This blog is about when my mum and auntie came to visit me for two weeks, about what we did, what they thought and how it all went.

They arrived the evening of the 8th of September and I was a bit late, as they flew through immigration. A friend of mine (Felipe) and his dad (Pedro) took me to the airport and then took us back to the apartment, which was amazing, as they live the other side of the city. They settled in, had some food, we had a chat and then they crashed out having had an 11.5 hour flight from Germany. I don't blame them!

Over the next few days we did a load of touristy stuff, some of which I had not done. We firstly and most importantly had manicures and a hair cut; which was the first thing on the agenda for the next day; we visited two museums; the gold museum and the art museum, which has an exhibition by Botero, who painted everything fat…people, animals, fruit, etc; we walked around the centre and up the septima, which is quite a vibrant area; we went to the botanical garden and Simon Bolivar park, they came to my dance classes and joined in with the first class, we went to Monserrate (church on the mountain with amazing views), they did my English classes, we went to a jazz festival, church and an awesome market in a place called Usaquen where we shopped and had lunch with my friend Angela.

The next week we went to the Salt Cathedral, which I have spoken about in a previous blog, they met my Colombian nephew and his parents, went for a 3 day mini holiday to small town called Villa de Leyva, had another manicure, ate at crepes and waffles with friends, and made lunch for the family before they left for England.

Now for a bit more detail, or this would be a very short blog (which I'm sure some of you wouldn't mind!). I'll talk about the dance class, as I was very proud of the fact that they tried it, and slightly embarrassed at the same time! My teacher has the patience of a saint and continued to go to them in the attempt to show them the basic steps and get them back in time with the music. I was torn between laughing and trying to concentrate on the dance routine we had been given. But as I said I was very proud that they gave it a go, seemed to enjoy it and then got to sit and watch the pro's do their stuff whilst I continued with the next class. Not every parent and auntie would give salsa a go like they did! I come from very good blood lines!

Monserrate is a church on a mountain, which is very impressive. We took the transmilenio to a station that I had not been to before, walked up a hill (quite steep), saw a policeman with a segway for transport, continued climbing the hill, and then arrived! Mum and Patsy both got discounts as they are (nervous cough) that bit older, and we got in line to take the train up the mountain to the top. There are three options to get there, walk, and take the train or the cable carts. Walking was out of the question with them, the cable carts didn't start until 12, so the train it was. Up we went and the view became more and more incredible as we climbed. We reached the top within minutes and spent the next 2 hours observing the view, being in the church and being accosted by children because we were speaking English. Sadly the children didn't initially know which other countries spoke English apart from the USA and their guesses were France, Germany, Spain, Argentina and Italy, before one child said England. Finally! I spoke with the children in Spanish but they loved hearing English words and we were suddenly celebrities and had our photos taken with the children by the children. The church was really impressive to and there was a statue of Jesus carrying the cross, which was really powerful. It was nice to sit in there and just contemplate what Jesus did for us, but after a while it did get rather chilly so we left and wandered around a bit more. I had another first experience whilst being up there and got chatting to a guy from Argentina. However, when he spoke to me in Spanish I didn't have a clue what he was saying, as the accent is really different! So he spoke in English and I spoke in Spanish. Needless to say the conversation didn't last long!

The Jazz festival that we went to was a really great experience. We went with the brother in the house (Juan) and his girlfriend (Juliana). It was free and it didn't rain! It was located in a park nearish to the house, and had a really great atmosphere. Something else awesome was that Macy Gray (yes the Macy Gray) sung with an excellent saxophonist called David Murray. I got all little girl like and was like "Macy Gray arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!" and took lots of photos. A bit later two of my friends turned up, Jairo and Erika, and so once we left the concert we headed back to the apartment, two more friends came (David and Andres) and we had a little gathering and played the great, non violent game of 'Spoons'! It was so funny and Mum and Patsy joined in to. No holds barred…spoons got bent, hands got scratched, jumping across the table happened, falling off chairs happened, drinks got spilt and I think we all had a really fun time.

I won't talk much about the Salt Cathedral, as I have mentioned it before. All I want to say is that I had the pleasure of having my friend Laura come with us, the joy of all of us sitting up front on the bus/ coach where I don't think we should have been sitting and getting to share not only a picnic, but a place that I think is beautiful both in appearance and spiritually. Mum, Patsy and Laura loved it to, and we spent a good few hours there, so we didn't eat lunch until about 3pm and Laura and I were famished!! That evening we went to Daniel and Lina's to see them and for Mum and Patsy to meet Lucas. They loved him and cooed over him and I even held him for the first time for about 5 minutes before happily handing him back over to his mum. Confirmation has been had…I am not ready to have children!

Tuesday in the second week and off we went for our mini holiday. I had organised it through the school where I learnt Spanish, as they are also a tour company. My friend Anderson was taking us in the car, and would be our guide as it were. He and I had sat down a few months before I discuss what we would do, and now we were finally going to do it…how exciting! Our first stop was to a place called Ventaquemada to have Arepas, hot chocolate or Aguadepanela and cheese (which goes in your drink). The arepas were incredible, as were the chocolate and the cheese! Next stop, the bridge of Boyaca (which was the department we had got to). The bridge is the place of the last battle between the Spaniards and the Colombians, which the Colombians won and got their independence. The bridge represents this, as does the fire which burns everyday. There was a British guy named James Rook who helped out in some way and there is a plaque in his memory. This was a bit of a proud moment! From there we continued on to Villa de Leyva, settled into the hotel, had lunch and then headed to the old Monastery. It was really interesting hearing about the history, although I admit I was quite interested in taking photos rather than listening! So, that means I can't write about the history because I wasn't listening….standard! Anyway it was nice, the views were great and the well in the middle of the grounds was spectacular especially in the sunlight! That evening we went for some food (for the others cake, for mum two bits of cake, and for me a pasty type thing), then Anderson and I caught up before my tiredness took over and I crashed out.

Day two and off we went to the cascades, which were absolutely stunning. It was amazing to hear natural noises, like the birds singing, the water falling and the air moving through the trees. There was no sound of traffic, no contamination, no traffic jams and no horns…it was just paradise for me. I felt relaxed; I smiled within and felt privileged to be able to share this place with those that I cared about. From there we went to the fossil museum which has this insane fossil of a prehistoric sea animal, which they only found in 1977! It was huge! Sadly the North Americans took a leg and never returned it…no further comments will be made…promise…meanies! Anyway we then chilled out a bit in the ground, had coffee, took photos, enjoyed the scenery and then headed back to the town for lunch. We found this cute little place and enjoyed a 3 course meal of soup, meat, salad, carbs and a little pudding plus a drink for I think less than £4. Loved it! From there mum, Patsy and I went shopping and got some bits for Christmas pressies and then the real fun began.

We were off to the Terracota house, but for mum and I we were going on horses! There was a slight problem in that the man they normally use was doing all the maintenance on the horses, so we searched another place and found one that could provide horses. We had to wait about an hour, but as the sun was shining we took advantage of it, had a drink and sunbathed. We also then became acquainted with a gorgeous dog that sadly was covered in fleas and very thin. Anderson bought him some bread and he at least got to eat something for that day. The horses arrived wearing western saddles and looking in reasonable condition, which was nice to see. Mum and I got on, without helmets of course (who needs health and safety), and off we went with our guide. I chatted with the guide most of the way, but rarely understood what he said, so perfected my 'mmmmms' n 'ahhhhs' and continued on with conversation. We walked and did this kind of jog with the horses, and mum's horse got a bit over excited and went off at one point. She stopped it though and all was fine. We arrived at the Terracota house and I was instantly in love with it! The story behind it is that an artist wanted to build it, so got the advice of an architect, set about making the bricks and 15 years later…tadaaaaaaaaaaaa one terracotta house. They are now building a coffee shop for the tourists who come and visit. The house is fully functioning (water, bedrooms, bathrooms, showers, kitchen, etc) and is just stunning. It also has two floors, a rooftop terrace and a view to die for. To have a wedding reception there would be just stunning. After spending quite some time there, mum and I rode the horses back, and then we all got some food together and went to bed (not together!).

Our last day and we set off at about 9am to a little town called Raquirá to do more shopping. This town is full of typical shops, and 2 hours was not enough, but we still managed to buy more things for Christmas and for now. It was so cute and I would love to go back there to do more shopping. Next stop was a town called Chiquinquirá, which I went to when I went to Santander for Easter. We looked in the church again and had a coffee, but that was all. We then headed to Ubate, which is famous for dairy products, so guess what….we bought cheese and yoghurt. Next stop was Bogotá and the apartment. We hit some traffic but still made it back before 6pm. It was nice to then spend the evening chatting about the last few days and the next few days to come.

So the last few days, like I have said were actually quite busy, but we still got to spend time together, do fun things, cook for the family (mum and Patsy did this) and be reminded of how important family are.

So what did they think? Well as I could gather they really enjoyed being here, not so much in Bogota, but in Colombia in general. On the whole they liked the food, the drinks (the natural fruit juices and hot chocolate), and especially the fruits! They loved the range of scenery, the diversity of landscape and the range of climate. The loved the people, loved meeting my friends and family, and enjoyed being able to share in my life here. So did they feel scared, threatened or like they would never want to return? As far as I know, no. So please Home Office change your advice about people coming to Colombia….it's a beautiful country that has so much to offer and you are idiots to warn people off coming here.

How did it go for me? Well I was a bit stressed I'll admit that, I worried about their safety because they are very obviously foreign and my Auntie loved to just whip out her camera and take photos and even though nothing has happened to me, I felt a responsibility to protect them and show them the best there was to see. I did though love having them here and I got to test my Spanish with translation duty, which I can say went very well on the whole. It was strange having them here because it felt as though we had never been apart, and having them comment about things that I am now used to was interesting to, as I had forgotten these things. I love that they now understand more about my life here, they can picture the faces of the people that I talk about, they can picture me in my room, cooking food in the kitchen, relaxing in the front room and being squashed on the Transmilenio. They understand more about the struggles I face, the things I can't stand and the things I love. We have had our mini adventure here in Colombia that we can talk about for hopefully years to come. How ever so exciting!

That's enough for now, this blog is long enough!

Next up date soon!

Abrazos y besitos (hugs and kisses)