CARTAGENA COOL
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 12:25AM[TRAVEL] Patrick Duffy takes to Cartagena De Indias in Columbia and parks his New York diet for a culinary adventure.
It's mid-February in NYC and I am feeling the need to escape the bitter cold for a destination that I have never visited before, with my partner. Perusing my iPad's vintage globe app, I placed my finger on multiple destinations, but it didn't satiate my thirst for sun (not to mention having to re-spin several times as I would have been dead center in the Antarctic Ocean or the northern snow capped mountains of the Himalayas!).
But someplace I have always wanted to go was Cartagena De Indias. I have traveled through many of the Southern Hemispheres heralded destinations and all are worth return trips. However, in recent months I kept hearing about the beauty and seductive allure of this Caribbean outpost and made plans to see it without haste.
Tickets booked! Avianca Airlines, business class, thank you to American Express for making travel so easy these days! The allocated travel period was 9 days, which is plenty of time to do everything, see everything, experience everything, taste everything, right? WRONG! I discovered that Cartagena is full of thousands wonderful facets and experiences that would keep the most curiously discerning individual occupied for months, which is much longer then 9 days!
We arrive in the morning and are greeted at the airport by a lovely young fellow Julio, an artist/musician and friend who knew everyone and everything about Cartagena. He's certainly the guy to know about town and we were very fortunate to meet him. Our experience was vastly different to that of 'average' travelers as he gave us the insider's edge to this stunning city. (It also didn't hurt that he was stunning to look at!)
We arrive at Casa Las Palmas - a quaint and chic, hotel in the arty neighborhood known as Getsimini, the center of BoHo life in the old town. This beautiful little (8 room) hotel was run more like a private home. Greeted with a smile and ushered to our room by a sweet and very attentive Ms. Marta, who by the way, looked amazing in her "cha-cha" heels! I knew we had found home!
We ventured into the city with wonder on the mind, a pocket full of pesos, with an exciting plan to eat our way through the town. We quickly discovered a little magical spot! Starving after a long flight, we sat for lunch at Beloche, a new cerviche outpost in the city, touted as one of the best - and that it certainly was! Everything after this little place just seemed bland. My personal favorite was the Tamarind Cebiche and liquor macerated with fresh ginger and spicy pepper. Oh my - masterfully crafted by a handsome young chef and his gorgeous wife.
The flavors of Cartagena are incredible, fresh mango, watermelon, papaya, strawberries, juiced by the street vendors - the perfect refreshment after a day of roaming the city. Not to mention coffee with the locals from their little thermoses always full of the perfect cups of Café Fuerza.
I was in culinary heaven. Eating dainty treats and sipping spicy tequila among the elegant palm trees inside a restored convent, turned hospital, turned luxury hotel at the Santa Clara or nestling in to the tiny Tabetai, the favorite among the locals for sushi - it was so good that we came 4 times in 9 days! For something more sophisticated we opted for a music filled evening at one of the cities most famous eateries La Virtola, with its strict reservation-only policy, spirited live music, many of the cities "It" scene-stealers, incredible service and food that was rich with flavor and drinks that perfectly matched the palette. I can see why they have a door policy. Over the course of the 9 days, we decided to say "Au revoir" to our strict diet, threw caution to the wind and eat everything in site, well almost everything. Cartagena has everything a foodie loves, and more. But my absolute favorite of the entire trip was a wonderful new restaurant that we stumbled upon on our last night. FM (the initials of the owner) was truly spectacular and by far the most elaborate and exquisite food in the city. The service was that of 5 star hotel without the pretense. My green tomato soup was a perfectly flavored compliment to the most delicious dorado I have ever tasted - Light, flakey, not over done and I even got a fish knife! This was my find of the week and to top in all off, the wine selection was perfect and the owner lovely, kind and just plain incredible.
All this talk about food! Time to MOVE! Getting around is a snap in Cartagena. Taxis are very affordable and everywhere! Often honking their horns, looking for business they are pretty much available all the time. And here I thought they just liked my new shoe purchase from Barny's Co-Op Sale back in good ol Chelsea, sadly mistaken. Those tiny little yellow bug-like cars are generally about 6 pesos anywhere you want to go. We rented bikes for the week which I highly recommend. Personally, I love being able to breeze along, stop for a moment to pop into the rather creepy inquisition museum, check out some gorgeous works of art at the NH gallery, have a coffee, or an empanada, or pop over to Boca Grande for some sun and fun time and a little shopping on the strip. We even took our spirit of adventure for a ride and rode to the Top of the "Popo" a historic and restored monastery at the highest point in the city. Not for the faint of heart!
A must do if you go for more then a few days is Playa Blanca. For about 20USD you are taken on a speed boat tour of Cartagena's port and then you head into the open water for about 30 minutes. Soon you arrive at one of the most beautiful beaches in the area. The sand is white and the water is stunning, warm and blue! There are some tourists that arrive with you but everyone seems to find a nice patch of beach to themselves. There are fun little beach out-posts for lunch where you can order burgers and jambalaya rice, spiced chicken, salad and of course more fresh fruit. Perfect while lounging in one of the many hammocks on the beach. You can stay the night for about 30 dollars in a hut which would be optimum after all the tourists leave, you have the place to your self, and/or your hunny!
When we arrived we were warned, "You're not going to want to leave". I can say that this is the honest truth. The entire time I felt safe, welcomed, and never afraid of an impending adventure. Generally people are very helpful and want to help you. There is an occasional "hunny, that's a rip off" but you get that everywhere. You just need to be polite and have your wits about you and you will be booking your next trip, before you have even left.
You can follow Patrick Duffy's everyday adventures on Twitter @MrPatrickDuffy or visiting MrPatrickDuffy.com
