Today Two Who Trek takes a look at individuals working in Cartagena. There are businesses that employ many people, such as banks and manufacturing facilities. But our focus is on the people who fend for themselves — in short, the individual entrepreneur. What are some of the jobs that people do on their own to survive, to put food on the table? We found many interesting examples.
food preparation
Cartagena Cart Conveyors
In our last post, we covered the many delectable delights one can find while wandering the streets of Cartagena’s Historic Center. Throughout the area, many vendors use carts to sell fruits, vegetables and other food items. Because of the variety of offerings, we decided to focus now solely on those carts. Continue reading
Categories: background, blog, Cartagena, carts, Colombia, dining, food, food preparation, fruit, local, people, photos, travel, vegetable
Tags: background, cart, Cartagena, Colombia, dining, food, fruit, local, photos, seller, selling, traditional, travel, vegetables, vendor
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What’s for Dinner?
Food options in Cartagena are either familiar or awaiting discovery. Ceviches are typically made from fresh fish like sea bass or snapper and marinated in lime juice, onions and cilantro.
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Categories: background, blog, Cartagena, Colombia, cooking, dining, fish, food, food preparation, local, photos, preparation, restaurants, travel, vegetable
Tags: arepa, beans, beer, Cartagena, ceviche, Colombia, colombian, fine dining, fish, food, fruit, lemonada, lemonade, meals, restaurant, rice, rum, traditional, travel, variety, vegetables
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Coffee Break Time
Two Who Trek searches for 100% Colombian coffee
For Two Who Trek, fresh brewed coffee fills our morning senses with contentment and fortifies our ability to handle the day’s challenges. Location is everything and a Juan Valdez Cafe is just down the street. When our coffee supply gets low, help is just around the corner.
The image of Juan Valdez is synonymous with authentic Colombian coffee. Since 1958, the fictional character of a Colombian coffee farmer, representing the National Federation of Coffee Growers in Colombia, is Juan Valdez. He is sometimes accompanied by his burro Conchita, carrying sacks filled with harvested Colombian coffee beans.
Categories: artisan, background, Cartagena, classes, coffee, Colombia, food, food preparation, lessons
Tags: Cartagena, coffee, coffee making, coffee shop, Colombia, drip, drip coffee making, food, food preparation, siphon, siphon coffee making
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Something Fishy This Way Comes . . .
What do you get when you add salmon to a salted water pot of boiling potatoes and onions? If it’s South Haven, Michigan at National Blueberry Festival time, an amazing Fish Boil, Lake Michigan style! With over 40 years of fish boil experience, the South Haven Steelheaders (SHS) chapter of the Michigan Steelheaders and Salmon Fisherman’s Association, created a tasty treat for multitudes of hungry guests, including Two Who Trek, on August 8, 2015.
Categories: community events, dining, festivals, fish, food, food preparation, local, Michigan, people, photos, preparation, restaurants, service club, vegetable
Tags: 2015, August, blueberry, boil, boiled fish, boiled potatoes, dining, festival, fish, fish boil, food, food event, food preparation, michigan, national blueberry festival, salmon, service club, steelheaders
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Foreign Fruit Finds
We’ve talked about the wonderful fruit and vegetable markets in Cuenca. However, many of the items are different from what we would find in the United States. Today Two Who Trek looks at some of the unusual fruits we discovered in the markets.
First, TWT has a general observation about the quality of the produce available at market. Most of the fruits are grown in Ecuador and the crops are picked closer to full ripeness than those shipped overseas. At the time we were in Ecuador, only black cherries were being imported and those came from nearby Chile. Flavors overall were more intense than the imported produce we might get at the super market back home. Continue reading
Categories: andean, background, blog, Cuenca, dining, food, food preparation, fruit, markets, photos, travel, vegetable
Tags: blog, cuenca, dining, ecuador, food, food preparation, fruit, photo, travel, vegetables
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Cuenca Apartments
As part of the Ecuador experience, the program hosts provide apartments for all the participants. We will live in these apartments for the month we are here. If we wish, we can use the cooking facilities to make meals or we may choose to eat at the many restaurants in Cuenca (and restaurant prices are so low here that dining out is a very attractive option).
Most of the program apartments are in the heart of the historic part of Cuenca, in centuries-old buildings that have been refurbished to meet American expectations. Many of these apartments are quite small, and are described as studio apartments – one room with a separate, private bath room. Continue reading
Categories: background, blog, Cuenca, ecuador, food preparation, lodging, photos, travel, Uncategorized
Tags: apartment, cuenca, ecuador, housing, lodging, photos, program, travel
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Almuerzo, anyone?
After a full morning of Spanish lesson classes, Two Who Trek either enjoy an almuerzo with friends or lunch on their own. Almuerzos are a restaurant’s lunch special of the day. They include fresh juice, soup, meat, potato, rice and dessert. Portions often look small when compared to typical US servings but are perfect to fill a hungry student! Continue reading
Cuenca Edible Art
UPDATE 1/8/2013 — At first Two Who Trek didn’t know what image was being created in the series of photographs below. However, our travel agent pointed out today that the pictures were upside down! The image being created is that of a chola cuencana, a local woman in the native dress.
Thanks, Maria, for the correction! We’ve updated the story below.
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Tonight Two Who Trek joined the rest of the AHI travel group for a fine meal at Tiesto’s Restaurant, currently ranked #2 of 111 restaurants in Cuenca on TripAdvisor.com. After a fine Ecuadorian style meal, the restaurant served desserts on platters hand-painted (yes, painted) by Chef Juan Carlos himself. OK, it’s not real paint he uses but food products — hence the name, edible art. Continue reading
Categories: Cuenca, dining, ecuador, food preparation, photos, restaurants, travel
Tags: cuenca, dessert, ecuador, edible art, fine dining, photos, restaurant, travel
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Two Who Trek 