Feliz Ano Nuevo!

After an evening and a morning in Bogota, we were off again, this time to the family apartment about 2 hours down the mountains (actually only about 50kms away but traffic is bad here, lots of mountains and perilous overtaking of massive lorries). The original plan of spending New Year with the Christmas Eve posse was abandoned when all 50 of them took the last minute decision to hire a coach and decamp to Cartagena. It took them around 18 hours with a puncture stop so we were pleased to have missed that particular trip.

We really enjoyed our time at the apartment relaxing by the swimming pools and having a quick game of tennis with 30 year-old rackets on a bumpy court. The view you can see in the photo is from the balcony kitchen. The apartments aren’t fancy but there’s a lovely sociable feel to the place – large groups of families and friends in the pool until late and singing on their balconies.

For New Year’s Eve, we descended the mountain by a further 1000 metres to the infamously sweltering town of Girardot, the home of Angela’s sister-in-law’s parents. En route, we screeched to a halt and pulled onto a grassy verge at 7pm, or midnight in the UK, and cracked open a bottle of sparkling wine to celebrate our usual New Year. We then went on to Girardot where we spent a sweaty few hours before everyone was finally rounded up and ready to set off for our evening out.

About 20 of us went to an organised do at a swanky military club. Expectations of a military occasion were not met. Instead, there were around 500 people, yummy food, fireworks and 12 grapes to swallow at midnight with wishes and lots of dancing. Like Christmas, New Year is largely a family occasion, and generations of families were out together, from grandparents to babies. We’re getting into the partner dancing now and although it can get a bit much after a while, we’re not treading on one another’s feet as much as before.Angela & family in photo

Happy New Year and hope we all have a great 2009.