Sunday, July 20, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, quickly fell asleep, got up once 1am, again at 4am, couldn’t fall back asleep, finally sleeping from 6:30 to 7:30.

I took my shower, dressed and walked down to Mercado Madrid where I bought a medium-size carton of eggs for our breakfast.

The babies were left alone for about half an hour. The mother arrived just before 10am. Even with my headphones on I can hear when they arrive, those wings are powerful.

We left the apt at 10:45 and took a Didi to the Exposiciones metro station and there was a bus to El Retiro already there.

There was already a number of people on the bus as I followed Teresa to the back of the bus. There were two young men occupying the window seats, Teresa took the middle seat and I took the one to her left. A metro train must have just pulled into the station because soon a group got on the bus. The bus was nearly full when the guy to my left pulled out his cellphone and started playing something loud. I soon moved to Teresa’s other side.

It was a little after we left the station I figured out that today is July 20^th, Colombia’s Independence Day. A few people got off at Indiana Mall and before others got on, I moved a couple seats toward the front. The guy with the cellphone must have given up his seat to one of the elderly because next thing I know he’s standing right behind me. Every time the bus veered to the left he must have braced himself against my seat (with his cellphone in his right hand) as I heard the noise right next to my ear. Me occasionally putting my finger in my left ear didn’t faze him. As others got off the bus I moved toward the front until finally two seats became available and Teresa and I sat next to each other.

When we arrived in El Retiro we walked uphill the four blocks to Lomo Fino and were surprised there wasn’t a line and there were tables available. Teresa had their chicken breast and I their teriyaki steak. My steak was good but with so many mushrooms that I gave to Teresa. I also had a Coke and the check was 116,000 pesos ($28.88). When we left there was a line to get in.

We moved across the street to the plaza where we found some entertainment:

I got a little video of the first three groups but then I messed up and took photos instead of video:

We walked down the hill a block and Teresa found these inspirational purses in a store:

We stopped in El Retiro Café and were surprised to get a table. Teresa ordered a granizado but didn’t like it so she switched to a maltiada while I had a latte. I downloaded a note taking app called Easy Notes, to use until I can get KeepMyNotes moved from my old cellphone to my new one.  Later we each repeated our drink orders and shared a slice of apple cake with walnut pieces.

We left at 5pm, walked down to the bus station and got right on a bus back to Medellin. When traffic got backed up our driver pulled off onto what looked like a frontage road then took back streets finally joining Las Palmas just before San Diego Mall.

We got out at Exposiciones station and took a taxi back to Envigado. We got out at Tienda D1 and bought a few things before returning to the apt.

 

FUNNY