We started this morning in Cartagena with a walk in the nearby Getsemani neighborhood. It's a short walk from old town, so not far from our hotel. Our local guide, Vicky, said this used to be an unsafe drug and sex area. The government tried unsuccessfully for years to get people to leave the area so they could fix it up. Finally, when the area was designated as a UNESCO Heritage area, people had to leave or clean up their houses. Some, of course, couldn't afford to fix up their places.

Today, this area is safe and touristy. We walked the area and even got to go inside a couple of houses. The houses seemed small from the outside, but that's because they are very narrow, but they are also very deep, so their size is deceptive. I liked the insides of the houses we visited.

Historically, this was a working-class neighborhood where the city's enslaved and free-Black communities lived. In more recent times, it has become a creative street art area, and a nightlife hub with hostels, rooftop bars, boutique hotels and lots of restaurants.

The area is still mostly populated by local people. We saw a walking fruit stand vendor who pushed his cart from customer's door to customer's door. We saw kids playing in the streets. We saw street artists painting on the sidewalks. We saw a wide mix of local people here.

For all our local guide told us about how old this neighborhood was, none of her words had the same impact as seeing some of the houses, like below.

We walked past Well Square, which was where the people in this neighborhood used to go to get their water from the well in the square. The well is still there but no longer in use. You can also see a couple of neighborhood vendors.

The next photo is inside one of the houses that we visited. From the outside, this was a blank, narrow, wall of a house. Inside, it was fantastic. The owner was a very nice woman who was very welcoming to us.

Some streets were like walking in an art gallery.

And some artists were out on the sidewalks working, and were very prolific.

Some of us got into the art scene more than others of us...