Besides the colors and old architecture in Cartagena's historic center, there are the
wonderful people - the faces of a walled city that, in many ways, seems immune to
the ravages of time. The vendors on the old town streets still ply their
trades pretty much the same as they did a century ago. Beauty can be seen in
the faces of members of the local community, dressed in traditional fashions,
who sell mouth watering, home made candy.
Food carts with fresh coconuts, fruit, and bread are wheeled
up and down the cobblestones, with the proprietors shouting out today's
specials so people inside their houses will hear them and come out to
buy.
Shoulder bags and hats are popular with the tourists.
Cartagena
is a legendary wedding and honeymoon destination, so we joined a crowd watching
a beautifully dressed high society wedding party exiting the old Cathedral on
their way to celebrate.
Two American tourists, our close friends Rebecca Chapman and
Jim Duque, could not resist the hat stand. The same pair of
travelers joined a group of local kids for a photo op.
It is always a joy to see our first and favorite friend in Cartagena, Maria del
Socorro Pinzon, pictured to the right of Rebecca.
Socorro appears
regularly in the society pages of the local newspaper, El Universal, as a
prominent fixture at all important Cartagena
events involving the arts, antiques, and charities. Her energetic warmth
epitomizes the vitality and the soul of this magical city.
