Sunday, June 23, 2024

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once at 4:45, finally waking/getting up at 6:45am.

The plan for today is a day trip to El Retiro. Teresa tells me there is a waterfall on the way we can see. The plan is to leave here at 10am.

We left the apt at 10am and I guided Teresa to the Ayurá station the route that Marcos had showed me. It’s a little longer but we walk up a ramp instead of the steep stairs.

We took the metro to the Exposiciones station and went downstairs and someone we asked told us we had to walk a block further to catch a bus. There was a La Ceja bus about to leave but we decided to wait for the El Retiro bus. After waiting 20 minutes in the sun, when a Rionegro bus pulled we changed our plans on got on and luckily found seats.

It soon became apparent we weren’t headed out of the city via Avenida Las Palmas. We passed minorista then San Antonio Plaza, the park where the Botero statue was bombed years ago, and finally headed up a backroad toward the east. We shared one of the chicken burritos Teresa had made. We got off in Rionegro at 1pm for 23mil for both of us. It was 3-4 more blocks straight ahead to the main park. I was ready for a restroom so we stopped in the first Colombian style restaurant we found:

The bathroom was cramped, no toilet seat of course, and I couldn’t lock the door. I peed my best standing up as there was no urinal. Back outside I washed my hands and Teresa had already claimed a table. She had sancocho and I had my usual chicken breast with beans and rice and a glass of strawberry juice. The total came to 52,500 pesos, I handed the girl a 100mil bill and 500 pesos and wondered if she could make correct change. She took out some bills, hesitated, took out another one then gave me the correct change.

We walked to the other side of the park and half a block down the street we found this cute café named Candilejas.

We went to the back where we took a table with sofa and 2 chairs. I took the sofa and Teresa one of the chairs. We each had a latte and shared a slice of apple pie. The pie was only okay and the lattes weren’t hot enough but we still hung out there for a while. Teresa ordered another latte for us but hotter and a slice of tiramisu. The lattes were much better and the tiramisu Teresa liked better than I because as she said, “it isn’t too sweet”.

We left about 3:45 and heard church bells so Teresa wanted to sit in the church for a while. I guess they did the rosary but we left just before mass as it was 4pm and I’m thinking we won’t get back to the apt until 7pm.

We retraced our steps and easily found the bus station and got on the bus back to Medellin.

We got off in a light drizzle and  hustled the last block to the Exposiciones station. We just missed a train but it was only a 6-minute wait for the next one. Teresa got a seat right away but I didn’t get one until Aguacatala station. We got off at Ayura, no rain here, and returned to the apt by taxi.

It took 3 hours to get there and less than 90 minutes to return.

We had one burrito left over so Teresa asked me if I wanted it for supper. “Sure”, I said. She warmed it up (I wasn’t paying attention how but she seldom uses the microwave) and put it on a plate in front of me. I went to take a bite and she had forgotten to remove the saran wrap. 😊

I watched a couple more episodes of 24 on MTV.

Teresa used a needle and thread to sew up a fix to my gym shoes. 😊

She informed me that tomorrow morning she’s going to meet a friend from Itagui at 6am to go for a walk.

 

EL ARROYO SIGNS