Hilltop Getaway

Last night we headed out to the pueblo of San Antonio De Prado to celebrate a friend's birthday at their 'finca.' A finca is technically a small private coffee farm, but really means a weekend getaway cabin somewhere in the hills. Any Colombian family with more than one property always owns at least one of these and yes, some actually do make their own coffee.

Brent and I were happy to play the gringo card in getting there, affording us two seats in our friend's Pathfinder only because we might have gotten lost taking the bus. The car ride itself turned out to be a bit of an adventure. Though it's only a few Km out of Medellín, San Antonio de Prado is perched on a hilltop, with the only arterial in town twisting and turning through a maze of side streets. We went through the process of continually having to back up to allow other cars to pass through and nearly being sideswiped by fearless teens careening down back alleys on their dirtbikes. One side street we took had about a 15% grade, causing our tires to slip and skid before we kicked it into 4 Wheel Drive.

Arriving at the finca we had a good old-fashioned asado bbq; I'm always amazed at how much better people down here can barbecue their meat than me. (or maybe they are just buying the better stuff). A bit of tequila and we partied most of the night, only to wake up to a bright and sunny hillside masterpiece of which I of course, forgot my camera. I kicked myself again for forgetting as a train of neighbors on horseback, sipping coffee and blasting vallenato from a radio strapped to one of the horses paraded by and waved. I suppose this only means I'll have to head back to San Antonio de Prado with camera in hand, until then, I leave you with the central church, oddly, but beautifully designed for how it sits on the hillside.