Today is a big day for Colombia. The national football team is playing their quarter finals of the Copa America against Chile, a strong team. If they win they will play their semi-final, if they loose, it is over for them. Lot of pressure. But before we explored the beautiful old city of Cartagena
This morning, before the game, we decided with Ryan, Michael and Marina, to explore the old city center of Cartagena. Until now we haven't really seen the authentic part of the city. In order to admire the graffitis and the colorful streets, we walked towards the lowest part of the city center, the Gentsemani neighborhood.
The best way to visit the Getsemani area, is to get lost in the streets. You will find a lot of art galleries, street graffitis and artists, sculptures, etc. It was really different from what we have seen before of the city, and it gave us a totally different perspective of the city. It is also way cheaper than the area we are staying. Here under few shots of what you can see in the streets. Enjoy !
There is a famous street the locals told us about, called the umbrella street. It is the narrowest street in the old city of Cartagena, above which are hanged a hundred of multicolor umbrellas. We decided to look after this street. On the way we have seen a lot of beautiful and authentic buildings, which really brought us into the Caribbean spirit.
After this nice afternoon, it was time for us to get ready for the football game: Colombia against Chile for a spot in the semi finals of the Copa America. A big game. For this we wanted to go to this fan zone in the Cafe Del Mar, a bar restaurant located on the walls of the old city. We asked the reception if we had to make a reservation for a table because we were quite a lot of people, they told us we should be fine, just walk there ... Obviously they were wrong. The fan zone was already crowded, an hour before the kick off.
Quickly we had to find another bar where to watch the game, it was impossible to miss it. We started running in the streets of Cartagena, trying to find a table for 6 people, mission quasi-impossible. On the main plaza, a guy came to us and told us he had a rooftop bar with big screens and a table for 6. No hesitations we went there and got the table. It was a nice bar, above the main plaza, and from which we could see most of the old city and the harbor. Even though the prices were high, because of the location I guess, we took a bottle of rhum for the second half.
The game was really tied and we started to feel the pressure. Chile scored twice, but both goals were cancels thanks to the VAR (replay) which noticed two off-sides. Colombia cannot be that lucky, the odds are in their favor they will win.
It is the final whistle, even after the extra time, the two teams were not able to take the lead. It is time for penalties shoutout. Players after players, they all scored. But on the 5th penalty, a Colombian defender shot .. outside the post. If Chile scores, they are qualified for the semi finals, and it is was happened. Around me I could see people holding their face in their hands, crying, screaming. It was a disaster: Colombia is out of the competition.
Even if they lost, the party was still going in the city, we ended up in Selina's hostel, a famous hostel brand here in Latin America, with a nice rooftop bar and music. The party was crazy and helped us forgetting about the game and enjoying our last night in Cartagena.
