"Cali Colombia" a Cali Travel Page by abouttime

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At Dinner

First NIght and Day

Flew into Cali direct from Miami. I was a bit nervous leaving the country for the first time but my girlfriend assured me I would be ok. Waiting through customs took about an hour. I was lucky enough to get the "green light" and not have my bags checked any further. Outside the airport was a madhouse, there were probably 1000 people behind barracades waiting for relatives. Right away you notice you are not at home. I found my girlfriends brother first and finally was reunited with her. Her dad hands me a beer and welcomes me to Colombia. On the ride into Cali I notice familiar Pepsi signs and a Texaco gas station. We went to the San Antonio area for dinner to a resteraunt overlooking the city. It was stunning! The mountains are what really sets this apart. And the food was great accompanied by two guys singing and playing traditional songs on their guitars.Up early at 6:30 am. I guess I couldn't sleep. Everyone except for her brother who had to work was still sleeping so I spent some time videotaping the mountains outside. Cafe con Leche and Arepas awaited me for breakfast. Then it was off to shower. Nobody has hot water there so you have to endure a cold shower. Lets just say it took me about a week to get used to this. We went with her parents that morning to Unicentral Mall. You notice the extra security right away that we don't have in the states. The mall is gated and you have to stop by the guard to get into the parking lot. We stopped in a few shops and I was busy converting everything to dollars. We stopped in Extio which is like a super Walmart and then went to La 14 which is the local grocery store chain. Everyone cart seems to be half full of fresh fruits and veggies. We also get some OJ that is being made right there in the aisle. We paid 5400 pesos for 2 Liters or about $2 dollars. I notice people are also eating and drinking things they have put in their cart. I ask my girlfriend about this and she says they all do it and then just tell the cashier what they ate or drank. I told her that wouldn't happen in the states. She hands me a snack they call cheese and dulce de guayaba. It is very good. The other thing I notice are the eggs and milk are NOT refridgerated. There is alos a WHOLE aisle for eggs. She explains that the eggs are fresh and the milk is low in lipids so it doesn't need to be cold.
Since it was my birthday my girl took me out for a birthday lunch at La Pizzeria de Hotel InterContintental. On the way there I had my first experience in a cab. The traffic and driving there is crazy. There is no rhyme or reason to driving or obeying the traffic laws but at least everyone appears to be on the same page. For lunch we ordered a Large "Ciruela y Tocineta" Pizza which basically means prunes and bacon. It was exceptional. For desert we ventured to Mimo's (which means to pet) and I had a soft serve vanilla cone with a hard chocolate and rice krispie like topping. I also got a guanabana fruit bar. When I arrived back at the house the family had gotten a birthday cake for me and they sang the traditional happy birthday along with the spanish version. It was a very nice gesture on their part and was a perfect beginning to New Years Eve.
For New Years we went over to her cousins house and her entire family was there. There are many different traditions that they do for New Years Eve. One of these is called Ano Viejo which are stuffed dolls that they fill with gunpowder and burn at midnight. These usually have faces of notorious people. They also eat 12 grapes before midnight which represent the upcoming 12 months and you get a wish for each of these. Then at midnight everyone uses their fingers to flick champagne on each other wishing them Happy New Year. The craziest thing though is dragging the suitcase up the street. The thought is if you fully pack a bag for travel and drag it up the street and back you will be given a trip in the new year. The whole night was really fun and alot of scotch (whiskey) and champagne was had by all.

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Downtown by the Theater

Week One

My first week there was highlighted by my first Bull Fight. The atmosphere was great and I felt like I was at a big game back in the states. That night we ate aerepa de Choclo and Chuzo and afterwords wound up racing go-carts. The next day we ventured out to her dad's country club for a day of relaxation and swimming. Saturday we ended up at grandma's house for lunch where we had Torrejas soup, rice, noodles and homeade coconut ice cream made by her uncle. We spent a good deal of time at the malls where I bought alot of clothes. I was able to get 3 pairs of boxers, a wallet, 3 pairs of shoes (1 Bata, 2 Bosi) and a belt from Velez all for about $70.00. For her parents anniversary we took them to Cali Viejo for dinner. This was a truley remarkable experience.
The following day we went to her uncles farm for the afternoon. It really isn't a farm but more of an area with some land and fruit trees. Her grandma cooked Tamales for lunch and later we went swimming in a natural pool that is fed from mountain streams.
Seeing the sights of downtown Cali was our agenda for day 6. We toured the museum at La Merced (one of the churches) and walked around a took pictures of some of the other landmarks there like the theater and government buildings. We later ventured north to Chipichape mall and had dinner that night at Salerno's

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Week Two

The rest of the trip was spent visiting friends and relatives and revisiting some of our favorite spots. The week was also highlighted by trips to the art museum, the Cali Zoo, the city of Buga, and Largo Calima. This was a truley amazing experience and I am sure to go back sometime soon. For more details and pictures about the places we went please view them in the catagories below.