• About Me
  • OTHER WORK

One Foot Out the Door

~ Adventure at Home and Away

One Foot Out the Door

Category Archives: Colombia

Cartagena: No Comparisons Necessary

15 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by lexklein in Colombia

≈ 50 Comments

Tags

CARIBBEAN, Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

A cross between New Orleans and the Caribbean, decreed my daughter. What I imagine Cuba would be like, noted my son. Streets and doors like San Miguel de Allende, opined my husband, but maybe more like San Juan. As for me, I was thinking sort of like Dubrovnik with Afro-Latino overtones.

DSC_0338

These were our shallow observations in our first few hours in Cartagena, Colombia. I always find it kind of obnoxious when people (including us) blather on about what a place reminds them of, as if they (we) are so well traveled that they have to compare and contrast each new place with somewhere they’ve already been rather than just appreciating it for what it is itself. Yet we all found ourselves exclaiming time and again how Cartagena reminded us of so many other places, and perhaps this makes sense at first glance.

DSC_0394

Cartagena de Indias was founded on the Amerindian north coast of what is now Colombia by Spanish conquistadors in the early 1500s. With its well-protected location on a Caribbean bay, Cartagena became a critical port for all the riches the Spanish were carting out of South America; ships from Peru and Ecuador stopped here to receive additional goods from Colombia, then continued on to Cuba and Puerto Rico before sailing to Spain with all their seized treasure. These ships full of gold and silver and the prosperous young city attracted a long string of pirate attacks, leading to the building of one of the largest fortifications and walled cities in the Americas.

DSC_0320

Cartagena’s development was aided greatly by the dubious honor of becoming one of the busiest slave ports in Central and South America. The slave trade further enriched the Spanish conquerors, and stately mansions with deeply colorful stucco and stone walls, tall windows and doors, and flowery balconies sprang up in a series of cobblestone streets and small parks in the Old City.

DSC_0316

Cartagena eventually became one of the first sanctuaries for freed African slaves, who lived alongside the indigenous residents and European conquerors, creating a delicious stew of ethnicities and cultures. Indians, Hispanics, and Africans mix here in a steamy Caribbean setting, and the buildings, food, music, and culture in general reflect centuries of cross pollination.

DSC_0306
DSC_0312
DSC_0303
DSC_0301

Today, dozens of indigenous ethnic groups remain, along with several million Afro-Colombians and some 30 million mestizo (European-Amerindian) inhabitants. Getsemaní, the city’s oldest area, where we stayed, was the original home of Africans brought as slaves and later the home of a large Cuban population. The colonial Old City looks more European, but is also home to a fusion of people, homes, and businesses.

DSC_0365

In the end, we appreciated this walled city of cobblestone streets, artfully crumbling colonial architecture, and masses of trailing bougainvillea for its own charms. It is simultaneously seedy and enchanting, suffocating and breezy, old world and trendy.

IMG_2676

Typical Caribbean foods – coconut milk, lime, rice, plantains, and fish – are served alongside Colombia’s signature dish, arepas – little cornmeal patties stuffed with cheese, eggs, and other fillings. Street corner cumbia music mixes with Latin salsas, and a gleaming row of high-rise hotels and condos lines the beachy Bocagrande strip, Miami style, within sight of the 16th century Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, a dominating fortress built by the Spanish.

NazEYokuhv5PMH18VsgBwKBQuT05-yPTUWzXxtNYyc4

DSC_0351

DSC_0343

Is it any wonder we all likened the city to so many different kinds of places? Cartagena does look and feel like other Latin American colonial cities like San Miguel de Allende and San Juan, and it has the balconies, decadence, and Afro-European fusion of New Orleans. Its Cuban population adds both Latino and island flavor, and the city walls certainly evoke other fortified cities like Dubrovnik. By the end of our time there, however, we concluded that all the comparisons were unnecessary and unfair; Cartagena is a unique little place of its own and well worth a visit.

DSC_0339

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Street Art of Bogotá

02 Saturday Jan 2016

Posted by lexklein in Colombia

≈ 43 Comments

Tags

Bogota, Colombia, graffiti, La Candelaria, street art

Drugs, guerilla warfare, paramilitary presence, civil discontent (and, OK, Sofia Vergara) – these are a few of the stereotypes that pop into people’s minds when Colombia is mentioned. These days, however, visitors are more likely to encounter these themes on the walls of the country’s capital, Bogotá, where the acceptance of street art has made this vibrant city a mecca for grafiteros and painters from here and abroad.

DSC_0237

In recent years, the city has adopted a remarkably permissive attitude toward street art and even “lesser” graffiti forms like tagging. Removing the threat of arrest has meant, among other things, more and better art. Being able to work during the day instead of under the cover of night has allowed artists better conditions in which to create, and some building owners have even commissioned murals to protect their property from tagging and more mundane scrawling.

DSC_0240

Even those tags and scribbles are seen as art by some, including our tour guide. One of the highlights of our recent trip to Colombia was the Bogota Graffiti Tour in the old city neighborhood of La Candelaria, led by one of the city’s better-known street artists. (Although he divulged his identity to us at the end of the tour, we were asked not to use his name because of the sensitive political nature of some of his work.) According to him, we cannot have the “fine art” on the walls without the typical graffiti, and neither is more beautiful or worthy than the other.

DSC_0231

DSC_0228

Sometimes, in fact, art springs from the tags, the first and easiest entrée to the graffiti community. Walls can morph from a sprayed name to a painting, with others joining in with stencils, stickers, more tags, and more painting. The art is alive and dynamic, and the resulting collages can be among the most colorful walls in the neighborhood.

DSC_0234

DSC_0192

Bogota’s street art covers a wide range of subjects, but there is a prominent focus on the country’s social and political problems. For example, the long-running conflict between the government and left-wing guerrilla groups, as well as U.S. interventionist programs like Plan Colombia, have resulted in the internal displacement of millions of people (second only to Syria, to my surprise). Portraits of indigenous people – those most often displaced – are widespread, and country lifestyles are celebrated.

DSC_0154

DSC_0103

DSC_0181

DSC_0245

Environmental concerns are another popular theme; colorful birds and native animal species fly and crawl across the walls while oil rigs masquerade as gallows, stranglers of Colombia’s natural resources and celebrated biodiversity, and additional agents of displacement for humans as well as animals.

CRISP

CRISP

DSC_0232

DSC_0140

DJ Lu

DJ Lu

The homeless are memorialized as well, with one wall depicting the likeness of a man who sits nearby on his longtime home corner. Another homeless citizen is shown with a bag over his head, symbolizing the anonymity of this population.

DSC_0201

Praxis

The FARC and land mines. Pollution and GMO crops. A tour of Bogota’s street art scene provides a basic education in Colombian politics, as well as its social, art, and literary history.

DSC_0209

But some work is just for the fun and beauty of it; pitted walls are spruced up in bright colors and designs, and bright flora and fauna grow and live in the gritty old streets of La Candelaria.

DSC_0276

IMG_2603

Prominent artists include Rodez, Pez, DJ Lu, CRISP, Guache, GHB, Praxis, Stinkfish, and APC (a collective started by Stinkfish), among many others. A few samples:

RODEZ

DSC_0121

IMG_2612

PEZ

DSC_0153

STINKFISH

DSC_0115

DSC_0236

DJ Lu

DSC_0248

DSC_0149
DJ Lu
DJ Lu
DSC_0159
IMG_2597
DSC_0157
DSC_0137

DSC_0241

CRISP

DSC_0186

DSC_0204
DSC_0206
DSC_0207

IMG_2608

GUACHE

IMG_2595

I could post hundreds of other photos, but I’ll close with just two more of my favorites:

IMG_2622

Version 2

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

2015 Goes Out with a … Whimper

31 Thursday Dec 2015

Posted by lexklein in Colombia, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Russia, Travel - General

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

Colombia, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Jordan, Lennon Wall, Mexico, Prague, Russia, travel sickness

The sun is going down on a great year of travel, but the latest trip – Colombia in this final week of the year – has ended with five sick people. Was it the eggs we ate yesterday morning? The ceviche the night before? A parasite in the tap water? No matter – we are all down for the count to various degrees, and my Colombia posts will have to wait for the New Year.

IMG_2431

I managed to get my feet out the door to seven other countries this year, and ranged far and wide throughout the U.S. as well. I started off in the freezing cold with Russia, Estonia, and Finland in January, warmed up in Israel, Jordan, and Mexico during the summer, and finished 2015 broiling under the Colombian sun in high-altitude Bogotá and steamy Cartagena. It was a perfect mix of trips – some solo jaunts, various two-person combos, and a few family gatherings.

Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 5.14.40 PM

My final photo of the year shows a thrill I got this summer when son A and his friends gave a shout out to my blog on the Lennon Wall in Prague. I haven’t been able to find a way to use it, but I love the bright pink background and the five minutes of fame I got before someone no doubt painted over it.

unnamed

Happy trails, voyages, or whatever you might wish for in 2016!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...
Follow One Foot Out the Door on WordPress.com


I’m a restless, world-wandering, language-loving, book-devouring traveler trying to straddle the threshold between a traditional, stable family life and a free-spirited, irresistible urge to roam. I’m sure I won’t have a travel story every time I add to this blog, but I’ve got a lot! I’m a pretty happy camper (literally), but there is some angst as well as excitement in always having one foot out the door. Come along for the trip as I take the second step …

WHERE I’M GOING

Southeast Asia – March 2023

Dolomites, Italy – July 2023

France – September 2023

 

Follow me on Instagram, too!

Today we’re off to Marsaxlokk, a small, traditional fishing village in Malta. These brightly painted Maltese boats are called “luzzus,” and I couldn’t get enough of them!
Day 1 in Malta is all water and walls.
FINALLY made it out of the U.S. for the first time in 2 years. 😀🌴☀️
Road trip final stop: Grand Teton National Park. We may have saved the best for last. The Tetons startled us every single time we rounded a bend and saw them jutting up from the sagebrush. The park gave us these amazing peaks, wildflowers, horses, huge skies filled with every kind of cloud, and our own cozy little national park cabin. We’ll be back here for sure! #grandtetonnationalpark #tetons #wyoming #roadtrip #hiking #horses #cabins
Road trip stop 8: Yellowstone National Park. The north and northeast sections blew me away - full of wildlife and lemon-lime fields under dreamy skies. The western parts had their moments; the geothermal features were better than expected, but the traffic even worse than anticipated. All of the crowds were for Old Faithful, probably my last-place pick for things to see in the park. #yellowstonenationalpark #montana #wyoming #roadtrip #wideopenspaces #nationalparks #oldfaithful
Road trip stop 7: Beartooth Highway - deserving of a post all of its own. We drove east out of Bozeman, over two hours out of our way, to catch the start of the Beartooth Highway in Red Lodge, MT, and drive its full length back west to arrive at Yellowstone’s NE entrance. This exhilarating, eye-popping road covers 68 miles of US Route 212 from Red Lodge to Cooke City/Silver Gate and crosses Beartooth Pass at almost 11,000 feet. Worth the wide detour and the zillions of photo stops along the way … at least I thought so! #beartoothhighway #beartoothpass #montana #yellowstonenationalpark #roadtrip #detour

Recent Posts

  • Maltese Memories
  • Taking a Leap
  • On Repeat
  • On the Road Again
  • Road Trip to the Border

WHERE I’VE BEEN

  • Argentina (9)
  • Australia (2)
  • Austria (4)
  • Belgium (1)
  • Bhutan (2)
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina (4)
  • Canada (2)
  • Chile (6)
  • China (7)
  • Colombia (3)
  • Costa Rica (4)
  • Croatia (6)
  • Cuba (3)
  • Czech Republic (1)
  • Ecuador (2)
  • England (1)
  • Estonia (3)
  • Finland (2)
  • France (8)
  • Germany (3)
  • Ghana (5)
  • Greece (9)
  • Guatemala (2)
  • Himalayas (11)
  • Hungary (1)
  • Iceland (8)
  • Ireland (4)
  • Israel (4)
  • Italy (6)
  • Jordan (4)
  • Madagascar (2)
  • Malta (1)
  • Mexico (6)
  • Mind Travels (7)
  • Mongolia (9)
  • Montenegro (1)
  • Nepal (13)
  • Netherlands (1)
  • New Zealand (3)
  • Nicaragua (1)
  • NORTH AMERICA (1)
  • Norway (1)
  • Peru (8)
  • Photos, Just Photos from All Over (21)
  • Poland (4)
  • Russia (3)
  • Slovakia (5)
  • Slovenia (7)
  • South Africa (2)
  • South Korea (1)
  • Spain (2)
  • Switzerland (1)
  • Tanzania (6)
  • Thailand (1)
  • Tibet (18)
  • Travel – General (127)
  • Turkey (6)
  • UAE (1)
  • United States (37)

Archives

Follow me on Instagram too!

Today we’re off to Marsaxlokk, a small, traditional fishing village in Malta. These brightly painted Maltese boats are called “luzzus,” and I couldn’t get enough of them!
Day 1 in Malta is all water and walls.
FINALLY made it out of the U.S. for the first time in 2 years. 😀🌴☀️
Road trip final stop: Grand Teton National Park. We may have saved the best for last. The Tetons startled us every single time we rounded a bend and saw them jutting up from the sagebrush. The park gave us these amazing peaks, wildflowers, horses, huge skies filled with every kind of cloud, and our own cozy little national park cabin. We’ll be back here for sure! #grandtetonnationalpark #tetons #wyoming #roadtrip #hiking #horses #cabins

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • One Foot Out the Door
    • Join 978 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • One Foot Out the Door
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: