Day Fourty-Eight: Villa de Leyva

Alejandro picks me up and we drive to Villa de LeyvaAlejandro picks me up 1pm and we drive three hours to Villa de Leyva, a small colonial town in the Andes. 

Puente de Boyaca

We stop at Puente de Boyaca (the Bridge of Boyaca) on the way.  Its a small bridge and monument to commemorate the Battle Of Boyaca, in which Colombia was granted independence. 

On the drive

We arrive in Villa de Leyva

We drive into Villa de Leyva and the roads become cobblestone, big cobblestones.  It is a small and quiet town.  I bet this place is very busy on weekends, but it is empty during the week.

Me in Villa de LeyvaPlaza Mayor

We grab a bite in the Plaza Mayor.  Talking to Alejandro, it strikes me how different his childhood was from mine.  When he was a boy, his father was the secretary of customs during Escobar’s reign.  There were always guns around.

The church in Plaza Mayor

He has eleven aunts and uncles and over fifty cousins.  Family affairs sound like major events.  He tells me about how his uncle took him, Felipe and his other cousins when they were very young, to watch him stab a pig in the heart.

Plaza MayorIt rains off and on and it is cold in the mountains.  I did not pack for this weather in Colombia.  See more pictures.