I spent all day Sunday with Pablo, his girlfriend Carolina, and her little brother and sister. I met Pablo at 8am this morning and we made the scenic 2 1/2 hour drive to Santa Fe de Antioquia, an old colonial town that is famous for it's historic beauty and mountain scenery. The crazy drive through the mountains was just that ... crazy. Traffic rules, the ones that actually exist, are rarely enforced. I asked Pablo if the police might pull us over for speeding, wreckless driving, or passing when it's not safe and he just laughed.
We did all of these things . It was a great morning for a roadtrip and the first stop was Puente de occidente, Colombia's oldest suspension bridge contructed in 1886(or 1888 I forget) Anyway, it's old but very picturesque. From there, we moved on to Santa Fe and had lunch in a fancy restaurant and explored the central park and side streets for the day. The return trip was just as crazy and we finshed the day at a Crepes and Waffles restaurant...excellent and no rice and beans!!!! Tomorrow, I will be off to Bogota on an overnight bus. The trip takes 12 hours because of the rugged mountain terrain we must cross and the climb to over 8000 feet elevation where Bogota sits.
The weather should be cold. In fact, it is fairly cold here in Medellin and the water that comes out of my shower is just plain icy! I dread taking a shower. I'm not sure if I have my first hot shower in 6 months awaiting me in Bogota or not. I kind of hope so. Also, my clothes should be put through a washing machine. It's been about 5 months since that's happened. Hand washing is the norm around here and drying was fast and easy in the desert climate of Santa Marta. Let's go see what Bogota has to offer ... it is much bigger than Medellin with far more to do... and i'm impressed here!