Finally…this was to be the day that I’d get pampered before returning to the real world. But first, a little splurge on typical Colombian coffee. Where else would you go but Juan Valdez, right? Anyway, I returned to my apartment to pick up some things before my massage appointment and while I was there the power went out. Apparently this happens often in the Old Town. I didn’t think too much about it – just left to get rubbed!

I went to the old Santa Clara Hotel in Old Town which is now a Sofitel property and absolutely stunning! Here if you had a spa service you got access to the facility for the day so I planned to spend my day getting touched and pretty and then spending some time by their incredible pool.

Upon entering the ladies lounge, I made a new friend in Jess – a woman from Manhattan who was in Cartagena for an event planning conference. She’d been wined and dined all week long. She also let me know that Martha Stewart was at the hotel and I’d just missed her in the spa by 20 minutes. So I was in the company of Martha…kind of…it was going to be a great day.

I had the BEST massage I’ve ever had in my life here – and I’ve had quite a few. You know the kind? When the pressure feels so good that your eyes sort of roll back in your head and you can’t do anything but concentrate on the luscious feeling? It was one of those…oh so good. It was followed by a mini-facial and a pedicure that was long overdue. On returning to the ladies lounge, I realized that —– I did not have my credit card AND I did not have enough cash to pay for the service AND my credit card (and license and passport) where in the safe in my apartment whose power was out. It being an electronic safe, I was pretty much screwed. Oh my goodness, was I embarrassed! I immediately got in touch with both the property manager and the building manager to see if they could loan me money. And then did what I always do when I’m freaking out. I called my Mom! It was an agonizing 30 minutes or so but the property manager, Barbara, made a trip from her apartment to downtown to let me borrow enough money to pay my bill. I really needed a drink at that point! But – you can’t buy a drink with no money. It was seriously a comedy of errors all around. And I overreacted, of course, but was just so embarrassed about the whole thing. It was a little chink in the armor of what was supposed to be a picture perfect day.

I do think things happen for a reason, however, because after the whole debacle, Barbara and I went to have a bite to eat and a much-needed glass of wine. We had such a nice time! She and I are very similar and it’s refreshing to see that there are other slightly crazy yet pretty cool women out there in the world. I’m very grateful I got a chance to get to know her.

I had planned on going to the Havana Club to dance with Henry, my building manager, who is a local and would show me the ropes. Unfortunately, in all the events of the day, I drank some water at the spa that definitely wasn’t agreeing with this gringo L So instead of dancing ‘til dawn, I was in bed at 10! I was also reasoning that going to bed early would be better for my day at the beach on Friday.

I woke on Friday to another HOT, HOT, HOT day and was leisurely sipping my coffee and slowly waking up when I checked my email to find that my flight was delayed. How strange – how do they know it’s delayed when it isn’t departing until tomorrow? I honestly didn’t think twice about it but thought I’d just look at my Expedia app to see what I was in for the next day. It said, very clearly, “Your flight departs in 2 hours and 36 minutes”. WHAT?!?!?! Yes, I’m a natural blonde! I had seriously thought for months that I was returning on Saturday, not Friday. Well, here we go. I put some clothes on and literally sprinted down the streets of Cartagena to an ATM because of course I didn’t have any money for a taxi! I can only imagine what people were thinking by the looks they gave me. It was absolutely hysterical. But by 7:30 I was out of the apartment and shuffling down the streets with 2 suitcases in search of a taxi. When I found one, all I had to say was “mas rapido”!!!

All is well that ends well, right? I’m hoping to be in Charlotte by day’s end. Everyone needs a little jolt of excitement on their last day of vacation, right? Just don’t hold it against me…