Never never

[I was going to try to explain why I had written this rather crabby post, but I gave up. Posting a photo would likely make things much more apparent. But, it would drive 99% of you away for good. If you really want to see the picture, post a comment or email me.]

Never, never, never, never ever go to the Conde de la Cruz restaurant in Cartagena's walled city. Never. Fantastically overpriced, petite lunch portions even by my standards, and very possibly el pescado mas feo en todo del mundo. I am not kidding. I was very nearly sick, and though I took a photo to scare family members, I literally cannot even look at the photo without running a real risk of losing what little lunch I was served. Poor Gary. Gah!!! I ended up shading my eyes so I could finish my own meal without accidentally glancing over at his. Seriously. Not even the smallest exaggeration here. Gah.

Added to this, our lovely little hotel in the walled city has now been overrun by a newly made set of friends who are more than ready to yak yak yak yak yak at breakfast and by the pool. Pot, meet Kettle. Kettle, this is Pot. Welcome to the other side of the stove. :-D

Okay. SO. Focusing on the positive: gloriously sunny and warm (quite hot, actually, maybe in the 90s? we´ll miss this badly when we leave), lots of atmosphere, and more pockets of good solid comida tipica than bad. Wonderfully, sincerely friendly people. The odd parrot flying by. Bats too - a family favorite.

OOH - and the very best part!! Today while lost, we saw a very tiny momma kitty carrying a super tiny baby kitty through an intersection. She had finally gotten it over and up some steps to a small store, when a boy scooped up the kitten and started off down the street with it, trailing of course a very anxious and meowing momma cat. Having seen some not-good animal interventions in other places, I abandoned Gary on the sidewalk and went after the boy. Ecstatic to report that he was fetching the baby back to its home with the rest of the litter a few doors down. Not sure why momma kitty was moving a baby, maybe something to do with the sweet 4-month old pup who was also resident there. But it felt good to know someone was looking out for kitty(ies), and keeping her out of the busy, crowded, big-foot-trafficked store.

Okay, my rant is complete. Much more light-hearted fare later, if the community laptop is free.