Sept 16 Friday & Sept 17 Saturday

Friday was another gloomy day, people were walking around with coats on, so I decided do the same thing.  I noticed in the last few days that a lot of women don’t carry any type of purse, so I wore my purse under my coat since I’d be walking for about ½ an hour just to get to the Museo de Oro, in the old part of the city.   I was just a block away when I saw a sign advertising “El Museo de Esmeraldas” (Emeralds ! ! !   My birth stone ! ! !) so I did a quick detour to take in this museum first.  It was located on the 23^rd floor of a high rise building and it is a private museum.   Introductory film showing how they mine the emeralds, and then a walk through a recreation of a mine shaft showing how emeralds are formed within lava flows and within fault lines (Colombian mines).   The information the guide provided was very informative.  The next room had displayed of emeralds in their natural state, a whole range of qualities and colours. The third room was a show room of jewellery.  WOW !   Unfortunately, taking photos was not permitted.  I was there for about 1 ½ hours and it was well worth the detour.   (This one was taken from outside the window on the ground floor)

The Museo de Oro was simply incredible, filled with archaeological finds dating from 3000 BC to the 18^th century.   Was able to take lots of pictures during my two hours there.     

Walked around the historical district, but only for a short while.  My feet and legs were aching; those marble floors are killers.   And it was sprinkling a bit.   So I found a restaurant, had some nice fish (trout or bass) with shrimp and mushrooms, covered with cheese.  Delicious and the staff were very friendly and attentive.   I eat early and was the only customer in the restaurant.   

It was still sprinkling by the time I left the restaurant but I decided to walk back to the hotel to help digest my meal.  Good thing I did because on the walk back I met a parade of Caribbean dancers making their way to the central plaza for some type of concert.  The sidewalks and streets were filled and it took me even longer to get back to the hotel at around 5:30.

I woke up late on Saturday and was chilled.  Another dark day out there so I decided to stay in.   I was very lucky with my afternoon at Monserrate with that sunshine.