When I was 21 I remember being able to drink all night long, sleep for a couple hours, then go kayak hard rivers all day, and I was just fine.
What the hell happens to us when we get old? Nowadays after one night of drinking I feel like I sprained my liver! I guess I just need to try harder.
And what better place to re-train my liver than Medellín. We are finding that this town has an outstanding population who likes to party... hard. In a couple short days we've made no less than a dozen great friends.
We met Daniel and Marcela on our first day in Medellín. They spotted our van as we drove around lost looking for a parking lot big enough for the Sprinter. They followed us around, and when we stopped, they asked if we needed help. (Incidentally, they were the SECOND couple inside of an hour to pull over and offer assitance...the people in Medellin are ridiculously nice).
We hadn't talked for longer than 5 minutes before we had plans for dinner. They took us to Casa Blanca, an amazing beef and wine restaurant. After a couple bottles of Argentinian wine the Medellín party was started!
These guys ROCK!!! They met when they were 13 years old and now, 17 years later, they are getting married, THIS SATURDAY! Enhorabuena chicos, estamos muy feliz por ustedes...
After shaking off the first mild hangover we went out to explore Medellín. My goal for the day was to earn 5 brownie points walking around looking at art and stuff...
I can usually get Stevie to do almost anything I want without her knowing. Take the first photo below for example. "That's good honey, now turn and face the statue, but look this way, a little more, face the statue, good, now hold that pose...". Unfortunately I lost a brownie point after she saw the photo, but it was worth it.
Walking around during the day you would think Medellín was a sleepy town, but it really comes to life at night...
I love these two photos below. In the first one a man in a wheel chair sells lottery tickets in front of the plaza church. In the second photo, life imitates art, again...
After some sight seeing, the party kept on rolling. Another peak into the Outdoorplay customer database delivered a kayaking contact living in Medellín. Mauricio has been buying Outdoorplay Kayaks for over 10 years and is on a first name basis with ODP's General Manager, Brian Massey.
We were invited to dinner and showed up at his palace (I mean super ridiculously cool penthouse) not really knowing what to expect. I mean after all, what do you say to a 10 year customer you've never met? It turns out that no words were needed. Mauricio and his wonderful wife, Natalia, welcomed us with hugs, and the bottles of wine started popping...
It didn't take long for the party to really get rolling. Wine was sipped while Scotch was poured, and everything was chased with Aguardiente, a Colombian favorite. After a while things started getting blurry...
Two other Colombian couples joined the party. Charlie and his brother Camilo were accompanied by their lovely ladies, Nico and Claudia. They welcomed us to their country with hugs and kisses.
At 10pm there was still no sign of dinner. At around 11:30pm Stevie an I gave up on dinner, thinking that this was just how Colombians rolled. But, at 1am, Mauricio set the table and we finally ate!
By the end of the night things were really blurry, but I remember conversations about the ocean and plans being made on our behalf. Looks like we might be here longer than expected. TREE
What the hell happens to us when we get old? Nowadays after one night of drinking I feel like I sprained my liver! I guess I just need to try harder.
And what better place to re-train my liver than Medellín. We are finding that this town has an outstanding population who likes to party... hard. In a couple short days we've made no less than a dozen great friends.
We met Daniel and Marcela on our first day in Medellín. They spotted our van as we drove around lost looking for a parking lot big enough for the Sprinter. They followed us around, and when we stopped, they asked if we needed help. (Incidentally, they were the SECOND couple inside of an hour to pull over and offer assitance...the people in Medellin are ridiculously nice).
We hadn't talked for longer than 5 minutes before we had plans for dinner. They took us to Casa Blanca, an amazing beef and wine restaurant. After a couple bottles of Argentinian wine the Medellín party was started!
These guys ROCK!!! They met when they were 13 years old and now, 17 years later, they are getting married, THIS SATURDAY! Enhorabuena chicos, estamos muy feliz por ustedes...
After shaking off the first mild hangover we went out to explore Medellín. My goal for the day was to earn 5 brownie points walking around looking at art and stuff...
I can usually get Stevie to do almost anything I want without her knowing. Take the first photo below for example. "That's good honey, now turn and face the statue, but look this way, a little more, face the statue, good, now hold that pose...". Unfortunately I lost a brownie point after she saw the photo, but it was worth it.
Walking around during the day you would think Medellín was a sleepy town, but it really comes to life at night...
I love these two photos below. In the first one a man in a wheel chair sells lottery tickets in front of the plaza church. In the second photo, life imitates art, again...
After some sight seeing, the party kept on rolling. Another peak into the Outdoorplay customer database delivered a kayaking contact living in Medellín. Mauricio has been buying Outdoorplay Kayaks for over 10 years and is on a first name basis with ODP's General Manager, Brian Massey.
We were invited to dinner and showed up at his palace (I mean super ridiculously cool penthouse) not really knowing what to expect. I mean after all, what do you say to a 10 year customer you've never met? It turns out that no words were needed. Mauricio and his wonderful wife, Natalia, welcomed us with hugs, and the bottles of wine started popping...
It didn't take long for the party to really get rolling. Wine was sipped while Scotch was poured, and everything was chased with Aguardiente, a Colombian favorite. After a while things started getting blurry...
Two other Colombian couples joined the party. Charlie and his brother Camilo were accompanied by their lovely ladies, Nico and Claudia. They welcomed us to their country with hugs and kisses.
At 10pm there was still no sign of dinner. At around 11:30pm Stevie an I gave up on dinner, thinking that this was just how Colombians rolled. But, at 1am, Mauricio set the table and we finally ate!
By the end of the night things were really blurry, but I remember conversations about the ocean and plans being made on our behalf. Looks like we might be here longer than expected. TREE
9 comments:
I frickin' love South America! ♥
dinner at 1:00......................oh my gosh, I woulda been passed out in my plate!
Monica
Dinner at 1am? wow after wine and scotch i dont think i would be that hungry....cant wait to see more..that beef and wine restaurant looked really cool!
was there anything else served up at the party? You're in Colombia and eating at 1am. Had to ask...
wonder wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuman!
looks like good times. Wish I was there with you guys
You guys rock. And thank you so much to all ofthe amazing people who are meetig you and loving you as much as we do.
I am so glad you are really "pressing the flesh" ! Meeting people in South America. The two times I traveled SA I found the people were great. I have never been to Columbia sound great! La vida!
Val - You kow becasue you've been here, these countries are amazing!
Monica/Melissa - 1am dinner was a big push for me! I like to go to bed at 8pm. :)
Darren - tried to skype you??? where you been
Sis - Love you
Ben - pressing flesh as fast as we can!
TREE
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