Normal life ground to a halt in Cartagena when the candidates for the title of this year’s Miss Colombia took a tour of the historical coastal city and residents found themselves distracted from their daily business.
Colombia’s 24 most beautiful women attended mass at the church of Santo Toribio and afterwards explored more of the city by night in horse-drawn carriages. They stopped at Hotel Santa Clara, which was built in 1621 and originally served as a convent. The tour also included stops at the Museum of Modern Art and the store of designer Gaby Arenas in the oldest part of Cartagena.
“It is a beautiful historic center,” said Miss Choco, Astrid Vanessa Fernandez. “I’m very proud to know that we have such beautiful places in Colombia.”
The women arrived in Cartagena on October 30, although the pageant won’t take place until November 15.
The Miss Colombia 2010 pageant will be broadcast live on RCN. The television network has created a Facebook page and Twitter account where the latest updates preceding the event will be published.