A Cartagena Christmas

Waking up on Christmas Day in Cartagena was more than a little odd. It was humid and hot and we were not quite refreshed from our boat trip from hell, but feeling more human. Human enough to feel completely out of sorts.

My exhausted, drained boy opened his sleepy eyes and looked at me. I smiled and said "Merry Christmas love bug", I worried that Christmas being so different after such an intense boat trip might send him into an "I hate Colombia" fixation. He frowned slightly and rolled over, under his breath saying 'Merry Christmas' back. My husband, Jesse, adorable as ever and NOT a Christmas fan, sat up in bed and excitedly said "hey, looks like Santa came!". Clearly our sour, sarcastic, brilliant 11 year old child does not believe in Santa, but he does believe in celebration and gifts. Our son's eyes opened big and wide and he popped out of bed, ran over to the sad set-up on the table we'd created and delighted in reading the "paper gifts" I'd written out. He was so elated, and probably as relieved that we had done something, as I was to see a smile on his face.

Despite feeling like Hemingway's book 'Old Man and The Sea', completely beat down, we dragged ourselves out of the cool, comfortable hotel into the morning heat of the day and into the charming area of old town Cartagena. The beauty of the city was alluring and the sleepy version we saw on Christmas Day was romantic and even poetic. We meandered the tiny cobblestone streets in awe. The humid, soft sunlight bathed us in a nurturing lullaby that we so desperately needed after the boat. The city seduced us instantly.

We rested back at the hotel before dinner, soothed by the whir of the air conditioning while the hot midday sun roared outside. Snuggled close to my son, Jesse on the other side, we fell asleep. When we awoke, the night sounds of Cartagena teased us out into a completely different world than the one that greeted us that morning. Music and laughter filled the streets and a magical atmosphere danced around us. We wondered into a restaurant just a few doors down from our hotel that served fabulous food and decent wine (thank you Santa!). Heat radiated off the walls and streets and mixed with a cool breeze. The air was rich with tropical flowers and Cuban cigars and everything twinkled in beautiful Christmas lights. This was definitely unlike any other Christmas we have ever had, but the exotic nature of it tingled the senses and I soaked in every moment.

*We gave a special cheers over dinner to an amazing woman we had learned we had lost on Christmas Eve, much too soon. She loved travel and would have loved the adventure we were having. She was a truly special person and will be greatly missed.

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com