¡Feliz Cumpleaños!
Left picture above is me and Tine at start of last night (well 11:30pm) – the first new picture after our friendly Colombian host had managed to wipe the first 10 days images off my memory card! Still it created more space for the night’s pics. On the right is me with the bottle of rum I’d just bought at the night club Andy took us to – which is the middle of God-knows-where, and I can never take you there. Other John bought a bottle of hooch to go with it. We left about 2:45am and as the taxi dropped me off by my hotel I popped into my local for a nightcap. Luckily it was last orders…
Thanks to all who were there (I’d essentially hijacked a Spanish school outing, but everyone sang Feliz Cumpleanos). It really was a special start to the birthday.
Thanks Clare for waking me up just in time for breakfast. It was perfect timing. Really good to talk to you, Mum, Dad and Isis. I’m sure the card will get here eventually.
By some mad quirk of happenstance I never got to go to the mysterious beach at La Boquilla till today and I’m so pleased I waited until my birthday. The people in the picture are Tine, Greg (from Texas) and Delia from Switzerland. Thanks you three for a day that was ‘Just Right’ in every way – you know what I mean.
We have huge and delicious meals in front of us. Bloody rip off at three whole pounds.* We stayed there for about 5 hours and I had a few dips in the Caribbean. Other visitors to Cartagena – please ignore Bocagrande and just head out to this place when you have a day with nothing to do. It’s great. (And Marbella looks pretty good to…)
Bus journey back to town was Just Right as was the fact that when I switched the tv on at the hotel it was to see Rooney’s majestic strike aginst Portsmouth. Shame about the Chelsea result. I’m still having a couple of bob on United, though.
And now I’m just getting ready to go out for the night for the end of the birthday. I don’t care if the night’s a washout, mind. The last 24 hours have been brilliant.
Thanks to all who have texted, emailed, commented and rang. Derm and Col, your message was waiting for me when I got back to hotel. They meant I was out.
What on earth am I going to do next year?
Happy Birthday a day late to Olly – trust you had a great one mate.
* Food and drinks provided by “Compae Pello” – Weddings, Birthdays, Reunions, etc.
Tags: Birthday, Cartagena, Colombia, Travel
JohnnyBoy
December 4th, 2005 at 8:24 pm
Happy Birthday Martin.
I have really enjoyed following your journey. The British slang is a new thang for me. For those of you with any interest in the way us yanks have subverted your language, I can recommend the following website. http://www.urbandictionary.com
All this talk about tea when you were on the boat. Bet you are glad to be in Colombia where they grow, if not actually make, the American answer to the British Tea Tax, coffee. Have you had a good cup of joe in Colombia?
Finally, us yanks are visual types. Posts with pictures help our lazy minds better understand your experience. Keep the pictures coming!
We should all meet on a beach in Colombia for your birthday next year.
–Fred
December 5th, 2005 at 6:17 am
Fred, don’t start that. These arrangements to meet have a habit of snow balling…
December 5th, 2005 at 6:26 am
Thanks very much for that Fred – chuffed to see you’ve been keeping up on it.
Coffee is an interesting topic of course. As ever, most of the decent stuff goes for export leaving the dregs for the locals. A cup of ‘Western style’ strong coffee costs a fortune for local people (about £1 a cup) and only rich Colombians and gringos can be found in the three I’ve seen so far.
The coffee distribution network is mainly on the street and in this area it is the sole concern of indigenous people for some reason that I haven’t got to the bottom of yet.
Well aware of the need for more pictures. I keep meaning to go back to upload and never getting round to it. Will do it soon (before I leave Cartegena).
Next year is currently a very foreign country…
So well done to a man I met on a train for providing that decent and much appreciated comment. Not one from Britain though (although a couple of you have emailed separately – thanks). Anyone would think you had jobs or families or something.
I’m off to be tested on irregular verbs at school.
PS Interesting that Fred is calling me Martin. I could have sworn I was John on the train…
December 5th, 2005 at 6:29 am
And then Angela sneaks one in while I’m writing that! She’s right though Fred – I’ve had a number of itchy feet comments already.
December 5th, 2005 at 10:43 am
The Martin contingent will win through in the end. John indeed.
December 5th, 2005 at 1:57 pm
He’ll always be Lech to me….
December 5th, 2005 at 5:25 pm
gotta be john, or my whole childhood has been a lie….
December 5th, 2005 at 5:44 pm
isn’t it weird that in the modern world john can be sat in some bar in columbia, typing on his laptop, and the words appear almost immediately, here in rainy chester. freaky waves and stuff floating around our heads constantly from satellites, and just generally getting everywhere, whether we like it or not. is there any privacy anymore? or does the internet and cctv mean everything we say, do, or especially write, is noted down and kept to be used by the powers that be. information is power and they seem to always have it to hand. We are entitled to very little, as the us government are showing at this very moment… there may be torture camps in eastern europe but we (and germany, who they keep flying over without permission to take these prisoners there) are not entitled to know cos maybe we wouldn’t approve, and then they might have to compromise ‘the ongoing fight against terrorism’. hmm, thanks george, but maybe we would like to make up our own minds eh? ah the pro’s and cons of modern technology. on the pro side, mp3 players are great, so maybe i should stop worrying and just listen to the smooth dulcet tones of canada’s finest, Paul Anka, singing Smells Like Teen Spirit in a slightly surreal swing style…. he wrote My Way dontcha know…
December 5th, 2005 at 7:12 pm
Good grief! Can anyone tell that I used to be Rob’s nanny?
December 6th, 2005 at 12:02 am
Mr Anka also wrote Amarillo.
December 6th, 2005 at 3:39 am
Martin, you did your job well.
December 6th, 2005 at 5:19 am
Amarillo is the Spanish for Yellow – I can now confidently assert.
December 6th, 2005 at 10:50 am
That’ll be handy when you’re talking your way out of the jungle.
December 6th, 2005 at 12:34 pm
No fags to go with the rum then?
December 6th, 2005 at 1:33 pm
There were actually, but you can’t tell, can you?