A couple of days have passed since our last post. We spent one day studying Spanish and reading. Roger walked to a nearby market for "dinner"-- wine, cheese, bread and the ubiquitous Oreos. He did well considering the limited choices.
The next day, we met a variety of interesting people, both at the Casona and in town. We met a Colombian family at breakfast at the Casona--a man, his wife and teenage daughter. The man and the daughter spoke a little English so we discussed places to see in Colombia. They were interesting because he lives east of Los Angeles, but his wife and daughter live in Bogota. The daughter attended school in the U.S. For 9 months to learn English. She plans to go to a University in Bogota or Canada - the father did not want her to study in the U.S. because of the drugs and lack of focus at U.S. campuses. He had returned to Colombia for the holidays and the family was vacationing in Villa. We met up with this family again in town and continued our conversation with them.
We then walked to a little vineyard about 1/2 mile out of town to sample wine. As we entered the grounds, an older man waved us into the tasting area. We were encouraged to sit with him while his Colombian wife got the wine. We discovered that the man was German, but had come to Colombia 32 years ago to help it "develop." For the next 45 minutes he talked non-stop about how ignorant and inefficient the Colombian people are. Part of the problem was this gentleman's age. He had trouble forming sentences and when we tried to steer the conversation to something else, he returned immediately to the same subject. But his wife seemed pleased for us to be there listening to him. The winery, itself, seemed young--maybe 4 years. They grew Cabernet, a white grape, and a local variatal called Isabela. The red wine had an intense, sweet bouquet, but a dry taste. Roger like it. Kathy, less so. When we pried ourselves away, we hiked back into town for lunch.
We ate at Entrepanes, a sandwich restaurant recommended by Trip Advisor. From the moment we walked in, we were treated like family by the owner, Eduardo. There was only one other couple in the restaurant. We ordered our lunch and he began to tell us his story. He was in Internet Marketing in Bogota, but got tired of the city life. He had relatives in Villa and had come there often as he grew up, so it was logical for him to go there as an escape from the city. He continued the internet marketing business, but wanted something more. So he opened a sandwich shop. His idea was to have two tables, a small menu, and to serve excellent, fresh sandwiches based on the slow food model. It was an instant success. Soon his two tables were not enough...long lines of people waited to be seated. His restaurant has now expanded to 10 tables downstairs and another few upstairs, but he insists on maintaining the highest quality of food and service. He makes his own mayonnaise, sauces and sources fresh produce from the area. His brother, Andres, and his girlfriend help him with the business. He has dropped his Internet marketing business--the restaurant is more fun. This man will go far. He has found a perfect niche here in Villa...despite the many other good restaurants. In fact, he has been asked to open a shop in Bogota, but has resisted doing so. He said "I can't maintain the quality I want if I cannot oversee the operation directly." He admits that he is a control freak. We had a delicious salad, beef sandwich with melted Gruyere with caramelized onions, and mushrooms, fresh mango juice, tiramisu (made locally by an Italian friend), and coffee.
As you can probably tell by now, our favorite parts of travel are meeting interesting people and eating local foods.
