Today, we went to the Avianca airline bureau down the street. We were going to buy tickets to Bogota there. You see, last night we were going to purchase tickets online and it was a little complicated between the internet being annoying and a certain language barrier rearing its head. The store is conveniently about 2 blocks away. When we arrived they told us that the super cheap $40 tickets were only for buyers on the internet. The lowest price they had was $57. It makes very little sense to me since they probably do it the same way. Fine, we’ll just go back to square one and buy the damn things on the internet. It would have to be later though. After Avianca we walked to the Castillo San Felipe. The Castillo is a castle perched over Cartagena built to protect it from pirates, the British, and the French. Late it protected the Colombians from the Spanish. It worked really well because it was intimidating enough to scare off attackers, it was impregnable with a trained garrison, and the land approach to the hill was through a marsh full of mosquitos carrying Malaria and Yellow Fever. The ways it was built to enhance the defense is awe inspiring. The fact that so many lives have been lost in and around it is haunting. The views of the city from the castle are beautiful. Eating popsicles on the wall we kept lookout for corsairs and admired the high-rises on Boca Grande Island. With the sun beating down upon us we decided it was time for lunch and deserted our post.
Jill picked the Cevcheria. I had a sandwich of shrimp and mozzarella cheese. It wasn’t a sandwich at all. It was a bunch of cheese on shrimp sitting in a lake of brilliant yellow sauce. When we told the waiter I ordered a sandwich he said the bread was underneath. I think, to call something a sandwich it needs to be able to be eaten with hands, but maybe that’s just me. Anyway I ate it with a knife and fork and it was mysteriously delicious. The bread on the bottom was only bread in name. it was more of a doughy tortilla but I kept digging away at it like a crazed gold miner. The cheese and the shrimp were good quality by themselves if an odd experience together. Jill ordered mixed seafood ceviche in sauce with coconut milk. I had a bite and then she emptied the bowl. She even devoured her leftover saltines. The coconut milk took the edge off the tang of the lime salsa just perfectly. The Cevicheria is a good restaurant but the prices are high and its too crowded all due to a certain TV show.
We made our way back to our apartment and Jill tried to buy the plane tickets but the website is not functioning, just our luck. Maybe we’ll end up going back to the Avianca office anyway. Jill is making supper here tonight and I think there is an eggplant involved. It’s nice to be home for now.
