First Anniversary in Manizales

For our one year anniversary we decided to travel to the Coffee Region of Colombia to a small city, Manizales.  It was an interesting bus ride up the mountains.  We opted for a van to drive from Medellin; which was most likely a mistake.  The driver sped up the highway blaring his horn as we paced anyone that crossed our path.  I fit snugly between Dale and a larger then average Colombian man.  As we flew around the corners of the highway on two wheels I enjoyed a workout trying to not let gravity flop by body onto the lap of the other passenger.  I have never been so afraid for my life and so motion sick in my life.  By pure luck we made it to Manizales and an hour earlier then planned, lucky us! 

We enjoyed a ride around the city on our way to the fancy hotel that we booked for our first anniversary.  The city looked a lot like Medellin but a lot smaller and a little older.  The views of the mountains made up for any of the beauty lost on the older buildings.  We went to the center of the city, which was full of crowded bustling people.  Our hotel was not what we expected and although we thought that we booked a fancy hotel it was anything but that.  As we acquainted ourselves with our hotel room we just had to start laugh at all the inadequacies.  One of the funnier quirks was that the hotel’s old elevator shook our entire room every time it went up or down.  We made the most of it and enjoyed our stay despite the comical luxury hotel. 

We loved the coffee farm that we got to visit.  They picked us up from our hotel and drove into the mountains to a very cute farmhouse where we were greeted with delicious espressos.  We got a little lesson about the origins of coffee.  After our lesson we went into the coffee fields and through the factory, where we continued to learn more about coffee.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the farm (and a lot more coffee) before returning to the busy city streets. 

 

 Lucky for us we ended up visiting Manizales during their theater festival.

  The city was full of performers everywhere.  We strolled down the street stopping occasionally to see different performances.  They had circus clowns performing to children, traditional dancers in the park, and a big man dressed in a penguin suit singing his heart out to the crowd.

The colors and life that breathed throughout the city was incredible.  They had the friendliness and love for life that I have found in Medellin with a small college city scene.  We really enjoyed our weekend in Manizales.

Coffee Farm

Theater Festival

Tango Singer

Dancers