Cartagena, Colombia

During last month's cruise I had time for a quick tour through Cartagena's old city, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

City wall with San Pedro Claver Church dome in the background 

I could have spent days exploring the narrow streets lined with brightly painted Spanish colonial buildings,

My favorites had windows and balconies spilling over with bouganinvillea.

Street life in Cartagena's old city is varied and vibrant. We watched children play on the old wall,

visitors pose for photos in front of the Church of Saint Peter (San Pedro) Claver,

dancers perform in the Plaza de Bolivar,

and an artist paint landscapes on glass.

The large number of street vendors shows just how popular a tourist destination the old city is. I found the artistry of the displays striking. This one looks very much like a scrappy quilt.

Bright yellow walls with crisp white trim made a particularly appealing backdrop.

Although I didn't make a single stitch on the quilt pieces I brought along, these bright walls gave me the idea to try yellow as a background color. I had previously settled on using tan and a rich brown to set the squares.

Cartagena's yellow walls made me wonder if a brighter color would be more fun.

I still have five more of the sixteen patch squares to make before I put it all together so I can think about the choice of setting a little bit longer.

Turquoise Waters of Aruba

I am recently back from a terrific ten days of cruising between Fort Lauderdale and Panama with my family. Our first stop was Aruba, where we had a half day of snorkeling in gorgeous turquoise waters. We sailed on the pretty little Jolly Pirate II to reach our snorkeling locales, enjoying all the varying hues of sea and sky along the way.

Jolly Pirate II

When we were snorkeling we discovered if we let our arms hang down the fish would school around and tickle our hands.

On returning to the pier I noticed these brightly colored fishing boats looking especially vibrant against pale turquoise waters. Wouldn't it be fun to use turquoise sashing around quilt blocks made from bold, saturated colors?

Anticipating lots of down time on the sea days - it took two days to reach Aruba from Fort Lauderdale - I brought three needle work projects along with me on the trip. Somehow those days just flew by, filled as they were with workouts, leisurely meals, blissful naps, and treasured family time, and I didn't make nearly as much progress as I thought I would.

Here is the still not quite finished knitting project I brought along: the Calza shawl designed by Lisa R. Myers using Manos Del Uruguay's Serena yarn. The 60% baby alpaca and 40% pima cotton yarn is wonderful to work with and I'm hoping will be comfortable against bare skin.

Come back soon to see lovely Spanish colonial architecture and more brilliant colors from our next port, Cartagena, Colombia.