Well, of course it feels Caribbean, it’s on the Caribbean Sea.  Der.  The heart and soul of Cartagena lies within the walls of the old town. Las Murallas were built in the 1600s after an attack by Francis Drake to protect old Cartagena from enemies.  I enjoyed the art of the wander in the old town, just strolling down windy narrow cobblestone streets and taking it all in.

To get a feel for the city yourself take a look at this:

Cartagena Video Highlight Reel

(click HD to see full video)

Cartagena, Colombia Travel Video from Lisa Lubin on Vimeo.

With Egypt in the news, I wanted to share some photos of friendly faces I encountered there during my visit there in January 2009.

To bring you up to speed on recent events:

• Tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
• Protests started weeks after similar protests in Tunisia which caused their president to flee the country
• In 1979, Egypt was the first Arab nation to sign a peace treaty with Israel cementing its relationship with the U.S.
• Egypt has received annual aid from the U.S. averaging around $2 billion since.
• The U.S. Embassy in Cairo is now closed indefinitely