Salento, Colombia

For several years, I wanted to visit Salento. Not Salento, Italy; Salento, Quindio, Colombia. This is a small town in the middle of the Colombian coffee region located 3 hours away from Cali. It was isolated for a long time and as a result, the traditional architecture was preserved. We finally planned a short trip last December while we were in Cali. It took us almost 4 years to get there. Emma was amazing. She didn't cry or complained except almost at the end. We had to improvise her lunch making a quick stop on the road. Luckily, highways are very interesting in Colombia. You drive through the towns and there many things to look around. She got car sick and as a result we had to continue our trip with the windows down. That was all part of the "adventure". 

I fell in love with Salento and with the beautiful mountains around it. After living in Florida for 15 years, I get very excited to see mountains and green landscapes. We had the typical food lunch: trout and a huge green fried plantain. André loves his tostada as you can see below. 

The best part was having a Colombian coffee right in the middle of the mountains where it's produced. The coffee shop was antique and everyone makes you feel welcome. If you want to go, it's on the left side of the church if you are looking  at it from the town's main square or plaza. The barista has been the same for over 20 years and he has pictures to prove. 

Our hotel was only 2 blocks away from the Main Street (5th) and I would recommended it for anyone who wants to go. It's called Salento Real. It's a new building, but it was built to reflect the typical architecture. The rooms are small but comfortable, and the service was incredible. 

There are 3 big reasons to visit Salento and stay a few days: the town, the mirador (overlook) and visiting the Cocora Valley. I will share lots of pictures to share what we did in 2 days. It was enough time to see what we wanted to see, but sadly 4 hours each way is a long way to go and we were too exhausted. I would recommend staying for 2 nights instead of only one night. 

2015 Update

Every time I want to remember when my life was chaotic I can look at the gaps in this blog. November and December of last year were busy to say the least. We had 2 international family trips and I was working a lot to finish a few reports  and projects before traveling. I also attended a training for work in Pennsylvania that consisted of 2 different trips. I was in and out of the airport a lot during those months. Now we have finally slowed down and after getting sick during our Christmas trip we got back to normal. Emma turned 2 on the 13th and the day after she started to go to a pre school for half a day. Everything was ok besides her crying (and mine) when she had to stay at school. It didn't take more than a week for her to get sick. She got pink eye. I did what every mom would do, run to the doctor. I took her to an after hours pediatrics clinic and she got an eye drop prescription for pink eye that we started right away. The following day her eyes were better and suddenly she had a fever. We had a long night and I woke up every hour to check her temperature. She needed several doses of Advil during the night and I stayed up for hours. The next morning, I called her pediatrician and she got an appointment. It turns out that her pink eye was just one of the symptoms of a very common virus for kids her age. I never even heard the name before. It's called adenovirus. I still have to google the name everytime that I want to remember what she has. We had another rough day and she finally started to feel better yesterday. She is on antibiotics for an ear infection and that comes with a prize as well because her stomach gets sensitive. I'm just thankful that she is eating again and that she is in a much better mood. It might be because she had been at home with my parents for 2 years but I'm not an expert to take care of sick kids and that makes me nervous. I called my mom and my sister all the time to ask them for advise. Emma hates her eye drops 3 times a day and she is drinking apple juice with antibiotics and cough syrup in it. 

After getting something that felt like the flu in Ecuador, I don't feel like planning another vacation. After Emma getting so sick this week, I'm afraid to travel for work and leave her. Basically, I want to stay home for a while. We have plans to go to Orlando and take Emma to Disneyworld for the first time. We also have to move from the place where we live now. We have been house haunting since June and we couldn't find a house that we liked and could afford, so we will rent for another year. 

In honor of her second birthday, André and I planned a photoshoot with us as the photographers. Last time that we paid for one it was a disaster and we did not want to feel like we wasted our money. I'm happy with the results. We went to the University of Tampa campus with balloons on a Saturday morning. It was the perfect setting and the campus was empty. I want to start getting into photography again. I'm hoping that my favorite model starts to cooperate soon. Here are some of my favorite pictures.