I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that one of my favorite things to do when I travel is find the local bookstore. In Cartagena I got lucky as there were two! One was recommended and the other one was stumbled upon by accident. We hit Abaco Libros y Cafe early on in the trip. Everything in the Getsemani neighborhood we stayed in is very walkable so we set off on foot to find Abaco. I will admit, the place is cute and has a lot of that small, packed bookstore charm, it was not for me! It was TOO packed and you couldn’t get to the back row of books. I was on a mission to find a copy of Alice in Wonderland and I couldn’t even make it to the section I thought it might be. So it was a quick in and out for that one. 

That night, we were wandering around looking for a place to get a drink and we walked by Libreria Nacional and decided to make a trip back there the following morning. I thought I knew exactly how to get back there and alas, I did not! So after some wrong turns, we consulted Google maps and found our way. This was a pretty generic bookstore…none of the charm of Abaco and it appears to be a chain…and maybe that was a good thing! I asked if they had a copy of Alice in Wonderland and I received an emphatic NO. However, I wondered around a bit longer and I found two editions. One was illustrated by John Tenniel so it went back on the shelf but the second version was a winner. Illustrated by Benjamin Lacombe...I spent $45 US dollars on it, which was my day’s worth of food and drink money! So worth it. The illustrations are dark and enchanting. 

I would recommend hitting up both bookstores if you are in the area. Totally different vibes from each. Libreria Nacional also had a wall of books in English so if you need a book for your trip home -be sure to pop in.