Visiting Colombia with Marcela Restrepo - Cartagena and Tasty Treats!

Today we travel with Marcela Cartagena de Indias, a beautiful Colonial city of Colombia. Marcela shows us some of the local cuisine [I'm very interested in the 'arepa de huevo'] and there is even a toucan! What a brilliant Tuesday! - Jenny x

Cartagena de Indias is a large Caribbean city on the northern coast of Colombia.

It is a modern city with tall modern buildings and hotels but its magic is in the amazing old colonial city. It’s surrounded by walled compounds and castles, which protected it from pirates and corsairs. Unesco lists it as World Heritage Site.

We stayed at a hotel inside the Colonial city, that’s how you should do it! It makes it easy to go for nice walks, wonder around the old thin streets, buying beautiful things from the artisans and watching the Mapalé in the plazas.

Toucan!!

Having that old colonial feel, it is also very sophisticated. It’s packed with beautiful boutique hotels and restaurants. You can find delicious food from Italian and French cuisine, all the way to the best ceviches and tiraditos (Peruvian style). But the best is to eat one of our very own ‘Arepa de Huevo’, typical from the Caribbean region. I found this recipe, though it’s the altitude which makes it fry so nicely over there.

To the left, the arepa de huevo. To the right, something I miss very much, Lulo juice.  This one was nicely decorated with an uchuva.

Kola Roman is a very traditional soft drink from Cartagena. Love the flavour!

Cartagena is a true heritage city, I really hope that anyone that visits South America gets the chance to be there!

Dinner at Vera, the retaurant of the Tcherassi hotel owned by Silvia Tcherassi, an internationally reknowned fashion designer. I loved that green wall in the patio!

Bakery and pastry ‘Mila Vargas’. Getting ready for a ride selling around the city.

- Marcela