We are in our new apartment! I like that it's bigger than our last one and will be much more accommodating to visitors! It's beautiful here this morning so we hope to check out the pool after lunch time. Here's a recap with pictures of the last 3 days we spent with Sanaya.
Friday April 20th
We set up a tour to go to Guatape and see/climb El Penol Rock. El Penol is a monolith, 385 meters high, massive rock foundation that was declared as National Monument in 1940s. There are over 650 stairs that you can climb to get to the top of the rock. We asked our guide to set up a tour for us but in the end she said she could take us instead. It took 2 hours to get there even though it's only ~50 miles away. Lilliana took care of David so that Sanaya, Gustavo and I could climb to the top of the rock. It was quite a trek up as we were dealing with rain for a bit and then we were able to find a dry area to wait out a huge rainfall. We eventually made it to the top where there were various snack stations set up. There was a tower with more steps that we climbed which led to the very top. I wanted to get a picture of Gustavo but there were so many bugs up there so we ran down to the small gift shop and few steps below. Gustavo did a great job climbing all of the steps! It was a scary trip down as the staircase was different and also much narrower so it is difficult to hold on to Gustavo. He was also ready to get moving so wanted to go down quickly. Once down, we found Lilliana and had a nice lunch at one of the restaurants at the base of the rock. We had a nice drive back and were able to see a bit of Guatape from the car. The streets of Guatape are very similar to the streets in many Guatemala cities. The buildings and fences were painted in bright colors and had beautiful pictures on them. It was a long day. Everyone but Lilliana and me had nice naps on the way home. Once home, we went to Carulla (grocery store) and ate at the deli.
El Penol Rock with the staircases
Our shelter from the pouring rain. Might be halfway point...
I made it! Now, can I have some ice-cream?
View from the top. Man-made lakes and islands
Lilliana, Gustavo and David at the restaurant
The Rock!
Enjoying the ride home before napping
Also enjoying the ride home. Nap to shortly follow...
Paintings on buildings, fences, etc. in Guatape,
Saturday April 21st
We headed back to the Metro and got off at Plaza Botero, did some shopping and ended our adventure at the Barefoot Park. We walked a lot but got in a lot of shopping and had some yummy cheap treats along the way. Gustavo enjoyed playing in the sand and water again at Barefoot Park. In the evening we ate dinner at Crepes and Waffles at Oviedo Mall. Gustavo tried a new crepe (chicken and cheese) which was very good! I had a nice salad that came with some greens but also 3 smoked salmons rolls filled with crab and a crepe on the side. We were eating during "ice cream hour" so we decided that we need to participate in this on Sunday!
Crepes and Waffles, waiting for his ice-cream
Chicken and cheese crepe (pollo y queso), yum!
My "salad"
Yummy ice-cream!
Tin Tin is his favorite as he loves the strawberry ice-cream
Sunday April 22nd
We headed out and made it to the outdoor Zumba class outside Santa Fe mall. Sanaya and I had fun doing Zumba while David ate cheerios and Gustavo ran around. Afterwards, we headed on the closed street and found a fruit vendor who was selling chopped mixed fruit in juices with a yummy cream drizzled on top. It was only 90 cents for each cup of fruit and was really good! Then, we headed down the street the other way and Gustavo got an ice-cream treat while Sanaya and I had some coffee and Juan Veldez. We walked some more and headed back to rest up for "ice-cream hour". We went to the Crepes and Waffles at Santa Fe and it was extremely busy so we each got a cone at the walk up counter instead. Gustavo insisted on having the green ice-cream which was pistachio and he really liked it. Sanaya and I had Arequipe (caramel, yum). We ended Sanaya's last day with a grocery store run to stock up. It again was so nice to have an extra set off hands in the store and to help carry stuff home!
Just relaxing on our walk
Yummy fruit cups!
While Sanaya was here, we found a good Rose wine (called I Love Rose) so we enjoyed a glass of wine each night. I am continuing on with this nightly tradition :) Monday morning came much too fast and it was sad to see Sanaya go! We are awaiting our next round of visitors (my mom and dad) this Sunday evening!!
Will post more on our apartment later. While typing this, the rain came through so may need to hold off on swimming today. Every time I think the weather is changing here, the rain hits. We were lucky to have 4 very nice days with no rain during the day and lots of sun last week. Am hoping for the same this week...
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