(The arrival of my mom!)
Wednesday October 4th was a big day. That evening my mom landed for our big fall trip. My school had the next week off so we turned it into a big adventure. On the agenda was exploring Medellin and getting to the pacific coast.
Mom didn't get in until after 8:00 Wednesday night so that just left time for us to get home (enjoy the big city lights on the way down!) and settle into bed after a long day of travel for her. She of course wanted to see my school while in town so I brought her to school with me on Thursday. It was quite a boring day for her because I was testing most of the day. Nevertheless, she got to tour the school, meet the students and other staff, and even see a pretty neat school activity. There was a national event called TOM beginning at the school. It was really neat. Teams of students and other community members get assigned a person with some kind of physical limitation and they are given 72 hours to come up with a solution to help them.
 |
| Before leaving for work..... She would regret wearing flip flops and not bringing a jacket later :) |
After a long day at school, we chilled for a little before heading to El Tesoro for a little dinner and exploring. The malls really are neat here. While sitting down to dinner, we were able to catch the last half of the Colombia v Paraguay soccer game and it was crazy (and devastating). It was an exciting game and it was fun to be surrounded by so many people enjoying it. The cooks kept running out of the kitchen to watch.
 |
| test day |
On Friday, I left her at home to relax. Friday was the end of the first bimester (something worth celebrating!) for me at school. That evening we journeyed out to see the city. We had no real destination but I thought she would enjoy seeing the city while riding the cable cars. Well, it was Friday afternoon so it was rush hour for the metro. It was packed! But we were determined to make it happen. After the cable cars, we came back to Poblado where we grabbed some pizza for dinner.
Saturday meant more exploring. We began our day by going to the monthly San Alejo market. Lots of little individual stalls in Parque Bolivar. We really enjoyed checking out all the handcrafts and antiques and, of course, people watching.
Very happy with our purchases, we walked a short distance to Plaza Botero to check out all of the large Botero sculptures. We took all the requisite pictures and I enjoyed some fresh pineapple while we sat on a bench and chatted with an old man about whatever history he knew from Georgia and the US. Next stop was the cable cars on the east side. We got to do this in the day so it was a completely different experience as well.
 |
| Just one of the MANY modes of transportation we took this week. plane, taxi, uber, bus, train, cable car, tuk tuk, dugout canoe, boat.... |
Having conquered a good bit of the city so far, I decided we needed to take a day trip to Guatape on Sunday. It was something that I have always wanted to do but I haven't made the time for it. We were up and at em early that morning. We were leaving from the north bus terminal by 7:40 and I think we both had an even better day than we imagined. A little less than two hours later (on a very pleasant bus with plenty of leg room and views) we arrived at La Piedra (the rock).
 |
| 740 stairs in case you were wondering |
We took a little tuktuk to the top of the hill where we began climbing the 740 steps to the very top. We took our time and soaked in the beautiful surroundings all around us. What a treat! This country's landscape is so varied. We grabbed some food and drinks at the top before making the knee-wobbling trek down. All that was left to do there was a little shopping (and haggling of course) at the bottom of the rock before heading into Guatape the town.
 |
| nice of them to count the steps for us... over half way there! |
The waterfront was lined with probably a hundred stalls selling all kinds of souvenirs and food. We bought a few things here and there before stopping for some lunch. This was the first local restaurant we had eaten at so I made mom try the bandeja paisa (the local plate.... rice, beans, fried egg, horizon, fried pork belly, ground meat, plantain, avocado, etc).
After lunch we left the water and went into the city. Guatape is famous for all of its colors and we certainly found them. The streets had plenty to enjoy. I had seen pictures a fun little area so we kept wandering until we found it and it was certainly worth it. Various musicians, artists, and performers took their turn entertaining the crowd. Perfect day trip from the city!
Up next: Beebs and Kooks take on the Pacific coast (spoiler alert... and we see some whales!)
No comments:
Post a Comment