Cartegena

3/27 - JG: we take a quick flight north to Cartagena, Colombia, a city almost 500 years old that once served as a major Spanish port to the Caribbean coast. The city is split into a seaside area that reminds you of Miami, and an historic area full of architecture that is hundreds of years old, with walls encircling the town to protect it from pirates in the 1500s. It is nothing short of stunning all the way around. Not spending more than 45 USD for a night stay up to this point, we splurge a bit and find a b&b on www.airbnb.com (great resource) in the tourist area and make our way back and forth between the two neighborhoods. The owner is Colombian-born but Chicago-raised, and a great guy start to finish. At this point, our navigational Spanish is getting pretty good, and we celebrate Sandy's birthday on the 29th.