Happy New Years...What???

Trying to decide where to visit in Colombia is ridiculously difficult. The country is huge and so diverse that it offers literally anything a traveler could want. Warm, stunning beaches, dramatic mountain towns, stark colonial towns, bustling cities, jungle and so much more. My little family of 3 had been researching for months where we wanted to go, and the list was long, but now, everything seemed upside down. We didn't know what we wanted to do.

After a full week in beautiful Cartagena, we scrapped our plan to drive along the coast visiting beaches and decided to head out of the heat to the cool mountains. In order to save ourselves a 3 day drive, we opted to fly from Cartagena to Medellin. We'd heard that Medellin was a city to spend some time in and seeing its gorgeous steep mountains dazzling green in every direction, it was easy to see why. But we were interested in Colombia's little towns, so we rented a car and drove out of the city and into the hills toward Santa Fe de Antioquia. The photos of this area simply do not do it justice. It is the start of the Andes so mountains aren't just mountains, they are steep, dramatic, impressive, daunting walls. They shoot straight up from the towns and cities and make you think of the tribes that believe spirits reside inside them; you could certainly understand the need to be in awe and have respect for these shockingly beautiful formations.

We drove out of the mountains into the stark colonial town of Santa Fe where we had rented an Airbnb apartment. Santa Fe had at one time been the capital of the area and promised to be a charming little place. We had stayed at Airbnbs before, with friends, but had never done it ourselves, the actual booking of it I mean, and this 1st experience was not what we expected. The place was a short walk to the town center and a few steps from a local farmers market. It was clean and modern and came with a best friend evidently, but not with a kitchen sponge. The photos had looked like it was a 2 bedroom which was a big draw since we had shared a cabin on a boat for 8 days and then shared a hotel room for another 6 days in Cartagena. We were ready to stretch out. Turned out, it was one bedroom, and was adjoined to the owners home with a special open air feature that left part of the roof open...open right into the owner's shower. Ya, I know, it WAS weird. You couldn't see anything, but you could heard everything. We were tired and disappointed by the end of the tedious check in (yes, we sign off that there are 4 small plates and 6 large plates and seriously guy, we promise we won't steal your dishes!), but the owner was insistent that he help us settle in. It was really very sweet, but we rented a place because we wanted to be on our own. We were excited to explore and discover the area, but it was late in the day and my husband, Jesse, was coming down with a cold so we excused ourselves as politely as possible and tried to get comfortable.

As dinner time came upon us, Jesse and I ventured out to find some groceries. As we stepped out the front door, around the corner came the owner. He wouldn't take no for an answer, he had to show us the farmers market personally. Then, because we said we were headed out for food, he started to insist that we sit at a restaurant and have food with him...or a beer...or a quick snack...or... or give it a break guy! We untangled ourselves as best we could explaining that we had left our son at the apartment and needed to get food and get back ASAP. It was a touch unnerving to have him so involved in our stay, but he was really very sweet and we could tell he meant well by it.

A half hour later and we were cooking dinner, starting to relax, when there was a knock at the door. Did we have everything we needed? Would we like a fan? The owner asked. He left, then came back with a fan. Then later came back with the need to show us how to open the balcony doors. Then came back to ask if we would be going out because the town was really all about going out at night and we needed to see that. Then the next morning he came back to give us a blender, then hang a hammock for us, then tell us he would bring us tamales (which he never did), then to tell us that he would be leaving to spend New Years with his family. That guy must have visited us about a thousand times. It was as if he personally, came with the apartment.

Luckily, the owner did leave for the weekend and we finally felt like we could have the place to ourselves. The guide books say that Santa Fe does a great New Years Eve celebration so we were really excited. Our 11 year old son, Denim, had been a wonderful sport with a lack luster Christmas where our biggest "gift" was that we were off the 'Death Boat', but now we were going to be able to really celebrate. The days leading up to NYE, locals were setting off private fireworks and the festive decorations were larger than life promising a truly magnificent celebration.

Champagne in hand (love that you can walk around with booze openly through the streets) we walked through the tunnel of lights that signified the transition of 2017 into 2018, a huge structure that lit up the whole town center. Music blared and couples salsa danced in the streets. We found a spot in the crowds on the church steps and awaited the count down. A band playing Colombian rhythms ushered in the New Year...without stopping to do a count down...not saying a word about it. There were no fireworks. Nothing special happened at all. Suddenly, all around us, people were kissing, old men were hugging, teenagers were making out and while I wondered if we had found ourselves in a weird 'Eyes Wide Shut' situation, it did not occur to me that THIS signified that it was now 2018.

Jesse turned to Denim and I and said "Happy New Year!". I starred at him blankly and our son burst into tears. We gathered ourselves up, a ragged mess of depression, and went back to the apartment as the rest of the town sucked faces and partied into the small hours of the morning.

Needless to say, Santa Fe was not the gem we had hoped for and as we nursed colds and our wounds of disappointment, the cold stone town fought a loosing battle to enamor us. We packed up after 4 days and hit the road, once again in search of a place to call home for the next month.

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com