Night Biking in Medellin.

We arrived in Medellin around six, maybe earlier.   The flight was quite nice. I forget how much of a novelty it is to board and deplane on the tarmac.  The view of the country was beautiful.

Since we were trying to make up time we lost, they sent us on the bike ride.  We were doing it after dark, which was a first for the company.   I  give them credit, they armed us with lights, a big bottle of water,  a scarf for the fumes, and a reflective safety vest.  I was really enjoying it, but I  wondered about the safety of the thing for others.

The beginning was a bit scary,  but eventually we found our way to the bike paths, which are quite developed and set apart from traffic.  We covered quite a distance, which I captured a bit of on my action camera.  I also started Strava, but forgot to turn off when we were done, so I deleted it.

We saw many interesting buildings and learned about some of the great initiatives being taken to improve Medellin for everyone.

For dinner, after the ride, we had a curious mix of fruit,  granola,  and yogurt.   My stomach and other parts have still not recovered,  so I approach each meal with caution.

We finished the tour and went for drinks at a local place.  I  think the name was Taicho.  The area our hotel is in is a raucous nightclub zone, and the odd pairing of tourists with skimpily attired young women (as well as similarly dresses women approaching men on the street) indicates the world’s oldest profession is alive and well here.

It Works on a Theoretical Basis

In hopes of finding a replacement for my cherry coke, I took a chance, and not an economical one at that, on this raspberry flavoured coke that came in a glass bottle. It also came with peach flavoured coke–but you won’t see me touching that with a ten-foot pole.

I certainly liked the glass bottle and non twist-off cap that it came with. It was rather nostalgic and maybe a reminder that we could stop selling coke in plastic bottles.  Maybe five years from now we will go back to this method and people will not remember plastic bottles.  Maybe on season 25 of American Pickers, the hosts will be purchasing those plastic bottles for 50 dollars a pop.  (I wasn’t conscious of the pun there until I finished typing and was reading it over.)

It didn’t taste great but it was still a nice change. I am rather curious why they mentioned British Columbia raspberries.  I didn’t know that was a thing.  Is that a thing?

I can’t call it Today’s Perfect Moment, but I am certainly happy I got to try something new.  I think it is important to shrug off ruts and venture outside of our comfort zone.  This isn’t more than a centimetre or two outside of that zone, but I’ve come to suspect for some, even that is too far.  It works on a theoretical level at least.

Drinkable Souvenirs

I cannot decide whether it is merely luck or a subconscious design on my part, but every region I have visited in the past two years (granted, it hasn’t been that many) produces some fantastic coffee. As a result, besides stamps or art, the souvenirs I have chosen have been bags of coffee beans.  Obviously, I can’t keep them forever, so they might not be an ideal souvenir from that perspective.  However, they do make a nice treat for me.

This morning, I decided to make myself some coffee from my latest trip to Costa Rica. I haven’t been back for that long, but looking at the photographs, seeing the group posts on Whatsapp, and seeing some fantastic pictures on Instagram again made me feel nostalgic.  The only solution was to brew up a cup or three.

Angelic Voice at a Beach Bar

After an adventurous drive from the rafting place that included a traffic jam, an epic 20 car reverse on a bridge to allow an ambulance to pass, the passing of an Exodus cycling group, and a driver change, we arrived in Puerto Viejo.

We checked into our accommodations, and headed to a beach bar to enjoy happy hour– which in most of my travels has lasted far longer than an hour.  This one was no exception.  As you can tell from my pictures (including the ones on Instagram) the sunset was great.

I have always enjoyed drinking at a beach bar– Wakayama, Vietnam.  There’s something just so perfect about it.

We decided to wait there until dinner and I am glad we did.  While either the first or the second of my two for one drinks, I noticed that I was really enjoying the folk music they were playing.  It was beautiful.  I was going to ask someone who it was when I realized that it was a live singer strumming a guitar.  I really enjoyed the music. I even contributed to the tip jar, so I must have enjoyed it.

I met the singer later.  She performed Sundays and Thursdays, and she was an east coast Canadian from Halifax.  I complimented her on singing– but then we had to go.

Such a small world.

Unexpectedly Perfect

After we got back from cycling and the rush it gave me, I expected the rest of the day would be just okay.  I was completely wrong on this front.

Our guide offered his own personal tour.  He said it would be great, but I expected it to be just okay.

We went to one local swimming hole that was just okay.  It featured a Tarzan swing, but that was about it.

Then we went to a jungle area to look for frogs.  I have to admit that they were really cool.

Then we we to the supermarket to get some drinks to take to the hot springs–the super secret hot springs that very few people know about.  That’s where the magic happened.

So there we were, sitting in a warm spring, drinking our drinks and relaxing.  Our guide even made us a traditional Costa Rican cocktail—cacique and Fresca.  The sun went down and we lit candles to heighten the ambiance.

Honestly, that was such a perfect moment.  It was like the universe belonged to me, and me alone.

Sadly, at some point we had to leave in search of sustenance.  That turned out to be a “small” pizza and a beer.

Reflection

Today, after a tasty afternoon beer that accompanied a stilted conversation that seemed to have no future, I was in need of some reflection.

I found myself seated at a window on the world, looking out at the people passing by. I tried guessing their ages, names, languages and dinner plans.  I saw families I knew were going home to eat pork chops.  I saw a beautiful young woman destined to eat sushi with a suitor, sure that she will have decided before the last course that he isn’t right for her.  I saw arguments, probably over directions, happening in front of me.

What is it about the window on the world that makes even the normal seem outlandish? What is it about the window on the world that magnifies the insignificant and shrinks the relevant.

My dinner entertainment ended when the burrito filled my stomach with spicy goodness.

 

Grill the Procrastinator

I have admitted to procrastination before on this blog. I won’t do a search, but I am sure there are several posts dedicated to the subject.  The only problem is that I have several long term procrastinations that I have not admitted to.  While I won’t outline them all, I have to explain one because I finally overcame it today.

Some background.

Last night I celebrated my nephew’s milestone birthday. I also got caught up in a terrible construction event called summer in Ontario which made a one hour trip into a two hour trip.  I was too tired to get up and cycle this morning although I had been looking forward to the ride all week.  Hopefully, I will find the drive to get up tomorrow morning, though Sunday is often a struggle.

In an effort to salvage the day, I decided to tackle one of my long term procrastinations. That procrastination was project barbeque.  I bought this particular grill a couple of years ago.  It was probably winter when I bought it.  It was on sale at the Superstore and if my memories serves me correctly, it was no tax day.  My previous barbeque was a lovely, if a tad expensive machine that they stopped selling at Canadian Tire.  The propane jets had burned clean through and there were some holes where there shouldn’t have been.  I put it on the curb and it was picked up by a scrap metal person making his weekly rounds.

I mentioned it was winter and there was no way I was going to try and assemble the thing with winter gloves on. So, I put it in the corner of the garage, promised myself that I would get to it as soon as spring arrived.  Either spring never arrived, or I just never got to it–you decide which.

As of today, it is assembled….mostly. I have one leftover part and I have to get a new propane tank.  I have one leftover part because the assembly instructions were the worst I have ever seen.  Now I know why the thing was on sale for such a good price.  I am going to have to do some online research to see where everything really goes.  Hopefully, it will all work out.

Besides overcoming procrastination, I feel good because I assembled something. I don’t have a lot of confidence in my handy-man (I would say handy person, but I am speaking about myself) skills and will always celebrate any of these kinds of things.

I rewarded myself with a beer (This one was called Lunch Money and it was pretty good) and an episode of Private Eyes–unfortunately Nicole DeBoer doesn’t seem to be making any guest appearances this season.

Glass Bottles

Today’s Perfect Moment is a cool drink of root beer from a glass bottle. Pretty simple really, but full of touchstones for me.

I found this bottle at the Dollar Tree. The Dollar Tree is running a distant second to Dollarama in the Canadian dollar store wars.  I personally don’t have a favourite, but for a time the Dollar Tree was the only place to get cherry coke–now I can’t get it anywhere unless I want the diet or zero version.

I like root beer. I know some of you out there do not, but I do.  Several people in my life have likened it to medicine.  My students have gone so far as to call it akin to drinking Vicks vap-o-rub.  I hardly think that is accurate, but if they don’t want to drink it, that means there is more for me.

As a child, whenever I went on school trips and had to take my lunch, my Mom would buy me Hires Draft root beer. I remember the can well.

Although I purchased this at the dollar store, it cost $1.25 plus tax. Was that a bargain?  No.  I could probably have bought a two litre plastic bottle for almost the same price.  At the very least, I probably could have bought three or four cans.  However, there is nothing better than drinking from a glass bottle***.  Imagine if you had to drink beer from a plastic bottle.  I can’t do it often, but once in a while, it is a worthy indulgence.

I first encountered Dad’s root beer in Japan.  After months of not seeing it, I came across the cans in a store in Kyoto.  I bought a bunch of them and lugged them around from temple to temple and shrine to shrine until I got home and got them cooled down.  Much like this purchase, they weren’t cheap–probably 100yen or 120yen–but every now and then I needed an indulgence.

I decided to put up both the French and English labels.  I wonder why they didn’t translate the expression old fashioned.  Also, once in a McDonalds somewhere between Quebec City and Montreal, I asked for racinette and nobody understood me.  One kind person said “Root beer n’est ce pas?”  Obviously I need to work on my French.

***Probably some people enjoy drinking from a funnel–but that’s another story.

 

 

Grocery Store Adventures

Trying new foods and snacks is not a particularly daunting task, but it still takes some nerve.  I mean, if you buy something you hate, you feel like you wasted your money.  That might not weigh heavily on you, especially if the actual price was not particularly expensive.  However, it might subconsciously make you a little less anxious to make that purchase in the future.

As for me, I like taking food risks at the supermarket.  I like them less at restaurants.  Again, it might be a cost thing.  It also might be a “ruined my whole night” thing.  I am not exactly sure.

A minor part of my adventures this year is to try some food things that I haven’t before.  Mostly this will involve food that isn’t from Canada.  Fortunately, I have a wonderful grocery store a few hundred metres away that seems to sell food from the world.  It bills itself as an Asian grocery store, but they seem to have lots of food from Mexico, Colombia, and Turkey (to name a few).

My students recommended this chocolate milk beverage to me and I jumped on it when I saw it in the store.  I was looking for something sweet and this seemed like a good idea.

As far as food adventures go, this one is not a raging success like the Melona banana ice cream bars.  Those were excellent.  This drink is …..slightly less than average.   It’s initial taste is good, but the aftertaste is a little off.  I think it is sweetened using something other than sugar.

Honestly, I grew up with Nesquick, so it is hard to drink something else.  I have tried Ovaltine, and Milo….and I just didn’t like them.

However, I won’t let it put me off my food adventures.

 

Coffee Break

My ability to connect to WordPress went out last night and didn’t come back again until about one. While taking a break from blogging certainly isn’t a bad thing, I like it better when I do it on my terms, rather than someone else’s. Choosing not to blog is different than not being able to blog.  I didn’t get to worked up about it, though.  I knew the problem would get resolved eventually.

It just put me a little behind in the blogging department.

So, Friday.

Friday’s Perfect Moment was one where nostalgia got a chance to re-enact itself in my modern day. Friday, I found myself at home in the late afternoon.  So, at around 4 o’clock, I decided to have a cup of coffee and some cookies (mediocre cookies not worth describing in any detail).

When I was younger, my paternal grandparents (Opa and Oma to me) always had coffee at 4:00. It didn’t matter if it was summer or winter, they had hot coffee.  For me they made hot chocolate.  In the summer, I asked for cold chocolate, but that was not for coffee time.

They also had something to accompany the coffee. It could have been cookies.  It could have been kipfels.  It could have been any number of things.  This happened every day at 4:00.

So, I did my best to replicate the custom. Now, if only I were home at 4:00 more often.