Well, it's been a hectic few weeks, trying to get ourselves ready for another big adventure. Finally, we find ourselves here, in lovely Villa de Leyva in Colombia, with enough time to write. Our friends Angela and Nigel were kind enough to let us stay in their house here. The house, built by Angela's sister Lucia, is a work of art; built from the landscape, literally, and complimentary to it. It's a pleasure to inhabit the house, and inspiring to look out on the valley.
Columbia is much more beautiful than I imagined, it's green and mountainous with clouds that are in a constant state of change. We walked up the road from the house so Nine and her friend Catelina could go swimming in the stream. There were little waterfalls as you wandered up the stream, and then "extra" waterfalls that were tributaries to the stream, as you see on the left.
This is the main square in the village, at a fairly quiet time of the day. This village is one of the most authentic colonial villages in Colombia. They do their best to preserve it, even keeping the electric wires against the buildings (and painted white) so you don't notice them.
The Farmer's market. Sure, I'll try the "Tree Tomatoes". The people and the food, what else are you looking for in a place? They aren't in such a hurry here, one woman made Esther explain the entire process of making a Spanish Omelette. We gathered up a load of mysterious produce and headed back home to (try to) cook it. Oh, and of course, this is where we bought the chicks.
This picture doesn't do the house justice, we'll work on taking some nice shots. It's made of stones (from here) and rammed earth bricks (from here -made on site). The outside is relatively unassuming, fitting nicely into the landscape. The inside is gorgeous and human, with vaulted or domed ceilings in every room, tons of skylights, and a very thoughtful layout.
Ohhh, the colored peeps, Muñeca and Angel.
Before painting, of course, Nine and I get down to some serious discussions about color theory. After presenting various color wheel theories, we move on to painting our favorite things. That would be animals for Nine and a field of very similarly colored stones for me.
At this point, we're so enamored with Villa de Leyva that we're trying to figure out how to stay for a while. Stay tuned.
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