A Bright Clear Day

Dear Friends and Family,

First, let me express my appreciation to those of you who wished me well in my ongoing battle with some germ. I think we are gaining on it. More than a cold, it appears to have been some sort of infection. No other cold symptoms except the sore throat. Anyway, I am on the mend. Got in my 5 miles yesterday although I must admit to having pushed it a bit and we kind of weak the rest of the day.

It was a kind of magical morning as I headed out. After the dismal Friday afternoon, the world seemed brand new. The air was crystal clear and the sunning was beaming. It was like someone had turned up the "brightness" indicator on my ipad! Suddenly, things that I passed everyday, looked freshly painted.

One thing that is new this year, is a lovely bridge that links "gringo gulch," where we live, to the isle in the middle of the Rio Cuale. This river divides "El Centro," the downtown, from "Old Town" or "Zona Romantica." Why it was necessary, I don't know, but as with the pier, they did a beautiful job on it,

We live just about 83 steps above the top of the bridge, behind the row of houses visible.

The bridge itself is 125 small steps, but they have built in some places about halfway up that a person can sit, rest, and enjoy the view of the bay from there. I will confess to using it mostly to go "down" rather than up!

One thing that is now the height of discussion is the commencing of Holy Week - "Semana Santa." We have never experienced the Easter Week here and it should be interesting. Already the town is beginning to fill up. Yesterday, as I was returning from my walk, starting up our street, Calle Guerrero, I was met by this huge procession. Houses along the way had purple and white material up featuring images of the Virgin. The procession was lead by a young man representing Christ and carrying the cross.

Behind that initial group was a priest holding a wireless mic and reciting liturgy. He was followed by about 100 people of continued the march down the street and, I imagine, on to the Cathedral. Impressionante!

The remainder of our day was pretty standard. Since it was so beautiful, we hit the beach as quickly as possible. I talked with a couple that we have seen at the beach nearly everyday. It turns out that they are from Vancouver, Washington. Very nice people, Art and Marilyn. Strange how you stay in your own world and then as you are both headed home you connect and discover how near to each other you are. In fact, when we went to dinner last night at Miel, they were there!

It was just a quiet day. Regular routine, some quality reading time. Just pleasant.

We did watch the sunset from Langosta's. My blog will not allow more than four photos, so I will have to save it for another day. Also saw a fellow catch a good-size fish off the Malécon. That was fun, for me, not the fish!

As I mentioned, we had dinner at Miel. They seem to be thriving. As the days dwindle down, where we eat is becoming increasingly important. We have dinner for the next to the last time tonight at Vitea and need to plan out the remainder of our last 9 meals. Well, we have to do something with all this time. It, of course, also means that I will be bugging you for just a little more than a week. Happy Sunday!

 

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