Dulceria Maria – our fave dulce stand in the Portal de los Dulces
We spent some time today in the Portal de los Dulces, where there are many little stands selling homemade candies featuring local fruits and flavors. Many of these stands have been run by members of the same families for generations and feature family recipes. It’s such a delight to browse and sample candies from the large glass jars. Our favorites are the Cocadas, coconut candies mixed with different fruits. Cocadas de Pina is our favorite.
As someone who loves to read, Cartagena has been a special place, as it is the unnamed setting of many of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novels. Walking down the Portal de los Dulces is like walking into Love in the Time of Cholera & I couldn’t help feeling a bit overwhelmed at how much his stories come alive here. I kept expecting to see Fermina rejecting Florentino as we strolled down the Portal.
Today is our last day in Cartagena for a while. Tomorrow we head east up the coast to spend some time in Santa Marta.
We need more places like that here in Albuquerque. Maybe you could transplant a market or two back to NM for me. It would be a great birthday present for me.
Rise to the liberal government! Squawk!
Yo tengo DULCES!!!!