Friday, June 28, 2013

Colombian Jewelry!! & Local Paper News

 

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I know—a strange mix of subjects on this Friday morning.

Finally, my necklace that we bought in Cartagena! It's turquoise and a stone similar to lapis lazuli. The ornament is a replica of a pre-Colombian nose ring worn by the native people. It is removable so I could wear the nose piece with another necklace if I wanted to. The gold beads intermixed with the stones are also indicative of what the natives would have made and worn. We saw examples of these nose rings in the gold museum first, then when walking around the town we saw this in a gallery window. Without our trip to the museum I would never have known what it was.

Funny, I am not a huge fan of turquoise having been around it so much in the west, but this particular piece has extraordinary color. I am used to the more faded-out turquoise. I tried several ways of photographing it but went with flash since it showed the true color. Here's a close-up of the ornament.

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What do you think? My feelings won't be hurt if you don't like it. But I LOVE it!!

Our local paper came in the mail yesterday, and on the front cover was something very sad. Do you remember these photos of the wing-walker at the air show last year? On Saturday while performing at an air show in Dayton, Ohio, she and her pilot both died when their plane crashed doing a stunt. So sad. There is a video here of the crash and you can see that thankfully they probably never knew what happened. The video is pretty graphic, so be forewarned. Our local air show in August won't be the same without her daredevil act. 

On a happier note, the paper also contained a surprise for me. If you remember, I told you that the paper published my photo of the cicada two weeks ago. I read the front page stories and the paper about halfway through when it first came and then put the paper aside. When Rick came home I was thumbing through it again and came across another photo of  mine that I had submitted of the cicada in the pool. Take a look! Not only did I get my name as a credit on the photo, but they named me again underneath! I was thrilled and very much surprised. Maybe they just needed fillers! But still …

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I'm glad to report that I am feeling much better all of a sudden. I did go to the doctor the other day and my "vague symptoms" were inconclusive. I do think that she figured out my cough problem: post nasal drip. Since I've been shooting steroidal Nasonex up my nose for two days now, I am coughing a lot less. She said it might all have been related to allergies. Who knew? Either way, I am feeling more energetic and more like myself. 

We finally got a good old-fashioned thunderstorm last night. The only bad part was that it messed up our plans to skinny-dip for the first time this year as the pool was up to 82 lovely degrees. Maybe tonight …

So with that mishmash of topics I think I've said enough for today!

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Cartagena: Mona Lisa

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I seem to be having a hard time getting started with my Cartagena posts, so I decided to start with something fun: the Mona Lisa Pub. Maybe they should have called it the Grumpy Lisa Pub. We passed this establishment several times but never found it open. No hours were posted either.

 

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 Mona Lisa featured in street art for sale as well. I'm really not sure if that's her in a state of undress or not. 

 

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So it would seem they have a tiny fascination for Mona. Who knows why!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Who Flipped the Switch to SUMMER?!

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It would seem that the minute the calendar turned over the first day of summer, summer really began this year. We've had very warm, humid days and the pool is warming up nicely. Yesterday we spent the entire day in and around the pool. The water temperature is at a very refreshing 78 degrees; a bit chilly when you first get in but it feels wonderful once you are wet. You never know about the weather so we tend to take full advantage of good pool days when they come around. Although, this week is supposed to very hot and humid so maybe, just maybe, it will be night time skinny-dipping very soon.

I am out of shape for swimming and just managed 10 lengths. When I am used to it I normally do 30. So, I have some catching up to do. If I do 10 lengths every day I should be up to form pretty fast.

Our new cabana is lovely. With the palms, the area rug and new furniture inside, a fan that sprays cold water, it's our own little oasis. We feel like we are on vacation at a cushy resort. I think the cabana looks like something out of Arabian Nights, so we decided to call is it our chic sheik shack! Funny, eh?

The cicadas are still here but they are on the wane. We see them more now as they fly by or lie spent and dying on the grass and decks. It's sad. I keep  turning them over and they keep flipping themselves on their back again to kick at the air. I am so used to the background noise by now that it will be strange when we longer hear them. The local newspaper did print my cicada photo (this one) and gave it an inside front page spread. I was thrilled! This makes the third photo of mine to make it into the paper.

The day lilies are just now starting to bloom by the pool. We have plenty of dragonflies and even a few damsel flies which we've never seen around the pool before. The fireflies are finally showing up in greater numbers. We haven't seen as many this year it seems, but maybe they just needed a little warmth too to get them started. We sat outside last night by the pool and watched two bats swooping overhead. We used to have many more before the white nose fungus hit them so hard, so it's nice to even just see two and know that the disease didn't take them all.

I know this post isn't about Cartagena, but at least it's something! I am still sorting through the photos and trying to decide which ones to toss and which ones to feature on the blog. Don't despair, those vacation posts are coming!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Sorry to Disappoint

 

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I'm sorry, I really meant to blog today. However, I am not feeling the best and am seriously hoping that my strep is not coming back to haunt me. I was about 85% when I went to Cartagena, and felt pretty good while there, but now? Not so much.  My throat doesn't feel right and I have a funny cough. Stay tuned. I have lots of pics to share for those of you out there still interested!

 

Photo: A statue in the stairwell of our hotel. She spoke to me.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Be Careful ...

Lifebegins

My photo with the words of someone else.

I saw this on a marquee for a dance studio in Wanaque as we were on our way to the airport last week. I thought it very apropos. 

Be careful …

We heard that over and over again when we told people we were going to Cartagena, Colombia. Some people reminded me of the movie Romancing the Stone which I guess was supposedly shot there. I need to watch it again since I don't remember that at all. Friends said be careful. My neighbor said be careful. The beautiful Colombian woman that was sitting next to me at the gate in Miama awaiting clearance from the thunderstorms said be careful after she had asked where we were going. I was definitely starting to get a bit paranoid. But, I reminded myself, none of those people except for the Colombian woman had actually ever been there before. They were going on what they assumed it was like.

It didn't help much either when I came downstairs on that first day and Paulina (the wife that led our morning tour) took one look at my "fancy" camera around my neck and suggested that I take something to keep the camera in and only take it out while actually taking photos. My heart sunk. Was it really that dangerous to go out? After spending four hours walking around the Centro on our little tour I was feeling much more comfortable. I didn't see anything that caused me to be fearful. Watchful, yes. Fearful, no. 

There were plenty of hawkers selling cheap goods and some of them didn't take no for an answer. Some needed to be told multiple times but I never felt threatened. There were always plenty of other people around on the streets.

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Plaza Santo Domingo


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The famous Botero sculpture in the Plaza Santo Domingo "La Gordita"

By Friday I was feeling confident enough to go out on my own. Armed with my camera bag, map, and kleenex for mopping the sweat from my brow I headed out to explore like a bold conquistador. I learned my way around the narrow streets and visited an interesting museum showcasing gold jewelry from as long ago as 500 b.c. that I would later take Rick to. The museum is also why I came back with one of the most gorgeous pieces of jewelry I have ever owned. (More on that later if you are interested. Do you want to see??)

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The clock tower on the city walls.

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Looking through the wall.

 We stayed within the old walls of the city and didn't venture out into "modern" Cartagena except to visit the fort San Felipe de Barajas. Things are decidedly rougher outside the walls and less clean. With so much beauty to be seen in old Centro we saw no real reason to venture out.

Our weather was wonderful. The most rain we had was on the day we arrived. Other than that we had a few sprinkles here and there and a few rumbles of thunder. My fears of tropical downpours like we had witnessed in Panama never materialized.

The food was superb, the people welcoming even though English was not widely spoken. I learned a few new words and realized that I can do pretty well reading a menu in Spanish. The wine was also good since Colombia taps into the wines from Chile and Argentina. We mostly ate fish—lots of camarón (shrimp) and ceviche. And, here is my pulpo (octopus). I know it looks daunting but it tasted like firm chicken. Not chewy at all and grilled to perfection. Delicioso!

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It was a great trip and I'm so very glad that I went. Life truly does begin at the edge of your comfort zone. So next time you're going to try the octopus, right?

Stay tuned, more to come on our trip!

About

Welcome, I'm Lynne. You know me better as a 'new' Jersey Girl. But now I've moved once again, this time to North Carolina. Here I write about my thoughts, good food, and of course, dogs.

© 2006-2023 Lynne Robinson All photography and text on this blog is copyright. For use or reproduction please ask me first.

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