SailingKnitter

All those doors along the streets of the old city of Cartagena kept my curiosity humming - what life was behind those portals? Well, finally I actually got to go inside! Whooo hooooooo.

A fellow cruiser has rented a small house (apartment) while their boat is up "on the hard" in the boatyard for extensive repairs after being struck by lightening this summer here. She invited some of us gals over for bridge lessons (I watch, listen, and knit only) and to swim in the pool. First photo is the OTHER SIDE of a Cartagena front door. You can see the much smaller door (about 5'3"tall) within the big door. To the side of the door is the window that faces the street. The windows jut out from the front walls about 12" in a lot of the houses. We were told that they were built this way hundreds of years ago so that the womenfolk could be "safe" in their houses, but still chat with their neighbors.

Here is the view of the downstairs area from the back of the house looking forward. Notice how narrow it is! This is the total width of the apartment!! Also notice that the center of the unit is a courtyard open to the sky! The weather is always warm here so the living spaces are open to catch a breeze off of the Caribbean Sea. I love the broad wood beams that were used to support the 2nd floor.

Up there is a single bedroom and a bathroom separated by a hallway to the side of the opening for the courtyard. Thus, if it is raining, you will get wet dashing from the bedroom to the toilet. On the next level up is the rooftop patio. This is where you can catch the sea breeze, gaze out over the city rooftops and spy on the neighbors who are doing the same thing.


Then go back down the stairs - oh, notice how there are sections of these "floating" concrete stairs without handrails and that you could fall down 3 stories to the laundry room below? I'm terrified of heights when there are no railings, but I made it safely down these this time. Soon it was time to relax with some watermelon slices and wine while playing in the pool.


Isn't this little pool great? It's located in the interior courtyard and is just the right size for cooling off from the heat. I love this little apartment, but the rents are high in this desirable central neighborhood. This unit is about US$1,000 per month. I know, that may not seem like a lot to US city dwellers, but in Latin America, that's top dollar.