Why Colombia? Because I was here for work about 40 years ago and I have always wanted to come back.
How long will we be here? A little over 3 weeks.
Are we with a group? Most definitely not. We enjoy being in charge of our itinerary and knowing we can easily change our minds.
We arrived at midnight on Thursday. this morning we checked out the view from our hotel rooftop. this is the quaint old district of Candelaria, filled with university students and pickpockets, as well as the 2 best museums in town.
We explored Candelaria while searching for a place that sold the tiny SIM card needed for David's phone. Things like this that seem so uncomplicated often turn out to be otherwise. We could buy the card at the second store but must return tomorrow to buy the data. We then decided to take in the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) nearby. The museum is literally a gem! The art of making beautiful things with metal goes way back.
Fresh fruit is in abundance. We are interested in anything that can be peeled.
We headed back to the hotel to enjoy tea and cookies from our rooftop.
Tonight was an adventure. We celebrated Shabbat with the local Lubavitcher community. My second experience sitting only with women. It seemed curious to hear Spanish and Hebrew intermingled. Every now and then I heard a familiar melody and joined in.
But the biggest surprise was the multi-corse dinner served at the rabbi's residence (to which we were invited) afterwards. I have seldom ever experienced such a warm welcome.
What's the biggest change after 40 years? The cars are no longer antiques belching black smoke. And the begging street urchins known as gamines seem to have turned into older men who sleep on the sidewalks.dd