Feliz Ano Nuevo de Boyaca. December 31, 2015

Feliz Ano Nuevo / 31 Diciembre 2015

Last night, after finally locating the hotel, figuring out where to park the car, and getting settled — we strolled the town (more on that later) and decided to eat at El Rincon (Gourmet) — a tiny restaurant serving Italian food (but also some Colombian and some Middle Eastern dishes (Arabe).. It was quite charming. At first they said that they were full and we couldn’t even wait for a table, but then they recanted and said to come back in 15 minutes (a table was finishing up). The restaurant seats about 40 people and it’s a sort of piano bar.. with (we think) the owner playing the piano and singing intermittently — when he’s not serving, greeting guests, and doing a number of other tasks.

Anyway, it was quite good. We started out with the Antipasto Arabe.. which included olives, some marinated (sweet) garlic, roasted tomatoes, pickled cucumbers, marinated artichokes and some other goodies. We followed this with a pasta dish (Bolognese which had an interesting mix of spices in the sauce) and our main course was some kind of steak that we remembered to have cooked “blue” or “azul”.. not “raro”…

We strolled a bit after dinner and stumbled on a bar that was playing 60s music! So we stopped in for a drink. It was about 11:30 pm by then.. and we were definitely the oldest people in the bar and the only ones who had a clue about that music and that era.  Strolled back to Meson de los Virreyes..

This morning it was difficult to shower until we got the hang of the water situation. Gets pretty hot after about 5 minutes.. stays hot for about 90 seconds.. goes cold for 5 minutes.. gets hot for 90 seconds.. and so it goes. Mike went downstairs to ask about the water and a guy came up to the room, but he only stayed during the 90-second hot cycle. That said, the place is quite charming with courtyards and great light and our room has a little deck (but it looks toward the car parking area unless you strain your neck and then you can see gardens.)

Went down the street to a little cafe (you know we don’t drink coffee, so it’s always a bit challenging) and had amazing jugos (juices).. I had the guanabana and Mike had some kind of mayacara (?) — Mine was great but Mike said “no sugar” so his was pretty bitter.. Then we began our serious stroll of the town.

Villa de Leyva is sort of like the San Miguel de Allende of Colombia.. wonderful colonial town built around a very large (and very empty) Plaza Mayor (about 4 acres)… I mean that it is empty of any structures.. even benches.. so it feels even more vast. But it is always filled with people.. and tonight we understand it will be body to body. It is already set up for bands and people are lining the “stairs” that ring the plaza… and it is only 6 pm.. The streets are also filling up. Villa de Leyva is a totally, totally cobblestone street town… But the stones are huge so walking is pretty dicey..  Given my history of spraining my ankle on uneven sidewalks, I’m being extra cautious..

Mike and I strolled for several hours separately and then met up at the Plaza a few hours later to head for lunch.. Needless to say there are many, many choices. Some guidebook said there were 140 restaurants in the town.. whose population is under 10,000.. but I’m guessing the population swells about fourfold or more on holidays and weekends.. although it is not clear where people  stay since hotels are truly tiny. The town was founded in the 1600s and in many ways has changed little.. because there aren’t any mineral deposits to exploit, so development is nil.. and the entire town is considered a historic preservation site. It’s sort of like a modern village housed in a shell that is 400 years old. Enabling the town to retain an unbelievable charm. But it’s clearly been “found” so curio shops and cafes line the streets.. But frankly, unlike some other towns that are big attractions, Leyva (as the locals seem to call it) has a charm in spite of the shops as the shops are all small, they are built into the first floors of existing buildings, no real signage… and the colorful things hanging outside of the shops are great contrast to the completely whitewashed buildings they are housed in.

When Mike and I met up, we decided to eat at what looked like a cute restaurant (with a good menu) — turned out to be the town cooking school.. so we peeked into the kitchen .. and I think that the wait staff were all students in the school and our meal was cooked by students. Started with pastellitos that were filled with corn and peas and potatoes, then large scamp sauteed and served with brown rice that had cherries in it.

Continued our multi-layered stroll and then did a little shopping (definitely the best stuff I’ve seen in all of Bogota)… Now we are relaxing as we prepare to head to dinner at Chez Remy and join everyone else at the Plaza Mayor at midnight .. (the end of my birthday).

Take care…

Feliz Ano Nuevo…… Nos vemos el año que vieneo…

Tomorrow we drive back to Bogota.. and spend the night.. we head to San Francisco on a very very early flight.