We spent quite a few days and evenings enjoying �old� Cartagena, more commonly known today as the Walled City or El Centro. It was quite beautiful with its Spanish colonial architecture, plazas, narrow streets, and striking sculptures. In the evening the old city became quite magical and beautiful with its many towers lit. Often in the late afternoon and evening horse-drawn carriages could be seen traveling the old streets. Many enjoyable evenings were spent eating at some of the restaurants in the old city, many with exquisite ambiance and cuisine.
Unfortunately, an event did occur our first few days in Cartagena that affected our visit. We had let our guard down as we were walking up on the wall our first afternoon in the Walled City. Mary trailed behind Phil when a man sneaked up behind her and wrestled her for her purse. Because of his strength, he grabbed the purse almost immediately. Mary pursued him screaming for help at the top of her lungs. As the purse-snatcher had to get off the wall using the only available staircase, he suddenly dropped the purse in front of a few employees at a local restaurant before fleeing. We can only imagine that people must have been running up the staircase at the same time and he felt trapped. Since Mary had fallen and scraped her knee while chasing the man, the restaurant employee sat her down while he cleaned the wound. Later at a bookstore, Mary�s wound was cleaned again just to make sure there was no infection. It was as if all the people of Cartagena had felt personally assaulted by this man�s action and wanted to help make it right. It was a great ending to what could have been a horrible memory. Plus, it was wonderful to have the purse back as our camera was inside.
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