Villa de Leyva

I'm writing this as I sit in a beautiful park in a place called Villa de Leyva. It's a beautiful colonial town about 3m5 hours north of Bogotá. I came with my host and another woman from school who are currently at a wedding. My host invited me to come with them so I could see the city  (it's a very touristy thing to do). We woke up at 4am to leave the house at 4:30, which naturally we didn't leave until 4:45, picked up Jenn at 5 and headed north. Their wedding was supposed to start at 10, which naturally it didn't  (another cultural tidbit: nothing ever starts on time and parties apparently last forever). The place we're staying is a house that is a hotel owed by friends of the brides family. It's a lot further from the center area than we thought and by the time we got there they had abut 20 minutes to get ready for the wedding and go. So Angela very nicely asked the owners if they could take me to the center, or the plaza. He agreed and when they left for the wedding we left for downtown. The first thing I did when I got here was walk into the middle of the plaza and take pictures, some of which I'll include. Then I did a loop around the plaza, the markets and restaurants, finding my first coffee stop. I found it all right and ordered a frozen coffee drink cuz I was already hot. I sat there and drank my coffee and read a sample of a book I downloaded on my phone specifically for today (I downloaded like 6 samples and already read 4). After the coffee I walked around for a bit, finding the park I am currently at (I just keep coming back cuz there's benches). Next to the park is a nice little store that sells bottles of water so I bought one and continued walking around the streets that go out from the plaza. I was looking at all the little shops and restaurants there are, and hotels and gardens and houses. There is so much to see here! Around lunch time I was planning on getting pizza but the places looked weird so I found a breakfast garden place where I could sit outside in the shade and eat. I got waffles with eggs that came with juice and café con leche. It was also playing mostly Beatles songs. I was clearly in love with the place. After lunch I didn't want to walk around too much right after eating so I came back to the park to read. Then I remembered a souveniers store where I had thought about buying stuff for people back home and set out to find it. On my way I found another one with great souveniers that I bought I still looked for the other one but didn't get anything. I kept taking new streets and seeing new things, taking pictures of everything along the way. I started getting tired again so I set back out for the park to read some more. On my way, at about 1:40 Angela called to say the wedding was over and they were headed to the reception for lunch and should be done by 5. So I figured I'd stay on the bench for a while and read, seeing as I had time. I finished yet another sample (they only give you like 5 chapters before making you buy the book). I decided to start walking around again, maybe find this coffee and pastry shop with a table at a window with a bunch of books on the window sill. I've walked passed this place at least 7 times and every time there is someone sitting there. So I went away from the busy center and went for a prayer walk along the less busy streets. I found an ice cream store, got me some ice cream and sat, yet again, at the park to eat it. Got more water and here I am, sitting on a bench at 4:30 waiting. I had a few more things written down to do, like find this terracotta house and go to this art museum, but when I walked passed the museum it was closed. And I have a feeling the house is a bit of a walk away from the plaza, so I'm not going to find it. I decided instead to use this time to write this post, because we all know I won't do it when I get home, life is just too busy for that, or I'm too lazy, whichever you choose to believe ;) I might go walk passed that coffee place one more time to see if that table is free, or another lap to waste time.
Update: I walked a big loop around the plaza again and returned to find 4 guys performing really cool music in the middle of the square. I stopped to video them, naturally. I stepped inside the church to take some pictures and then looked across and finally found that window seat open! It was just as amazing as I expected it to be. I went straight to the tabel, ordered a macchiato (definitely putting a picture), found a book in English and started reading and dining my coffee. It was wonderful. Then angela and Jenn called that they were on their way and not even 15 minutes later they were standing outside the window calling me. It was actually really funny cuz she was saying where they were and I kept looking out the window for the car  (I should also add that the window had no glass) and finally she said, "wait! I see you in the window, look to the left, i mean the right!" And I looked up and there they were! They thought it was super cute too and joined me inside where we sat and talked for a little while before deciding we didn't want dinner, we had leftover breakfast and they had a late lunch so we walked to the car. Also, this house hotel is beautiful!Read more