Today I chose a wardrobe item that has been in the bottom of my suitcase for a long time: a pair of pants. This morning it was cloudy and misty and after breakfast I went out for a walk. The daily high in Medellin is usually 24 to 26 degrees celsius and it cools down considerably in the evening.
In actual fact, it was not as cool as I imagined and I had to take off my sweatshirt once I got going. I sat for a while on a wet bench and did some sketching. This area of Medellin (called Laureles) is absolutely glorious with walking paths and trees and flowers everywhere. I hadn’t been out long when Rudy texted me that he wanted to go out for a walk. I packed up my stuff and hurried back to pick him up. We headed out to Parques del Rio. It was amazing. It is a long narrow park along both sides of the Medellin River, with bridges crisscrossing the water and plants and trees, many of which are labeled. There are super cool and modern play areas where kids can climb on wooden structures or play on climbing-net. There are lovely walkways and art pieces along the way. I will definitely go there again another day.
I came back to read and also get into more art. I had purchased some new watercolours in Santa Marta because I had run out of yellow. However the set I found was very cheap and turned out to be pretty terrible. But I played around with the paints and figured out some ways to move the paint around and in the end I actually produced something interesting.
After that I went to the store to get some grocery supplies and did some more walking. The fact that we are not sweating to death all the time really makes it easier to enjoy the day. Everyone seems to be out and about on the pathways. Many of them are out walking dogs or just enjoying the shady paths. Because of all the vegetation there are many birds to be seen. I shall have to look them up to identify them.
In the evening Rudy and I walked to a nearby restaurant (really just a hole in the wall vendor) for pizza. It was great. All in all, Medellin is a big hit with us.