Sunday, May 11, 2025

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

Five weeks from today we’ll be arriving in Chicago. 😊

I’m still tracking Medellin to and from Chicago flight costs almost daily and today hit a new low at $946.

We still had hours before leaving so I laid down on the recliner and fell asleep for at least an hour.

Teresa informed me that MT was too tired to join us today.

We left the apt at 10am and took a Didi to Terminal Sur. We bought our tickets to El Retiro for 10,200 pesos each and had a 10-minute wait for our bus.

We arrived in El Retiro by noon. We walked the five blocks to the park (with some stops on the way so Teresa could look in shops) and we were first in line to enter a busy Lomo Fino, but it was at least 20 minutes before we got a table. I ordered my usual solomito (steak) medium well and as usual had to send it back once because the middle was raw. It was very flavorful and tender enough and also came with a baked potato and small salad. Teresa had chicken and we both had fresh juices and the total came to 122,000 pesos ($29) including tip. As we left a line was still outside.

We walked through the park and of course we had to stop for a while in the church. When we came out Teresa started heading toward the wrong street, her sense of direction not being very good.

We walked 2 blocks back down the hill to El Retiro Café where we had lattes with a slice of carrot cake and later a granilada (sp?) which is a tasty cold coffee, kind of like a milkshake.

The total came to 52mil ($12.25).

We took our time returning to the bus station and at 4:20 a bus was just pulling out. Teresa asked a rep when the next bus was and I heard 4:30. The bus stopped and more people were getting on and I saw empty seats in the back so I understood Teresa asked the wrong question. I pointed to the front of the bus and we paid the 20,400 pesos and got seats in the back.

It was about an hour and 20 minutes back to Medellin and as we descended into Aburra Valley I could feel the grittiness return to my eyes. ☹

I saw this sign on the road leading into town:

We returned to the apt just before 6pm and I was able to see all of 60 Minutes.

I haven’t reported on my online chess in a while. After bottoming out at 1503 I’ve got my rating back up to 1563. I’m not concerned about ratings now; I just want to work on getting better.

I finished reading Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven on my Kindle.

T-SHIRT OF THE DAY

 I'm happy today. Don't ruin it.