After walking close to 11K (6.8 miles) in Barcelona, it was nice to keep this visit a low key one. Indeed, it was the first day of the trip, other than the sea day, where I didn’t walk at least 10,000 steps. I needed that.
Cartagena, Colombia is named after Cartagena, Spain. So a little over three years after visiting the second (larger) Cartagena, it was nice to see the first (smaller) one. Colombia’s city has over 900K residents while Spain’s has just over 200K residents. Much the same way that Portland, Oregon (named, via coin flip, after Portland, Maine) is much larger (640K to 68K).
This Cartagena has a lovely port and harbor right near the town. Truth be told, I didn’t really make it into the town itself, which turned out to be a good choice. Before the trip I’d researched a 40-minute boat ride in the harbor that Matt, Julie, Alison, Derek, and Don joined me on. Nice narration, nice views of various forts, current military installations, and the harbor itself. And of course great company. A perfect, “I’m tired and want to go sightseeing anyway” activity on a comfortable morning with some “puffy” (cumulus) clouds and a blue sky.
After we got off the boat ride, we explored a nearby sculpture of a whale’s tail submerged in a pool of water that was probably a fountain of some type, a very large and well-endowed boy statue, a helicopter parked nearby, and a car show.
Julie and I were both exhausted and decided that was plenty, so we returned to the ship for a lovely lunch and a delightful long chat. Eventually I went back to my room where I spent a nice introverted afternoon on my deck finishing one book and teeing up the next, thus foiling my plan to finally get into one of the ship’s swimming pools. For those keeping score at home, I’ve read 6 books in the 3 weeks since I left Portland….a surprisingly low number for me. Then again, I’ve been exploring, socializing, and blogging during some of what would normally be my reading time.
Dinner was a specialty meal with Don, Sue & Glorie and two other Portland area cachers at the Asian restaurant on board. Enjoyed the company and the meal was fine. Note to self: the specialty meals are an interesting concept but not worth much if any cost
A fine, low-key day after an intense one and in anticipation of two more busy days to come.
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