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I still have two more cities to catch up on in the blog, but I have to write really quickly about our day today because I fell in love with Colombia today and I'm still on a high from it.
First of all, we have been in Medellin for nearly a week now and it is, hands down, the best big city we've been to yet. It's great for so many reasons, but I will go into that more when I blog about Medellin. Right now I need to write about the area that surrounds Medellin, for Medellin is in the department (which is their name for a state, province, etc.) of Antioquia. And Antioquia is definitely the most breathtakingly beautiful department of Colombia. The plants are the greenest green you'll ever see, the flowers are vivid and exotic, the climate is lovely (with the nickname of "City of Eternal Spring"), the culture is great... I could go on and on. Ryan and I have both decided that if we ever move to Colombia (which, of course, is already on my mind), we will move to Antioquia.
Today we took a bus to a nearby town called Guatape. Just
outside Guatape there is a giant rock called El Peñol. The part of the rock that you can see is massive, and that's only 1/3 of it because the other 2/3 is underwater. You can climb to the top of El Peñol for the most amazing 360 degree views. I have seen a lot of beautiful landscapes, but this one is possibly the most stunning.
Then we went into the town of Guatape for a great seafood lunch and a short stroll through town. Guatape is the cutest Colombian town EVER. See photos for explanation.
The rock and the town were definitely the highlights of the trip, but the trip itself was also gorgeous. The views from the bus windows... man, I wish I could have captured them on camera, but it wouldn't do it any justice so I didn't even try. We passed a town called Guarne with beautiful homes scattered across the hillside, a public pool with a big slide, a beautiful red and white church. I so wanted to hop off the bus and go explore more, but alas, we could not.
I love, love, love Antioquia. If we didn't have Ecuador and Peru
waiting, we would easily stay here in Medellin until July and continue to explore the region. Often when I'm traveling, I get so overwhelmed by the sheer joy and thrill of travel that it brings tears to my eyes (yes, I'm THAT passionate about traveling), but here in Colombia there have been so many other things, good and bad, to be overwhelmed about and that moment of bliss hadn't yet occured until today. So, now that I have professed my love, here in front of however many people actually read my silly blogs, I will get on my knee and ask, "Antioquia, will you marry me?"
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Miranda
non-member comment
ryan,
did you pee your pants