The city that takes your breath away

Beautiful colorful houses with blue windows, red walls and green doors. Wonderful scenery that takes your breath away being on the top of a mountain at one moment and at the bottom of a valley the next. Warm & friendly people everywhere. I'll never forget the day I first arrived in Medellin. Those were my thoughts as I was driving along Guatape, a small village in Medellin, towards one of the main touristic attractions: The Rock of Guatape, a sight we had to experience according to the words of Andres, our tour operator. As he was providing us with information about the village we were driving through in his cozy bus, my mind was wandering for a moment. I was looking back at the days before departure of my home town and I smiled: travelling to Colombia had given me the feeling that I was setting out for an adventure. "What if there is an explosion just close to my hotel?" or "What if the guerrilla decides to break into the city"? or "What if I'm kidnapped and they want a ransom that my family can't pay?!". It was the last question that kept me up all night, for I was certain that my family wouldn't be able to come up with the exorbitant amounts of money the guerrilla would demand for their hostages. I would lie in bed and think of my new life as a hostage: not bathing was the worst of my fears... But nothing of that sense happened! Now, I was driving through the most beautiful countryside I had seen and I had already made up my mind that it was fine the guerrilla did not want me, I would find a way to stay myself! A sense of complete relaxation filled me with every breath of cold fresh air that the countryside of Medellin provided. The scenery, the forest, the lovely waterfall we passed...nothing compared to the expectation of the country. They were far more.
The words of Andres brought me back from my pondering: "We are now passing the Lake of El Penol...This lake used to be the city of Penol. But due to the dam that was built in 1978, the villagers had to move. The cross that was showing right above the water, was the sign that once a little chapel stood on that very spot. Every year on the 31st of December, the villagers go by boot on the water and have a small sermon. The priest talks to the churchgoers through a loudspeaker. After the sermon all the boots go back to shore and people go on their way to start a new year." I got goosebumps at the idea of the lovely tradition, and felt blessed to be there.