Cartagena?
The only things I thought I knew about Cartagena came from the 1980's Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner movie, Romancing the Stone.While most of the movie was shot elsewhere, there is the scene of the crocodiles in the old fort. They must have cleaned them out because I couldn't find a single one.
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The real Cartagena is a cross between Miami Beach, and what you'd hope Cuba could be like. Its amazingly clean and upscale. The old part of the city is very Latin American, but clean,safe and brimming with fine dining and nightlife. The souvenir hawkers get a little much sometimes. It's like throwing bread in a carp pond. I managed to escape with only a Panama hat and T-shirt. We did the walking tour of the old city yesterday and the hop-on-off bus today. We did find the old fort where they shot the scene in Romancing the Stone. Its been quite hot here, but the on-shore breeze keeps it relatively cool. Our hotel room is on the 15th floor,and the pool is on the 17th. Great city views! The dollar is very strong against the Colombian peso, so things are relatively cheap here. Yesterday we went to a big mall here to do some noon souvenir shopping, and I bought a new phone. It would have been more than $150 more in Costa Rica. Even in upscale restaurants, dinners for both of us run about $50 US including drinks. I blew it though when Martha bought a dress and she whittled the guy down from 50 pesos too 45. But then when we tried to find the right bank notes so he said "OK American - $20". I handed him a 20 before I realized it was more than the 50 pesos he originally asked for.Mom would be rolling in her grave.
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