I should say a few words about the "Festival Camp," which was about a 45-minute walk inland from the Port where the parades originated.
The Camp was a horseshoe-shaped street area with two entrances, one for the Carthaginian street and one for the Roman one. The two streets merged amicably at the base of the horseshoe. The were mostly a big food mall, whose temporary restaurants were appropriately themed for each street. The food was inexpensive and excellent, as it was everywhere we tried in Cartagena. There was also a Roman "village" to one side, with lots of tourist goodies for sale.
Carthage Street:
Rome Street:
On Saturday we visted the aforementioned Castle and made a feathered friend.
After lunch, we took a boat tour around the coast. This is the view of the Port from out in the bay.
We had a late dinner at the Festival Camp on the Carthaginian street. Meanwhile, the third parade, The Grand General Parade of Troops and Legions, had commenced at the Port.
Bless the Cartagenans. There was a Thursday evening parade seeing Hannibal off to the Alps. Then a Friday Victory Parade. The parades were huge, with at least many hundreds of participants, perhap more. Each parade involved a slow walk over something like three miles from the Port to the Camp. There was much drumming, marching, and even fire acrobatics, the whole time. It must have been exhausting. But they were ready and full of energy for the final Saturday night parade. We caught the beginning of its arrival at the Camp as we were heading back to our accommodation.
Sunday had no day festival events, so we made it a day at the beach with lunch. The lovely Cala Cortina beach is a four kilometer taxi ride from the Port.
Sunday evening we had dinner again at the Camp. Then we attended the finale, the Extinguishing of the Sacred Fire, followed by fireworks.
The speeches went on for a bit, so we were pretty sure the sacred flame had already extinguished itself. But it was good ceremony nonetheless.
VIVA LOS CARTHAGENESES Y LOS ROMANOS!
VIVA!!
VIVA LA CARTAGENA!
VIVA!!
In our experience, Cartagena is a beautiful, safe, and friendly city. Highly recommended.
Previous posts in the series are here, here, here, here, and here.
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