From: Sherman Rootberg
Date: Jan 8, 2008 8:31 PM
Subject: 1/8/2008
1/8/2008
Cartagena, Colombia
We took a tour early this morning. We had not been here in over ten years. We were very presently surprised. Just like Caracas, Cartagena had been a garbage dump. Trash litter and actual garbage scattered everywhere. Now it was very clean. Everywhere we went everything was not only clean of debris, but swept clean. The only exception was a slum section going up a high hill to a monastery.
We went up to that monastery, which is 400 years old, and built
on the foundation of an Indian temple. The Hill is 500 feet high and afforded the view in the pictures, I hope you get, of the downtown section of Cartagena.
This is also where the largest fort in the Caribbean is located. It had mostly been in disrepair the list times we had been here. Now the outer walls of the main part of the fort have been at least repaired though not like the original. The interior has not been repaired and is nothing like fort El Moro in San Juan.
The old city was like brand new. All was in excellent condition and freshly painted. They also took us to the Palace of the Inquisition. It was the seat of the Spanish Inquisition for two centuries. They had a museum of tools of torture. There was a scale to weigh women accused of being witches. If they weighed less then 100 pounds they were considered to probably be witches and were tortured until they admitted it and then hung or had their heads chopped off if they did not die from the torture. Bobbi dropped the
new camera and I wanted to try out some of those tools but they would not let me. However, I did get her to pose for a picture not realizing she was standing in front of a cannon.
Naturally they had to take us to a shopping area. We had been to the same stores about thirty years ago when they were brand new and still partly under construction. This was where we first saw how Emeralds were made in Cartagena. Near by this area we were stopped in traffic by a narrow alley way. In the alley was a young
fellow making those emeralds. Here is the recipe. You need a hammer, a file, and a 7up bottle. That’s how you make rough emeralds to sell to the stupid tourists.
We got back to the ship at about 12:30 and the ship departed at about 1:00 PM.
It was good to see the city again and find they had cleaned and repaired it. We did mostly enjoy the tour, However, it left much to
be desired. Our little bus rode terribly. The isle was so narrow I had to walk side ways and then my size 10 shoes would get stuck. The windows were filthy and you could not see out or take pictures well. Our guide probably thought he was speaking English but we might as well have had a non English speaking guide as no one could understand him.
We went up to that monastery, which is 400 years old, and built
This is also where the largest fort in the Caribbean is located. It had mostly been in disrepair the list times we had been here. Now the outer walls of the main part of the fort have been at least repaired though not like the original. The interior has not been repaired and is nothing like fort El Moro in San Juan.
The old city was like brand new. All was in excellent condition and freshly painted. They also took us to the Palace of the Inquisition. It was the seat of the Spanish Inquisition for two centuries. They had a museum of tools of torture. There was a scale to weigh women accused of being witches. If they weighed less then 100 pounds they were considered to probably be witches and were tortured until they admitted it and then hung or had their heads chopped off if they did not die from the torture. Bobbi dropped the
Naturally they had to take us to a shopping area. We had been to the same stores about thirty years ago when they were brand new and still partly under construction. This was where we first saw how Emeralds were made in Cartagena. Near by this area we were stopped in traffic by a narrow alley way. In the alley was a young
We got back to the ship at about 12:30 and the ship departed at about 1:00 PM.
It was good to see the city again and find they had cleaned and repaired it. We did mostly enjoy the tour, However, it left much to
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