too.  Here’s a recipe if you want to try your hand at it.

-Coffee- It is Colombia after all. Gabe got coffee made by a siphon one morning, which was nifty to watch. 

People

-Gabe & Elise- Dan’s brother, Gabe, and his girlfriend, Elise, joined us for our first trip together as couples (we had previously traveled with Gabe a few years back in Europe for two weeks). Gabe and Elise were great travel companions who were game for exploring, trying all sorts of food, and watching funny youtube videos with us.

Observations and Insights

-Most likely to die by: Having your boat to the island sink from them packing too many people and bags in at once. 

-There are hawkers everywhere trying to sell all sorts of different things- water, beer, hats, and more. There was a surprising lack of convenience stores, so we ended up buying water from them several times. 

-One of the more interesting ploys to earn money that we saw was teenage boys who would start following you down the street and rapping about you to the beat of well known hip hop songs. Usually there would be a mention of “zapatos,” not sure why they were always mentioning people’s shoes. If you didn’t ignore them and plow forward, they would try to get you to tip them after the performance. 

-Cartagena is definitely more touristy than Medellín, but many tourists in Colombia are from other Spanish speaking countries like Argentina and Chile. As such, when we would speak to someone in Spanish, they would respond back in Spanish rather than automatically switching to English the way you see in a lot of the world. This meant I got to practice my Spanish a decent amount, which was great!

Tips

-Taxis are super easy to use- It only cost ~$2-3 USD to get from our hotel to the old city. The pricing was very consistent and no one tried to rip us off (which is a common issue we have run into with taxis in other countries.)

-If you’re interested in Cartagena and live in the US, it’s totally doable to take one or two days off work and make a long weekend trip out of it! It’s super easy to get to and not very expensive.

[bethlaurenjewel]

Assuming his position @elirosenfeld #blueapplebeachhouse #cartagena #vaca #tierrabomba (at Blue Apple Beach House)

[bethlaurenjewel]

🙏💙🏝 #blueapplebeachhouse #vaca #cartagena #relaxation (at Blue Apple Beach House)

[bethlaurenjewel]

Ascending pose #blueapplebeachhouse #cartagena #vaca #caftan (at Blue Apple Beach House)