Thanks BL for the update. Cartagena was a stop I made on a cruise ship about 15 years ago on my way through the Panama Canal. What I saw of it was absolutely beautiful, although the vendors were extremely "diligent", to say the least. There was a lot of political unrest at the time, and Princess Cruises actually dropped that stop after our trip for a long period of time because of it. From what you report, it is much safer now, and that's great news as it was a beautiful city. The town square, the forts, pretty awesome. May have to put this on my list again now that you have scouted it out!