99 Things We Love About Cartagena
- Watching the sunset with a cold beer from the wall
- Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun. Sun and more Sun. Almost everyday
- People watching in Plaza de la Trinidad in Getsemani
- Super friendly and welcoming locals
- Strolling through the Old Town and getting aimlessly lost
- Having dinner in one of Cartagena’s most famous plazas
- Limonada de Coco
- Bright, colourfully painted houses
- Music!!! Champeta, Vallenato, Reggaeton, Cumbia, Salsa…we love it all!!!
- Dancing to said music in the streets or at the club
- The beautiful lights that fill the city at Christmas time
- Arepa de huevo
- Day trips to the Islands
- Bike rides
- Ice Cream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. Cartagena’s got this sweet treat down to a T
- Reading a book, sitting in the little windows of the Wall in the Old Town
- Drinks at Cafe del Mar
- Juan Valdez coffee dates
- Amazing doors and door handles on the old colonial homes
- Fruit salad
- Entering a building with Air Conditioning after being outside for hours
- Pizza!!!!! Cartagena is packed with amazing pizza joints all over the city
- Long walks on the beach
- Bolis. A local snack which is basically a freezie (frozen juice in a bag)
- Going to the beach, any beach, and the fact that there are many
- Panama hats
- Zumba classes, especially the free ones in Plaza de la Trinidad on Sunday nights
- The feeling of relief you get when there’s a breeze
- Seafood, ceviche and shrimp cocktails
- Sunday Fundays…however you choose to spend them
- Weekend getaways to Playa Blanca
- Island tours, bike tours, walking tours, food tours, tours for everything
- 4pm and onwards, when the temperature is finally bearable to go out and enjoy the beautiful city
- Cartageneros gorgeous smiles and twinkle in their eyes
- The beautiful churches and plazas
- Kola Roman and the fact that it is only available in Cartagena
- Ron Medellin and Aguardiente shots
- Rasapa’o, Cartagenas snow cone
- Walking around the Old Town and peaking in the windows of the beautiful colonial homes and having a new “dream home” every week
- Fresh, tropical fruit…everywhere!
- The unlimited supply of cold beverages being sold on the streets
- Pool Days, especially the rooftops ones
- Rooftop bars and parties, and the fact that they are very easy to find
- Snorkling in the islands
- Fried fish with coconut rice and fried plantains
- You can buy the beautiful handmade ‘wayuu mochila’ bags from La Guajira in a variety of colours and sizes
- Papas rellenas, deep fried potato balls stuffed with meat and or egg
- Medialuna Hostel Parties on Wednesday nights
- Thunderstorms, when it rains it pours, and being thankful that it did
- November and all its great parties celebrating Cartagena’s independence
- Lulo mojitos
- Walking down the streets is like reading a history book
- Siestas, especially when taken in a hammock
- Weddings every weekend
- Terms of endearment used by everyone, for everyone…“mi amor, mi vida, mi reina”
- Shakiro. Once you see him, you will know
- Empanadas for breakfast
- You can buy practically anything on the street
- Clubs like Fragma with multiple rooms, each playing different genres of music
- Countless FREE concerts and events
- Playing in the waves of Boca Grande’s beach
- The cast-iron statues
- Drinking in public is not a crime
- Visiting the museums
- The beautiful flower covered balconies
- Las Palenqueras, the ladies selling tropical fruit in their traditional, colourful attire
- Cartagena Fashion
- Street food
- Feeding the monkeys in Parque Centenario
- Sunset sails around the bay
- Kite surfing
- Buying coconut sweets from the Portal de los Dulces in the Old Town
- The mimes are actually hilarious
- Rooftop yoga, it’s the best
- Tayrona National Park is only 5 hours away
- Moto Taxis and Colectivos
- Music blaring from peoples homes, cars, city busses and portable speakers
- Learning how to dance Champeta at Bazurto Social Club
- Awesome street-art
- Everything about El Zanahoriazo…his delicious carrot juice, head to toe orange outfits, contagious smile and love of life
- Romantic walks along the wall after sunset
- Salsa Bars
- Trying new tropical fruits in the form of natural juice
- Colourful bikes with baskets
- Feeling incredibly safe and welcomed in a country which at one point was named one of the most dangerous countries in the world
- Colombia coffee
- Learning and trying to speak “Costeñol”, the local dialect
- Understanding the meaning of “Magical Realism” and how perfectly it describes Cartagena
- Street parties
- Work-outs in Manga’s bayside
- Swimming in the sea
- Buying fresh fish from the fisherman
- Deditos de queso
- Drinking outside of Donde Fidel’s
- The Regatta parties in Cholon, giant boat parties hosted by one of Cartagena’s most famous islands
- Happy hour drinks
- Ficci, Cartagena’s very own International Film Festival
- Browsing the book stalls in Parque Centenario
- How it casts a spells on you, making you never want to leave…
