Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Alquimico Rooftop Bar

Cartagena, Colombia

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

While we are walking around the Walled City of Cartagena, we come across this very interesting window with Alquimico written on it.

Alquimico in Spanish means the Alchemist so it stirred some curiosity.

Since we were making the rounds of Rooftop Bars, we put this one on the list.

Alquimico front window

As you can see here in the window, there are jars of fruits, herbs and who-knows-what on display in the front window of Alquimico. Cartagena has a reputation for fancy mixed drinks and Alquimico presents some of their unique flavor options here, in order to draw you in.

Inside Alquimico, first floor

Rows and rows of bitters, cordials and fruit juices for their blended drinks.

Looking down into Alquimico's first and second floors

Along with the bitters, tonics and fruit flavors, here you can see some of the bottles of gin, whiskeys, rum and tequilas they also offer.

Another rooftop bar we visited, Cafe del Mar, was also known for their distinctive blended drinks. I would imagine that each bar guards their recipe book as best as they can.

Here you can see waitstaff checking out a recipe from a book, or the pricing to make up the bill.

Alquimico's rooftop

This is Alquimico's rooftop seating area.

On the right you can see La Juguda Rooftop bar, one we visited a few nights later.

This night, we took a seat at a table along the wall of the building, which gave us a good view of the street below as well as the rooftop itself. It's always fun to people watch and we loosely observed customers as they entered the bar.

This night, we had a mother-daughter birthday celebration on one side of us, and a pair of doctors from Ecuador living and working in Chicago, celebrating their honeymoon on the other.

A sample drink menu

Can you recognize some of the ingredients on this drink menu? Well, of course you would know, banana, coconut and lime juice, but what about Ketel One, Cachaca, Angostura bitters or Copoazu?

I just haven't the clue!

The exotic wall mural upstairs

The tropics are so abundant, and Latin America loves their murals. Here we have an unabashed display of jungle animals, indigenous peoples and extraordinary birds and flowers.

As you can see, we arrived just before sunset, to get a seat and avoid the crowds.

Food menu

Sandwiches, sliders, nigiri, brochettes, and pastries.

What to order?

Prices run from about $2USD for a dessert to about $12USD for a hamburger.

And the sun is going down!

Lights are up, and the sun is going down.

We ordered a couple of appetizers to share and were waiting for their arrival.

We made friends with the people at both tables on either side of us, and had some fun conversations. Since the Mother-Daughter combo was celebrating the Mom's birthday, Billy chatted up the Mom, told her how beautiful and young she looked, and when the Daughter took her Mom's birthday photo, Billy slipped quickly into the frame... which just delighted both of them to no end!

(I think it "made" her birthday, as every woman wants to feel young and attractive!)

Crab sliders

These crab sliders were delicious, but had a bit too much bread. With pickled onions, dollops of  fresh cream and a slice of avocado, it was a tasty treat.  

Nigiri with beef served on a banana leaf

Seared rare beef  paired with vinegar rice and an Asian dipping sauce, this appetizer had a bigger kick to it than the mini crab sandwiches.

Afro-Colombiana who came to work on a skateboard

Every waitstaff wore the same luscious tropical shirt as their uniform. This young woman had ridden to work on her skateboard, which she tucked under her arm as she arrived on the 5th floor of this bar.

Being in Colombia, rum over ice had been our drink of choice. Now, I have to say that rum has never appealed to me, but because of the history of this location, I was able to glide into appreciation for the taste of it.

Our bill

With the mandatory 10% tip, our bill here came to just over $38USD.

We are hoping that you have been enjoying our peer into the Rooftop Bars of Cartagena. We would certainly recommend that you visit any of them and let us know which others you find as well.

Such fun!

Alquimico Bar

Calle del Colegio #34-24

Cartagena, Provincia de Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia

Phone: +57 318 8450433 Website: https://www.alquimico.com/

email: info@alquimico.com

Sunday through Thursday 6:00 PM - 02:00 AM Friday - Saturday 6:00 PM - 03:00 AM

For more information on Colombia, with photos, stories and videos, click here

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

HOME   Book Store

Retire Early Lifestyle Blog      About Billy & Akaisha Kaderli      Press     Contact     20 Questions     Preferred Links    

Retirement     Country Info     Retiree Interviews      Commentary     REL Videos