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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 3, 2022 17:13:36 GMT
Thanks for including a gallery of the wall art, which is lovely, often very cheerful, and beautifully executed. I like all of the examples, but am crazy about the domino player.
That variety of hats is most interesting, especially in the way that different groups can be identified by their headwear.
Are you & Mrs M souvenir buyers?
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 3, 2022 19:01:41 GMT
The short answer to that is no. One main reason is moving regularly from country to country and at least trying to pay lip service to not accumulating too much "stuff". We do tend to get a fridge magnet though from wherever we go. Any mementos we do have are kept in Spain, but it's getting the thing there in the first place that makes it sometimes not worth it.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 4, 2022 14:06:08 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 4, 2022 14:33:06 GMT
Your hotel looks excellent. Will you reveal the price?
As for the guy on the ground, Colombia unfortunately remains famous for its drug problem.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 4, 2022 15:28:39 GMT
Mark, Santa Marta is a place I could easily holiday in. I love love those stark painted buildings. All the various colours are so pretty. You struck it good when you moved to this hotel. I can only mark them down a teeny weeny titch for not having bedside carpets next to your big sprawling four poster. Bare floors are easy to clean but any speck of dust or dirt sticks to your bare feet. All my BnB rooms have a nice rug next to the bed on both sides....but that's just fussy ol' me!
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Post by bjd on Apr 4, 2022 18:13:32 GMT
As for the guy on the ground, Colombia unfortunately remains famous for its drug problem. Probably known more for exporting drugs than consuming.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 4, 2022 18:29:06 GMT
The cold tiles are welcome in the heat Tod. The room was booked through Booking.com where I/we get quite a big discount and extras so our room was about 60 euros. It was this hotel - kalihotels.com/casa-de-isabella/The one we had problems with near the Tayrona park should have been about 95 euros a night. It was this - fincabarlovento.com/maloka-2/
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 4, 2022 19:28:54 GMT
Santa Marta is certainly pretty and has a pronounced Caribbean vibe. It looks almost closed up in the daytime pictures, compared with the nighttime scenes. The hotel is lovely and I like the way it seems so nice and cool compared with outside. The plunge pool is an awfully nice touch & you even had lounge beds out there. I am horrified that you dissed the cacti! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melocactus
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Post by lugg on Apr 4, 2022 20:00:32 GMT
You mean swimming in Tayrona? Some places were very dangerous but a kilometre or two further the water was quite benign. yes ... The street art is so colourful. Really nice hotel - did you use the plunge pool ?
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 4, 2022 20:46:18 GMT
A couple of times. A bit cold thought the water was. I'd warm up soon enough in the sun though.
So that's what the cact/i/uses were. I've no idea about them.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 6, 2022 12:20:31 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Apr 6, 2022 13:24:21 GMT
What a serene place. Those palms reaching for the sky must be at least 100 yrs old.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 6, 2022 13:36:10 GMT
It was serene, yes. Remind me when I go again to cut one down and count the rings.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 6, 2022 16:01:08 GMT
It looks like an excellent place. It's a shame to die there.
Now I'm wondering if palm trees even have rings.
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Post by mickthecactus on Apr 6, 2022 16:34:37 GMT
Only when they get married.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 7, 2022 5:04:49 GMT
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Post by bjd on Apr 7, 2022 7:10:28 GMT
To be fair to Senor Bolivar, we got to his finca less than half an hour before closing time and only ran through the house. If we had had time to visit the gardens, I would have been more complimentary.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 7, 2022 8:59:22 GMT
The gardens were pretty good though a bit unkempt. A lot more could have been done with them.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 7, 2022 11:47:20 GMT
Now I'm wondering if palm trees even have rings. Yes they do but I tthink they are the rings of each fresh output of leaves or fruit - Not an annual ring. Go back and look at the photos of the palms and you will see what I mean. These are my 100+ years old palms at the back of our house. They are two palms planted either side of a fishpond by the original owner of the property, then sub-divided around 1978 or before, and purchaed by us in 1980 when we started building this house. When I saw the palms I could not bring myself to have them simply chopped down. I got Mr.Tod to build around the base of the palms to retain the soil. They never flinched!
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 7, 2022 16:44:22 GMT
The Bolivar shrine/monument/park is beautiful and seems such a refreshingly peaceful place. I really like how the mural is done is such subtle colors that it politely fades into the background when seen from afar, but is perfectly understandable as a sequential history when seen up close. Your photos give such a nice overview of the whole place.
Lovely ending shots of Sta. Marta -- love the avenue of palms & the sun setting over the water. That airport is beautiful!
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 7, 2022 17:06:42 GMT
There looked like a few people with their bags passing time on the beach until nearer their flight time.
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Post by tod2 on Apr 8, 2022 7:12:09 GMT
love the avenue of palms & the sun setting over the water. Yes indeed - that is a terrific shot Mark - Kerouac - Have a look at the palm tree nearest the camera . You can distinctly see rings around the trunk. They are too close to be years I think.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 9, 2022 13:01:33 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Apr 9, 2022 15:57:54 GMT
Mark to say I'm shocked or left for words is about it concerning the Underground/metro line is a big shock to me. It makes me angy to think that South Africa with all its riches has not progressed since the apartheid era ended or even before that. What's wrong with the rulers of our country? Why are we so very very backward in our transport system. No real buses to speak of, the railroad system dead, and everyone taking a taxi/Uber to work to be on time. I'm sad when I see other countries way ahead even with huge problems.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 9, 2022 16:52:30 GMT
There is quite an extensive public transport system that though crowded, seems to work well. The authorities came up with a plan in the nineties to try and solve the problem of mobility for jobs and to allow easier travel due to the expanding city. Best if I quote this -
"Medellín and its Metropolitan Area had to face the appearance of cartels during the 1970s, which produced serious problems of urban violence exacerbated by speedy urban growth and slow answers to the needs of the surrounding communities. The city grew due to big waves of migrants coming from the Colombian countryside looking for refuge from internal political conflict. This background explains why the young city would face urban violence with the same intensity as large metropolitan areas such as New York City, Mexico City or Rio de Janeiro and why the city had to create urban projects in answer to its conflicts and growth. The Medellín Metro was created not only as a massive urban transport solution for the working class residents of the city, but also as an important cultural symbol that would help develop marginalized sectors. The Metro would change the concept of public space in a city built for business and factories that had the systematic issue of lacking space for things like tourism."
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 9, 2022 17:01:30 GMT
One thing that has always impressed me in images of Medellin is the network of escalators climbing the hills, which were purposely built in the poor parts of the city and which helped to reduce the crime rate enormously.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 10, 2022 4:50:50 GMT
Yes, amazing things. Didn't go to see them this time though.
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 10, 2022 4:53:26 GMT
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Post by onlyMark on Apr 10, 2022 4:55:49 GMT
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Post by bjd on Apr 10, 2022 7:39:04 GMT
Great photos, Mark. They really give an idea of what the city is like, unlike simply pictures of monuments. Some of those tree-shaded streets look very pleasant.
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