D.C. Diary

Colombian Comedy

Simon and I are off to Colombia this afternoon for three weeks of sun, sea, sand and avoiding kidnap. Packing has been interesting: my rucksack is full of Marquez novels, sun cream and sarongs; Simon has first aid kits, diving gear and spare shoelaces. I'm planning to spend at least half the holiday relaxing in a hammock, but Si clearly has other ideas, wistfully talking about 'the unexplored mountains of Columbia' whenever I'm in earshot.

One of the things we are agreed upon is that we will be undertaking a 6-day trek to the Ciudad Perdida - the Lost City - of Teyuna. If you fancy a good laugh, have a look at their website - one of the finest examples I have ever seen of why one should avoid using an online translation website.

The first page is a photo gallery showing beautiful views of the different places you can visit:

CIUDAD PERDIDA Haughty shows of an urban emplacement tayrona in the head-boards of the river Buritaca

PARQUE TAYRONA Great extension of tropical forest on the brink of madness the sea and to the skirt of the Sierra Nevada

PUEBLITO Foundations of a city Tayrona, where extinct people estimates the architecture of this one

CABAÑAS BURITACA The spell of the river and the sea wonderful Place where the river Buritaca that goes down from the Sierra Nevada joins with the sea Tayrona QUEBRADA VALENCIA Waterfalls and Wells Natural Swimming pools with waters from the Saw, in the middle of an exotic vegetation TAGANGA I populate of fishermen Bahía where it initiates the Park Tayrona, where we can encontar special places for the skin-diving
CABO DE LA VELA Guajira Golden Sands change position of a second to other one, and the marine and desert landscapes are beautiful. Best of all is the kit list: NECESSARY IMPLEMENTOS: • Tennis or dull sandals or shoes of rest • Sleeping bag (Stock market To sleep) • T-shirts of Short cotton or bermuda shorts. • Sweater shirt or long trousers • Dress of bath • Towel • Socks (Average) • Product against the insects • Personal Elements of cleanliness • Lantern • Bottle for the water • Personal Medicine Brilliant. We have packed all of the above. And a small Spanish phrase book.

Happy Holidays (as I'm learning to say without cringing) to you all! See you in 2009...

Boston Birthday

Today is my birthday, hurrah. So we're off to Boston for the weekend (thought it was an appropriate place for a tea party). Back on Tuesday.

75 years of beer

Today marks the 75th year since the end of Prohibition. The 18th amendment, banning 'the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes' (you'd need a drink after working your way through that legislation) which came into effect  in January 1920 was formally repealed on December 5th 1933.

In order to celebrate, repeal day parties are being held today and enterprising bars and restaurants are seizing upon the opportunity to celebrate '75 years of beer'. A fine idea indeed - Happy Repeal Day!

The last sail of the season

We have just spent a wonderfully relaxing weekend up in Tilghman Island, on the Chesapeake Bay, where we stayed with our friends Libby (one of Simon's mother's oldest friends), Steve and Charlie the Dog. The weather on Saturday was absolutely perfect and Simon and I joined Steve for the last sail of the season before he shut up his boat for the winter. Although there was hardly any wind, it was spectacularly sunny and great fun just to be out in the fresh air.

    

We were the only boat out on the water and had the whole, beautiful bay to ourselves. This is my sort of sailing: nothing to do but chat, relax and enjoy the view. The most arduous moment  of the entire day was trying to understand why Steve kept referring to a 'boo-ey' in the water. However, once I worked out what he was talking about, I decided I was quite prepared to cope with 'boo-ey' rather than 'boy' in exchange for a wonderful afternoon out on the bay. (After all, if I can deal with 'erbal' rather than 'herbal', and 'rowt' rather than 'route', then 'boo-ey' really shouldn't be a problem. Or have I just been here too long now?!).