Cartagena

A couple of days were spent in Bogota unpacking, washing clothes and repacking for our trip to Cartagena. Flying out on Wednesday, we found the weather a bit damper than we expected. The big moment had arrived, what to expect of this hotel we'd booked. And I think that as our expectations were so low we were not disappointed, just ready for what we found. In fairness, I have stayed in worse places, but mostly when doing sightseeing holidays and using it as a place merely to lay our heads. But as this was a place to more or less base ourselves for a week for some sea and sand with Leo in tow we decided to hot foot it to the travel agency to find the nearest 5 star hotel sharpish. I say we but this was really my mothers endeavour, having declared the sheets unwashed and the rooms unable to sleep in without taking a tranquiliser beforehand. And from my point of view there is nothing quite as depressing as getting to a destination and feeling a sense of disappointment at having to be somewhere and 'make do' with the dreariness of the place, the extremely basic buffet food and the general lack of maintenance of the 'El Dorado' hotel. I think even the name conjures up pictures of naffness (dodgy 90's soap opera) which should have sent us running. Anyway, nuff said on that subject and proceed to the glorious 'El Admirante'.
Cartagena is a coastal city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia and has extremely well preserved evidence of its colonial past as a major port. The old city is really beautiful and the weather and great beaches make this an extremely popular destination. Right that's the blurb out the way, so what did we get up to?
Precious little it has to be said. Suffice to say we relaxed. And ate. A lot. Leo tried the sea out for the second time in his life, and didn't enjoy it any better than the first. As a beach person I found myself preferring the calm and ease of the swimming pool, where Leo seemed to enjoy himself much more, having no waves and sand to unsettle him, and neither the persistent parade of tat sellers, masseurs, ice-cream floggers to interrupt his sunbathing... ok maybe that one was the rest of us...
Leonardo captivated all the hotel staff as usual, he's a sure fire way of getting us popular somewhere. Oh and also useful for transportation and shopping in general, the ultimate accessory.. did I just call my son an accessory? Shame on mummy.
By the way BIG news, Leo said his first word this week, well syllable. And it wasn't ma-ma. We thought we'd heard something the other day in the car on the way back to Bogota, but we couldn't be sure at the time. Then one afternoon after his nap he started to say da-da. Incessantly. For the non-parents out there I can't describe how much of a big deal this is. It's like a little miracle seeing Leo unfolding from a newborn into a little boy.
Thinking about it now, for people that didn't do much, we actually did a fair bit. We saw an old fort, a monastery from which you get great views of the city, Ari and I had our first encounter with a sloth (I think that's what the animal is-please correct if wrong), Ari and I had a 'date' to a lovely place called cafe del mar (thanks Chris) and mum I went rumba-ing in a Chiva, a typical bus of the area. Not half bad. Really enjoyed our week, and dare I say it Ari did too even with mother in law in tow (no offence ma)!