Alice and Randy Live in Colombia: 2016-03-06

Wednesday and Thursday were days of work and play. My seminar for the Fulbright Commission was at 5 PM on Wednesday. Earlier we were invited to Casa Velez for lunch. Lunch is the main meal of Colombians and they usually go home or take it out in a restaurant. It is a full meal and quite leisurely. The Velez's housekeeper/nanny turned out to be an excellent cook and we enjoyed our cream of mushroom soup (homemade of course), chicken, cheesy mashed potatoes, salad, fried plantains, and fresh avocado (bought from their favorite elderly avocado street vendor).

A view of the girls from the private girls school next to Casa Velez. They were playing baseball (!) before the storm. Note the strong netting which is on all of the windows and balcony to prevent the cats from jumping off.

Randy watches the girls baseball but was not impressed by their form

The Princess Violetta

My favorite, handsome Lorenzo

Lunch is served

Ana Maria and Mario join up at home each day for lunch - a very nice lifestyle and the U.S. can take lessons from Colombia in this regard

The guys wait to dig in

Just afterwards a huge thunderstorm hit and it was actually relaxing to hear the thunder and watch the torrents of rain from the snugness of the apartment on the 10th floor. I had a Skype with my regular research team on a defense project during the storm while Mario played with Antonia (her school lasts a half day in the morning) and Randy chilled.

We then walked to the university - about a mile with a few treacherous street crossings. Along the way we admired various fruit and avocado trees and a lovely bright red and black bird (I was not quick enough to get a photo). We did some paperwork at the university and Randy walked to the hotel (about 10 to 15 minutes, all uphill). My seminar commenced a bit late (of course!) as the traffic was even more snarled than usual with the earlier heavy rains. About 30 people attended - a mix of students (undergraduate and graduate), working engineers and faculty members. The topic on warehouse design may sound boring but it is actually very interesting and complex. Some of the people attending specialized in warehousing so I had an attentive and informed audience. Many good questions ended the seminar.

In Mario's office at EAFIT

One of the modern buildings at EAFIT

I am in front of the engineering building

Chatting before the seminar

Working (for a change)

We enjoyed a dinner with Mario, Ana Maria, and two other faculty members, Carlos and Juan Gregorio. Carlos picked a small neighborhood restaurant that serves global fusion food, Mano Calamita. The menu was a bit strange but the food was pretty decent and we had a nice bottle of Chilean Carmenere by Montes. The wine menus in Colombia are dominated by Chilean wines with Argentinean next. A sprinkling of European wines (led by Spanish) and very few U.S. offerings. The wine prices are quite steep because they are all imported.

Our eating place that night

Located in a quiet neighborhood in Polbado (a big district)

At the dinner table - a very good looking couple

Randy and Juan Gregorio

Carlos and me

A final dinner in Medellin for this leg of the trip

We then dropped Juan Gregorio off at his home on the west side of Medellin and picked up Antonia from Mario's mom's apartment nearby. There, Senora Velez has two cats, including Mario's old cat, a 15 year old beautiful but feisty male.

Mario with his pre-marriage cat, now pampered by Mario's mom

Mario's mom feeds the cats some treats

The other cat

Family Velez

We packed up the next morning to leave our home at the Novelty Suites. We had a final breakfast of precisely cooked omelet and lots of fruit (me) and leftovers (short ribs and little biscuits today) (Randy). The Novelty Suites was not fancy or luxurious in anyway but they tried to please. The internet was excellent and the place really clean. Breakfast was full featured and our AC and fan worked well. All in all, we were satisfied. Of course, the location is the best - in the middle of Poblado and close to the university.

Mario picked us up and took us to the airport by another route as the normal road to the airport was closed by the police that day (what?). Anyway, we made it relatively easily and had time for a traditional lunch in the garden of a chain of restaurants, El Rancherito. The menu is extensive and the portions huge. I dined on a vegetarian version of a traditional stew - beans, corn, avocado, fried potato sticks, and fried plantain sticks. It was so good! We started with complementary tostones (fried mashed plantains) with salsa. Also delicious.

These restaurants are found all over Medellin. The menu is extensive and the food is very good, plentiful and well priced.

The lovely bougainvillea tree (!) in the restaurant garden

Waiting for the chow

We left Medellin well fed and with a few pounds gained

The Medellin airport is modern and easy to negotiate and our Avianca flight took off on time. Bye for now, Medellin!

Tuesday was devoted mostly to an excursion to the Guatape area, which is mainly east of Medellin, about a 90 minute drive. It is at a higher elevation than Medellin so enjoys cooler weather. The area is famed as a recreational get away because of its large lake and some tourist attractions. The lake was created in the 1970's when a dam was built on a river. This dam now provides nearly 30% of Colombia's electricity though this amount has fallen off recently due to a drought in the area. The drought has also dramatically decreased the lake level.

The drive was very pretty with green rolling hills full of small farms. They grown mainly vegetables in this region though some coffee is grown. The area is lush and fertile.

Our first stop was at the town of Guatape, the largest town in the area. It sits on the lake and is friendly and picturesque. It is especially noted for its raised paintings ("zocalos") adorning the bottoms of the buildings. These varied a lot but were all colorful and depicted animals, flowers, people, and more. The town is very walkable and even on this Tuesday there were a number of tourists, mainly young backpacking types. On weekends the town and surrounding area are flooded with day trippers from Medellin (and perhaps Bogota). It was much nicer on a quiet weekday.

Typical street in colorful Guatape

Another street scene on this relaxed Tuesday

One of the zocalos

An interesting zebra one

If I lived in Guatape I would put cats on my house

Fanciful dragons

Dos amigos

Beautiful flower - orchid?

We walked to the central square and enjoyed the church, Iglesia de Nuestra Senora del Carmen, which is tasteful and impressive. After walking most of the town, both the touristic areas and the local areas, we decided to ride in a "moto-taxi", a motorcycle converted for passengers. These are popular in the towns. Our target was a Benedictine Monastery several miles outside of town (on not very good roads). This monastery, Santa Maria de Epifania, is of recent origin and situated in the foothills with nice views and surrounded by peaceful green mountains. We viewed the church but could not visit the shop as it was closed for lunch and the monks were praying in their cloisters so we did not see any of them. It is possible to stay there which might offer an interesting night for sometime in the future.

Iglesia de Nuestra Senora del Carmen

Inside was done nicely in wood and tile - for a Latin American church the decor is very restrained

Our moto-taxi - so festive!

Driver in front - Randy, Mario and I in the back - it was a squeeze

The rather isolated Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Epifania

The monks were at their prayers so we did not see them but we did glimpse and visiting nun

The dedication

The simple interior

One of the Byzantine style paintings inside

A selfie

Beautiful location - maybe one day we spend a contemplative night there

Our moto-taxi driver waited for us and took us back to town. We decided to eat lunch at a restaurant he recommended on the main square, Restaurante Bar Kennedy. Most of the restaurants are on the seafront, the malecon but this one by the square was exceedingly pleasant. We ate the local lake trout (Mario and I) while Randy opted for fried catfish. Very nice!

Our lunch place on the main square

My fresh lake trout - yummy!

Then our faithful moto-taxi driver took us back to the malecon where we engaged his friend to take us on a one hour boat tour of the lake. We viewed the impressive homes of the wealthy (holiday get aways) and two hotels, one under construction before reaching the remains of Viejo Penol (old Penol), the flooded town that was obliterated when the dam was constructed. A tower crowned by a cross marks the location of the town square which is now submerged. The only surviving structure is the former hospital, now a small museum, which is over 200 years old and sits on a hill.

Heading to the boat with the driver - you can see how low the lake level is

On the water

The cross marks the spot of the central town of Viejo Penol - now submerged

The purposeful flooding of 1978 left only this historic structure, once the town hospital, now a small museum

Also along this lake are the remains of one of Pablo Escobar's houses, La Manuela, named for his daughter. He of Narcos fame owned 800 houses and this one is situated on a small hill overlooking the lake on most sides. His mother and sister and "business" associates all had houses in the area. The house was bombed by the Cali drug cartel (no one was resident at the time) and the ruins have been furthered disseminated by time. A family owns the property now and gives informal tours of the remains to make money.

The party house of La Manuela

The main ruins from the water

With a Narcos stretch limousine

The main house where Pablo and family resided

Getting our dose of Narcos tourism

The structure was hurt by the bomb but was mainly destroyed by neglect and vandalism

The roof is returning to nature

One of the lovely trees

An Australian cork (literally) tree on the property

This motorcycle was a gift to Carlos but he never rode it. A Honda, you can buy it from the current owners for about $18,000

Returning to Guatape we paid off the boat driver and drove to the most famous sight in the region, La Piedra. This huge rock (literally) overlooks the lake and surrounding countryside. It is made of quartz, feldspar and mica according to Wikipedia. It rises about 7000 feet above sea level. Some nearly 700 steps lead to its top. We considered making the effort but it was growing late and the weather was not ideal for viewing - somewhat cloudy and hazy. Next time, we could spend the night at a lake hotel then attempt the stairs of La Piedra. For now, we were content to view it from the ground.

Panoramic from the La Piedra parking lot

The 600+ steps leading up

We were impressed with this monolith but will leave the climb to the top for a future visit

View from the base of La Piedra

Another view of the pretty Guatape area - lake, small islands, peninsulas, lush vegetation

The imposing trek upwards

Mario drove back to Medellin repeating the pleasant drive through the farms. In Medellin there had been heavy rain and the traffic, always bad, was a mess. But, we made it to the hotel eventually. That night we joined Sergio and his vivacious wife Olga for a late dinner at an upscale restaurant, Herbario. The food was very good but the service was appallingly bad. We were virtually ignored by the waiters. Anyway, all in all, it was a wonderful day and we are anxious to return to the Guatape area.