Friday, December 24, 2021

Christmas Eve.

Recovery Day #182!

Last night I put on an AD, went to bed at 11pm, fell asleep quickly, got up twice during the night, my alarm went off at 7am, did my Kegel exercises, and got up.

We had packed most everything the night before. Our taxi driver picked us up at 10am. Most of us brought a large gym bag. I had mine plus my laptop in its bag, my travel chess set and my regular tech bag.

This was our first trip to Santafe de Antioquia in a few years. The roads were in much better shape than before; more like highways than roads although you can still see some construction. We stopped about halfway to use restrooms in a small restaurant. Lenny went into the one marked “ellas” but luckily the place was empty so it didn’t matter. We arrived at Hotel Mariscal Robledo, historical center, by noon but our rooms weren’t ready yet. Wilson, Martha and MT were already there so stored our bags in their rooms.

They were having lunch and we soon joined them.

This hotel is very interesting as it displays a lot of antiques. Sewing machines, cameras, etc.

After lunch I beat Lenny in ping pong 21-18, after he started with a 4-point lead.

About 2:30 we checked into our nicely air-conditioned room, and I changed into my swimming suit. I was hoping I could get to the pool without any signs of dripping, but it didn’t turn out to be a problem.

Lenny and I swam in the pool. Teresa and Laura don’t swim although Lenny plans to get Laura lessons at the YMCA this winter. The water felt great and this is the first exercise I’ve had in a while so that felt good.

We all changed into shorts, light tops and sandals and walked “downtown” to the town square.

Teresa got in the dancing mood and danced with Lenny and even coerced me to dance.

A peek inside an interesting restaurant

Back at the hotel they had a special dinner menu and they had a band that played a mix of Christmas carols and Colombian songs. They weren’t that good, more like a high school band, but the effort was appreciated.

We exchanged gifts for secret Santa. I gave Laura a cute t-shirt and a stand for her cellphone. She gave me at least a dozen pairs of socks. I was happy to see the gifts were mainly inexpensive items.

The beer was flowing pretty good but I went to bed at 10pm and Wilson, Teresa and Martha stayed up.

For the first time I didn’t change the MP in my underwear and went to bed. I wasn’t very comfortable with the hotel’s duvet. It was very thick and heavy. So, my choices were: it was either a little too warm with it or freezing without it. Nevertheless, I quickly fell asleep and didn’t hear when Teresa returned.

 

The New York Times’ 7-day average of new daily infections and deaths has the US with 171,380 ð 188,469 ð 190,486 new cases and 1,348 ð 1,656 ð 1,503 new deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of yesterday, Colombia has a total of 1,931 ð 2,475 ð 3,060 new cases with 52 ð 54 ð 46 new deaths. Medellin has 285 ð 370 ð 373 new cases from December 23^rd to 24^th. Envigado has 19 ð 20 ð 43 new cases from December 23^rd to 24^th.

T-shirt of the day

It’s only fun when everyone will come out to play.