The 11:11 Synchros in Cartagena, Colombia

Sunset from the top of Cartagena’s wall

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We ran across an interesting synchro involving 11s while we were in Colombia.

We were in Cartagena, a city on the country’s northwestern coast. We were visiting a couple of the museums – the Museo de Oro (museum of gold) and El Palacio de la Inquisicion (Palace of the Inquisition, which is just like it sounds, Salem witch stuff transported to South America). I know I snapped a photo of a plaque with some historical stuff on it, but I can’t find the picture. I’m not sure in which museum I saw the plaque. But here’s the history and the synchro:

At 11 a.m. on the morning of 11/11/1811, Cartagena became the second city in South America to declare its independence from Spain. This independence came after a decade of repeated sieges from Spain, and won Cartagena the title of “The Heroic City.”

And there is something truly heroic about this city, the oldest part of it completely encased within a wall. Inside that wall, Colonial buildings are everywhere and parts of it – the narrow roads, incredible street art, the music and shops – remind me of Havana. But in Havana, you can time travel as you walk the streets, moving from Colonial times to the late 1950s, early 1960s, when the U,S, embargo began. In Cartagena, time stopped somewhere in the 1600s and pop culture grew up around it.

It seems that everyone in this city, even kids, has a cell phone. The Internet is far better than anything in Cuba and WiFi can be found in most restaurants and cafes. But it feels like an odd dichotomy to walk through the city’s old, narrow street and see so many people scrolling through  their phones.

We used airbnb throughout our Colombian trip. Our first night, spent in Cartagena, we stayed in a centrally located spot in the Getsamania neighborhood inside the wall. We basically had a room (with AC, important in this very hot city!) but the apartment itself was open and comfortable, with a small pool.

It was  close to shops, cafes, restaurants, plazas. Everywhere, there was incredible street art, which gives you some idea of the artistic heart of this city.

And the magical sky at dusk was incredible!

The next day, we traveled to Minca, a village in the mountains, where we stayed for 3 glorious days. Minca turned out to be the gem on this trip. Stay tuned!