We arrived back to Colombia on New Years Day after a quick trip home with family and friends for the holidays.
We had two short days before Nate's family arrived for their week-long visit. Friday afternoon they landed in this beautiful city after an early morning flight. They took some time to rest before we met up with them for dinner that evening. We ate at Casa De Las Palmas located in Getsemani.
After Dinner we got drinks at KGB, a bar within the walled city. After a couple drinks, we walked Nate's family back to their AirBnB for the night and went home since we had an early and long day to follow.
Saturday morning we left for Tierra Bomba. We spent the day relaxing at Bomba Beach Club. We stayed until about 4:00 in the afternoon.
We all went back to shower and get ready then met for dinner at Varadero. This is a Cuban place within the walled city we've been out to eat at many times and have always loved it.
After dinner we went to El Mirador for a drink. We all really enjoyed the view from the rooftop, but the service was really slow so we didn't stay long. After this we headed home for the night.
Sunday we started our day with a free walking tour of the walled city. I think everyone enjoyed this, it was a great way to learn the history and some interesting facts about the city.
Afterwards we were starving and headed to Crepes & Waffles for lunch. This was by far one of the favorites when it came to restaurants!
After lunch the boys went to get some coffee and cigars at Puro Cuba while the girls walked around to do some shopping. We met back up at 4:00 for our chocolate making class at the Choco Museo. This was such an awesome experience. Our instructor was so much fun, and so knowledgeable. We were able to make our own chocolate from roasting the beans, mashing them up and creating some drinks from it! We were even able to bring some home, it was delicious!
After Our class we were ready to eat and have some drinks so we went to Bourbon St.. The wings were great! Afterwards we went back to their AirBnB to hang out for a bit before calling it a night.
Monday I had to get back to work, but Nate had the day off so he met up with his family for the afternoon. They relaxed and explored the city during the day, and then went to a Rum Tasting in the evening. Everyone seemed to have a good time!
For dinner we met up at Di Silvio Trattoria, our favorite Italian restaurant located in Getsemani. We love this place because the food is great, but also super cheap! Everyone agreed with us. We got a few different pizzas and split them amongst the table.
The next day the Adlington's spent the day out on the water while Nate and I worked. The girls got dropped off at Isla Grande in the Rosario Islands for the day while the boys went deep sea fishing. They all had a blast!
We met them afterwards at Cafe Del Mar for some drinks and then headed to Lobo De Mar for dinner. Lobo De Mar was a new restaurant for Nate and I. It was amazing! We had an assortment of meals but some of the favorites were the shrimp tacos and the lobster tacos. They also had live music at the restaurant.
Wednesday was another relaxing day for the Adlington's as they spent most of the day hanging out, shopping and enjoying the city. In the evening they hopped on a Sunset Cruise which they loved so much!
After their sunset cruise we met them at Santa Maria Del Mar for drinks. Outside the bar were a bunch of merchants so we did some shopping around there. We were able to make a reservation for 9:30 so to kill some time we went to Alquimico for some cocktails. Everyone enjoyed Alquimico and thought it was a really cool spot!
Our dinner that night was at Zaitin, a Lebanese restaurant everyone was really excited to try. We had some of the best hummus I've ever had!
Thursday we got a pool day pass at Hotel Caribe and spent most the day there, hanging out at the pool, drinking, tanning and grabbing lunch. Around 3:00 we headed home to shower and get ready.
At 4:30 we met up again at the pier to embark on another sunset cruise since they liked the first one so much! This was a different boat than the first one, it was on a Pirate Ship! The owner of the boat was actually from Ohio, so it was really nice to be able to converse with him in English. He had such a cool story behind him and his family, it really added to the experience of the cruise. We got some beautiful pictures and some yummy drinks then headed back to the pier.
We met Nate at the same bar as yesterday, Santa Maria Del Mar, since he didn't make it home from work in time to join us. After a drink or two there we headed to El Burlador Gastrobar for our last dinner with the Adlington's before they left.
The following weekend we didn't do much as we were exhausted from the week, but Saturday we did make it out at night to try Cafe Havana in Getsemani. We couldn't leave Colombia without checking out this popular venue. It was a lot of fun, we enjoyed watching everyone dance. There was a cover to get in though.
The next weekend on Friday we went to check out a bar we've been meaning to see for a while called 51 Sky Bar located in Boca Grande. It was only a short walk form our apartment. The bar sat at the top of the high rise overlooking the ocean and the bay. It would probably be a great place to watch the sunset! We just had a few drinks, listened to the band and had some appetizers. There is also a cover to get in here.
Saturday we spent the day at Hotel Caribe to get one last good day of sun before we headed back to Chicago. It was a nice relaxing day.
Sunday we stayed in during the day since we both had some work to get done, but at night we went back to the sunset cruise since Nate was unable to go when his family was in town. We wen't on the pirate ship cruise and Nate really enjoyed it! It was a great way to end the weekend.
After the cruise we went over to Beer Lovers in the walled city. Nate was eager to check it out. We got some apps here before heading in for the night.
The following weekend was our last weekend in Colombia! We celebrated by stopping in at the cigar shop Nate went to with the guys while his family was in town, Puro Cuba.
Afterwards we went for sushi at Sushi Room in the walled city, where we went with John while he was in town since we liked it so much.
Once we were stuffed to the brim with sushi we did some walking in the walled city. We decided to stop by Montesacro Resto Bar, a restaurant/bar in the walled city John recommended. We sat out on the balcony, it had a wonderful view.
Sunday was a slow day, we did some housekeeping to prepare for our trip home the upcoming week. We sat on our balcony for the last time that evening and watched our last sunset together while having a couple drinks and playing some card games.
Monday was back to work, but after work we went into Getsemani to Cartagena Craft Beer, the place we went on my first night in town. We had some beers as well as some sushi and called it a night.
On the night before Nate left he went to Bourbon St. for drinks with his coworkers.
I left that Tuesday and Nate left that Friday. We had so much fun in #Cartagena and will definitely miss it. I hope we get the chance to go back some day. I highly recommend adding it to your bucket list.
For now, we're happy to be home and use all our photos as great memories.
You can watch a video of our final month below.
Thanks for reading!
Jen