Villa de Leyva

Weekends are for traveling and visiting friends and relatives.  That is what we did.  Two of our best friends invited Ada, myself, my daughter and her sons to their home in Villa de Leyva for the weekend.
So, our friends picked our daughter up in Bogota and drove to our house since it is on the way to Villa de Leyva.  It is about a two hour drive through very beautiful scenic roads.  It was a four lane highway, very good for Colombia standards, for the first hour of the route.  Once we got off the main highway, the roads got dicey.  The "winter" weather, heavy rains, washed away parts of the very winding and steep mountain road.  Our friend knew her way so it was not a problem.  I definitely would not want to drive this route in the dark.
A little background.  I had not been to Villa for over 30 years so I truly notice a change driving into the town.  It is completely dedicated to tourism and Friday evening is when it begins.  The main square had not changed but there many more hotels, shops, and restaurants.  And of course many more tourists.  Our host's husband had to take a bus because we would not all fit in the car so we waited in the main square until he arrived.  The uniqueness of this town is in part due to the stone paved roads throughout the main part of town.  As do most visitors who know the town, we stopped at the store on the corner of the square for a snack.  We bought the boys ice cream, my wife had a gelatina (a gelatinous candy made out of the heal of the cow), I had a rosquete, sort of like a pretzel, but sweet.  When our host arrived, we went to a very nice mini-mall and had something to drink.  I was very thirsty so I asked for a beer, and of course had to go to the bathroom.  I went and the sign said $1,000 pesos.  Well, I refused to pay.  Everything was quite expensive.  How things have changed!
Our hosts house is in the country so we had about a 15 minute drive on dirt county roads.  Their house and the neighborhood was just breathtaking.  Fresh air, beautiful scenary, good food, and great friends made for a memorable weekend.