I bought a new box of Fitness with fruits cereal for 17,950
($9.97) at Exito and a bag of milk for 1,520 (84 cents). That leaves me with about 80mil for the
remainder of the afternoon. I left the
apartment about 9:15 and after about a 5 minute wait I caught the Simon Bolivar
195 bus for 1800 ($1) to downtown. I
bought my ticket for the metro only this time I gave him 5mil and told the
cashier in Spanish “one person, from here to there to here” so hopefully he
filled my card with a round trip ticket.
He charged me 3600 ($2) for it so that computes. By this time I should already be at the
Acevedo station 6 stops away as its now 10am.
By the time I got there it was almost 10:20 and I needed to figure out
where you buy tickets for the metro cable as this is where I was supposed to
meet Reina. I got in line with the
others but I didn’t see Reina in line ahead of me and there was no place there
that I could see to buy tickets. I left
the line and walked back to the area from where I had come and I found where it
looks like you would buy tickets. I got
back in line figuring she would be there shortly. Sure enough, a minute later a policeman asked
me if I was looking for a short seniorita and pointed me back in her
direction. She had gotten there first
and got worried when I didn’t show up after a few minutes and decided to look
elsewhere. I apologized for being late,
gave her 2mil ($1) for her ticket and we got on the metro cable. Apparently, the charge for the first leg of
the trip is the same as taking the metro and since I was already in the station
I didn’t have to pay again. The last leg
of the trip, where you are committing to go to Parque Arvi, you do have to pay
extra for.
The trip to Parque Arvi takes a little over 30 minutes and
about halfway there I found out the young lady sitting with us speaks
English. She and her boyfriend kind of
joined up with us but there was about a 20 minute wait before the next walking tour group. BTW, we were so much higher up in the
mountains it was a little chilly. Next
time I think at least shoes and socks would be more comfortable for me. We stopped in a tent where a number of locals
sold their wares and Reina and I shared something that seemed like a very thin
crispy crepe where they put a little cheese, what seemed like creamy peanut
butter and smashed peanuts and then put another crepe on top. It was a tasty snack for 3mil ($1.67). The trail the guide was going to take us on
was to be a 2 ½ hour walk but we decided we would walk for about an hour and
then have lunch. The first part was on
paved road and then it went to unpaved road.
Before we actually veered into the woods Reina and I decided to turn
around. We said goodbye to the couple we
had just met and headed back. Then we
walked about another 10 minutes further to a small restaurant for lunch. Reina and I both ordered the typical
Colombian meal; I didn’t care for it very much but at least it only cost 12mil
each ($13.33 total). I told Reina about
my t-shirt not fitting and that I wanted to exchange it but she said they
didn’t have anything in a larger size and it couldn’t be returned. It looks ridiculous on me so I gave it to
Reina to give to someone as a gift. We
may go back to Parque Arvi again someday, better dressed, but we’ll do our own
thing.
When we left the park I was down to my last 2 mil so if the
metro card wasn’t for round trip I wouldn’t have enough money left for the bus
back. It would be something like a 20
block walk back home. I could do it but
not after already walking such a long distance.
Anyway, it turns out I didn’t need a round trip ticket because I never
really left the metro system.
An interesting thing I noted is that from the bus back, just
before it turns onto the main road, I saw a couple of policemen on
Segways. And right by the bull ring I
saw a lot of tents with Coca Cola logos on them so there must be some type of
convention going on.
Later I stopped and talked to John for a little bit on my
way to dinner. He told me he went to a
concert last night and then went out to a “cast party” afterwards and was
basically up all night partying. I
always try to remember a joke or 2 to tell him.
Just as I was leaving one of his sisters came out – a nice looking woman
though I wish she spoke more than just a couple of words of English.
I stopped at Deprisa on my way to dinner to ask about my
postcards. They appear to be a package
deliver company and apparently share the building with the airline
Avianca. I handed the lady there my note
but the lady who works for Avianca speaks English and stepped in as
translator. They quoted me a price of
something like 8mil ($4.44) per postcard if I mailed them from there but they
gave me the name and address of another company – 7/24 – that would be better
and cheaper for that purpose. It turns
out they are in a building near Parque Berrio where I was earlier today. So the next time I’m downtown I’ll check it
out.
Dinner tonight was a bacon hamburger for 4,500 ($2.50) at
Burger King and I found out they also have milkshakes so I had one of their
large vanilla shakes for 6400 ($3.56).
Coming back from dinner tonight I saw a huge “boat” of a car
driving down my street – an old Dodge Coronet.
I wonder how they park that thing.
I’ve been pretty busy all week but for lunch tomorrow I plan
to have a Philly Steak sandwich at Phillysteaks – The Original of
Philadelphia. If I am accurate with my
directions it should only be a few blocks away.
It’s restaurant #56 of 292 in Medellin
I finally got an answer from Rosetta Stone. They sent me a URL to click on that is
supposed to configure my new USB headset.
I’ll give that a try tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment