Cartagena Colombia

Hello everyone! We've made it safely to Cartagena and have been here a couple of days now. Our first night was spent in a hostel ($25/nt, private room, american cable, internet and very nice). Hostels here aren't like the ones back in the states. We went into several of them to check them out and most of them were very clean and offered all the amenities listed above and cheap. But why stay in a hostel when you can rent an apartment on a daily basis. We walked a good 6 hours looking at apartments and we found this great little apartment literally on the beach and fully furnished for $45/night. Can't beat that. We have a kitchen, living room, bedroom and 2 full baths plus we're on the 5th floor with a balcony that overlooks the ocean and partial glimpse of our pool. O'yes, there's a pool. We're only going to be here another 4 nights but it's nice to spread out rather than hangout in a small one room place. O' get this....The TV in our apartment is HUGE (52" plasma). So far we've walked miles and miles getting to know a little bit about Cartagena. It's very pretty here and not a large city. There's miles of beaches, a colonial feel in some parts while others have towering modern buildings. The people here have been very friendly. In fact, I met this lady, Alicia at the airport while standing in the Customs line and we communicated as best we could. My Spanish is a little different from the Colombian Spanish but no problem. She was so nice. She gave me her phone number and told us to call her if we had any questions about Cartagena or any problems. She said her husband spoke English very well and we could call them anytime. I may surprise her and give her a ring to meet up for dinner. She reminded me of my Aunt Luz. We all know how much I love my Tia Luz! We found they have several casinos in the area. One not too far from our apartment...YIKES! Bob says he'll put a leash on me if I get out of hand. We walked into Rio today to check it out. Their sign is very similar to the Rio sign in Las Vegas. They had table games of Texas Hold'em, Black Jack, Roulette and tons of slot machines. Bob can't get too mad if I play a few hands of Hold'em or Black Jack. Minimum bets start at 5,000 pesos. Which is equivalent to $2.50 USD. I'm having a little hard time dealing with such large numbers. It's crazy. Our grocery bill was 1 Million Pesos.... The exchange rate is $2075 pesos to $1 USD. Bob told me to drop the last 3 zeros and divide by 2 to get close to the USD. So, 5,000 (5 divided by 2). Works for me. Well, I took my first fall today. I'm already sore. I can just imagine how I'm going to feel the next day or 2. I was being nice and move out of the way for a group of ladies walking on the sidewalk. I decided to step up onto a curb and lost my balance. When will I learn...I have no balance. That one hurt. It took me a minute or 5 to get back up. My left ankle and my right calf will be bruised. I tried to break my fall by placing my hand down and that send instant pain to my elbow. But, I guess it could have been worse. I could have easily broken my arm. That's what I get for being nice. At least the ladies I was moving out of the way for stopped to help me and didn't leave till I got up. I'll just take a couple of Naproxyn and a hot shower. If I need to hang out by the pool to take it easy....guess, that's what I'll have to do. We did check into some "tourist" things to do. There's an excursion to a volcano where we can take warm mud baths. They say it's therapeutic. I'd like to do the city tour by bus also. We walk all over but doing that only covers so much area and since we're only here for a few days. That may something for us to consider. There are island tours to do as well for snorkeling but, for some reason Bob & I aren't feeling it. But who knows what tomorrow brings. We'll keep you posted. I'll start posting pictures as soon as I take some. We love you very much. Hope you have a wonderful day. Bonnie & Bob