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The Hacienda Paperie

Where the Sun Belongs: A Love Letter to Cartagena

Late afternoon street scene in Cartagena’s Walled City, with people walking and chatting under golden-hour light.

Each climate has the place it belongs to. The cool air of Alsace has Colmar. And the heat of the southern Caribbean belongs to Cartagena. This city is intense in its presence—just like its hot, humid days, its radiant sunsets, and its streets filled with light, color, and music. Here, your eyes open wider. Your gaze stirs and softens, until you find yourself wrapped in something like sweet, golden honey.

It feels as if every burden your body carries has no place here—not in Cartagena. The Caribbean sun helps with that. It lights up everything: yellows glow, pinks deepen into crimson, and whites turn into light itself. The streets of the walled city are like no others—they have a spirit all their own. Come to Cartagena. Walk, sweat, let your weight fall away. The colors will embrace you, warming your skin, brightening your eyes, and filling your whole body. And your heart? It might just tremble with joy.

Lively street scene in Cartagena’s Walled City, featuring colorful colonial buildings with wooden balconies and a street vendor on the right.
And if you walk slowly enough, Cartagena will whisper its secrets—through the scent of mangoes, the rhythm of passing drums, the warmth lingering on stone walls.
Close-up of a terracotta-orange building in Cartagena’s Walled City with street vendors selling candies and souvenirs under a shaded sidewalk.
In Cartagena, the sun doesn’t just shine—it seeps into your skin, warms your breath, and teaches your heart to sway with the streets.
Yellow colonial building in Cartagena’s Walled City glowing under golden hour light, with green wooden balcony, shutters, and a street vendor on the sidewalk.
The city doesn’t ask you to hurry or to plan—just to be. And to let the sunlight and color do the rest.
Let your sandals scuff the cobblestones, let your hair frizz in the humidity, let your heart go barefoot for a while.
Stay long enough and you’ll forget what day it is—but remember how joy feels when it touches your shoulders like sunlight.

And if Cartagena leaves you glowing, follow that feeling. There are more beach towns waiting—places where the days slow down, where colors speak, and the sea is always near. Let yourself drift from one to the next, barefoot and curious, gathering light, stories, and salt along the way. Cartagena may be the beginning, but it’s not the end—just the first door into the rhythm of the coast.