Cali, the beautiful

So we all packed to leave the hotel and Cali today but the Germans spent most of the day watching t.v. in the hotel lobby. They tried to bargain for a better rate for a room without a t.v. but I think they ended up happy to have it. For people who said they didn´t like t.v., they sure watched a great deal of it. I checked out a bit of Cali, checked out the Iglesia Ermita, bridges over the river and a small book market. I also cruised one of the main plazas that has palm trees taller than the buildings. Magnificent! Afterward, I changed hotels. The owner of the hotel, Dueña Stella, offered the Germans the same room at half price but wouldn´t budge for me. Her reasoning was that they needed help and didn´t have any money. Europeans traveling the world without money? I haven´t met one yet. It made me angry that they´d be offered a special rate but not I. So I took my pesos elsewhere.

It was Fredo´s birthday too, so we drank into the night on the patio at my new hotel. JJ´s. The restaurant below, called Hippopatomus, had burgers that smelled like heaven, the least expensive for 8,000 pesos. Just under $4. The most expensive runs 20,000, almost 10 bucks. We peered over the balcony and watched three people eating sandwiches the size of my arm. These were the $20,000 whoppers. We had eaten pastel de papas for dinner--they´re these funny-looking balls, on the outside potato, the inside filled with rice, meat and salsa. They fry them, and while delicious, not the most filling meal. The night before we ordered a tower of beer. It stood probably four feet off of the table and was gone in a few minutes. One thing about Germans that hold true: they love beer!