On the day we arrived in Cartagena, the Nieuw Amsterdam also came into port. All the passengers on the Amsterdam had a chance to sign up for a tour of the new ship. David and I didn't sign up because we had a tour booked that would have meant we couldn't go at the times indicated. Unfortunately, our tour got cancelled, but too late to sign up to tour the Nieuw Amsterdam (bummer!). Friends who did tour said it was an awesome ship, although really much larger than we like to sail on.

Since our tour was cancelled, we decided just to walk around the city. Fortunately for us, that is really easy in Cartagena: just leave the ship and walk across the pier to the city -- no bus rides or waiting. There is a small nautical museum there that has a very old submarine in front -- it's hard to see how more than one or two people could have sailed in it.

The city has lots of beautiful old buildings, cobblestone streets, and an archaeological site: an ancient Roman amphitheatre smack in the middle of town. We walked around a bit trying to figure out how to get in to see it, and finally found a small museum that is the entrance. The museum has exhibits of some of the more interesting finds, and explanations of the history of the project.

After visiting the amphitheatre, we walked around a bit and then sat down at an outdoor cafe for a beer and a snack. We shared our table with a couple from the Nieuw Amsterdam and chatted with them about the ship and how they liked it. They were very enthusiastic. I still think it's a bit big for us.

An interesting thing about Cartagena is the statues they have scattered around town. Near the port there is a soldier sitting on a bench (see the stewards taking pictures with him). Another group showed a Red Cross nurse from World War I with some children. Very realistic statues, almost like real people had been turned to stone. I find Cartagena to be a very interesting, beautiful city and would like to return some time.