Villa de Leyva

Last Friday, Sister Barbarita took me to Villa de Leyva and we stayed at a friend's vacation home. It was about a 2 hour bus ride there and slow going due to many switchbacks around the mountains, but a pleasure to sit back and enjoy the scenery. Below are some pictures of the trip.

Lone farm houses along the drive:

Passing through a small town:

Almost there and the mountains look even more amazing as you see one range after another...

I was told the house was beautiful, and like everything else on this trip, it exceeded my expectations.

The living room looking towards the entrance and dining room:

The ceilings with bamboo on the edges:

The flowers around the house were absolutely beautiful, but I have no idea what they are. If you can help, comment or email me and I'll update with the flower names. Thanks!

Thank you, Tullia, for naming some of the flowers...just a few more to figure out!

Still not sure

Fuchsia

Fuchsia

Blue Morning Glory and Red Dahlias

Hibiscuses

Amaryllis

Bottle Brush

Lupine (maybe?)

Morning Glory again and maybe White Oleanders in the top back

Sister Barbarita wanted to take this picture for Guillermo; I couldn't understand why, but here it is...a service truck:

Sister standing in the main square (on the phone, of course, LOL):

Me in front of the church in the main square:

We often went to another church around the corner from the main square and also has a convent. One of the things I love most about traveling with Sister Barbarita is being allowed inside to see the beauty of the convents. Below are pictures of this chapel, church, and the courtyard inside the convent.

Blurry picture of the church :(

After mass we had churrasco for lunch which was quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Picking out the meat:

Beef, pork, and potatoes...Delicioso!

Better than bacon

Walking off lunch on the streets of Villa de Leyva which are cobblestone. I admit to getting tired of how hard it was to walk on them and having to concentrate so much on where to step that you can't enjoy the scenery around you.

Later that afternoon, Maribel (daughter of Sister's friend that owns the house and who helped ensure we had everything we needed during our stay including tourist stops) took us to the famous La Piriquera, which are a group of seven waterfalls outside of town. It was a nice hike down to the falls and great exercise getting back up.

Taking in el paisaje bonito:

How lucky to live right there!

The path we walked to the falls...quite a ways to go!

Made it down there...

You could repel down to the falls which I have a video clip of someone doing. Pictured below is Sister, Maribel, and the guide that worked the repel who Sister befriended on the walk back to the top.

¡Felicitaciones! (Congratulations!)

It's like Sister knew how much I love touring houses (yet another God moment) because next we visited La Casa Terracota.

Cooking in la cocina, a flurry of activity apparently

Around the dining table

Next to the fireplace in the living room

Sitting on the bed with Maribel and her daughter (hija, pronounced "ee-hah") Valentina. Thankfully my bed at the house in Villa de Leyva and the one at the school is MUCH more comfortable!

In el baño...although it's blurry, but I had to post it anyway; I now have pictures of me sitting on a toilet in Colombia and Ephesus, Turkey...wonder where the next one will be.

Me and Valentina from the upstairs balcony

Solar panels on the rooftop balcony

Skylights above living room

Awesome view

Me and Valentina

The next day, Sunday, we took a bus to the Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica in Chiquinquirá where thousands of people travel there for masses not just on feast days, but every Sunday. The church was very packed, but Sister Barbarita was able to get us seats to the side of the Sanctuary. It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad we went to it. The pictures didn't turn out well since there were so many people and we were rushed, but here's a couple:

We sat on the other side of the railing behind me for mass

The Procession of the Virgin Mary holding Jesús; Mary is the patron saint of Colombia

In front of the basilica

After mass we visited the convent across the street and had lunch with the sisters there. They were wonderful and sent us home with snacks. Here we are on the bus to head back to Villa de Leyva

On our last day, we visited the Ecce Homo Monastery which was built in the early 1600s by four Dominican monks. Very peaceful and beautiful here with many antique artifacts.

Fossils of plants and animals cover the floors and walls:

"Ecco Homo" is the Latin phrase spoken by Pontus Pilate presenting Jesus to the crowd after being scourged and crowned with thorns. It's English translation is roughly, "Behold the man" (John 19:5).

The Sanctuary and ceiling

The Resurrection

Chapel

Angel strengthening Jesus after His agony in the garden (I think so please correct me if wrong)

Inner Courtyard

Outside View of the Ecce Homo Monastery

We began the trip on a wonderful meal so I guess it's only fitting that we ended our time in Villa de Leyva with another great meal although much less meat...fruit (kiwi, papaya, mango, bananas, etc) in cream, topped with cheese. It was like dessert for our main meal of the day!