In September, I got an email alert about $300 round trip tickets to Cartagena, Colombia and of course, I had to snag one. I know basically nothing about Colombia outside of what I’ve seen on Narcos! I’m excited to have a new place to learn all about. I’ve been researching hard and have created a list of places I want to see and naturally, books I want to read!

Museums:

• Museo de Oro Zenú (Museum of Gold) which showcases gold objects created by the Zenú people. This is a smaller version of a museum in Bogota.
• Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena which was the first modern art museum in the country, founded in 1960. Admission is only $2.60!
• La Presenatacion Casa Museo Arte y Cultura – this one sounds like a good place to take a walk through and grab a coffee. Free exhibits!

Food and Drink:

• Alquimico (translates to relating to alchemy!) which totes a sensory experience through their cocktails. Sounds fancy and fun!
• Casa de la Cerveza is a great place for a sunset cocktail with a great view.
• Cafe Havana where we will salsa dance! And possibly eat Cuban food although that idea scares me.
• Restaurante Pavia looks like it’ll definitely be on the lunch list. Fish arepas!

Additional activities:

• Abaco libros y cafe is a coffee shop/bookstore so that’s a no brainer. Maybe I can find a different Spanish copy of Alice in Wonderland!
• Mercado de bazurto which apparently is an overwhelming market!  Sounds like it is a very large market and might be quite the adventure.
• We will be booking a beach day trip to Bendita Beach , which is also a nature preserve. You take a small speed boat and spend the day and even get lunch!
• Trying to find a cooking class, too!

Whew! That’s a lot of stuff to pack into a few days and not to mention I also want to read  Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras while I’m there! I have been waiting for this trip to read this book since it takes place in Colombia. I think I’ll also take Love in the Time of Cholera …it’s been a bit since I last read that one.  In addition, I have a book on hold at the library about Colombian artist Fernando Botero. I learned a tiny smidge about him in an art history class but don’t really remember.