A castle, a coincidence, and a day at the beach.

Highlights from the past few days:
1. We visited the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, a sixteenth century fortress just outside the old city of Cartagena. The cool part is, there are all these underground tunnels connecting the various parts of the fortress, and they´re dark and mysterious and if you whisper while standing in one part it echoes through the whole tunnel and you can hear it everywhere. Oh, and while we were there a massive thunderstorm was going on outside. It felt like the Goonies. Unfortunately, dark narrow passageways don´t make for brilliant photographs, so this is one I took on top of the castle walls instead. That´s the Colombian flag.
2. Randomly, my friend Dave (actually, my friend Mandy´s former housemate´s brother´s housemate - we´re close) and his girlfriend Shannon were in town from Oakland. They´re here visiting the orphanage where Dave was adopted when he was three weeks old. We had a great time hanging out with them and hope to see them again over the weekend. I love that the world is so big, and yet somehow so small.
3. We spent most of yesterday on a boat trip out to the most beautiful beach in Cartagena. It´s called Playa Blanca, and it really is amazing. I could describe it in detail, but you know what they say about pictures...


The annoying thing about Playa Blanca is, it´s home to a literal swarm of people trying to sell you things. Interesting things - massages, fresh coconuts with the tops sliced off and a healthy shot of rum poured in, jewelry made of shells and beads, fresh-steamed shrimp, a dozen for two dollars - but they don´t leave you alone, especially if one of the people you are with keeps buying everything anyone puts in front of him. I found that laying flat on my towel and closing my eyes was the best way to avoid being hassled. But it really was a beautiful beach...