Preview Party at Li'l Abner

We enjoyed the Preview Party - the last dress rehersal of Li'l Abner. Darrell is featured with Billy Worboys who plays General Bullmoose. Matt and Chris Hatch (my nephew) were there to support Lauren. Several friends also joined us!

Li'l Abner - Lauren as Daisy Mae

We are so proud of Lauren! She is Daisy Mae in the play Li'l Abner and is wonderful in this role. The Jackson Theater Guild's production is at "The Ned" Ned McWherter Performing Arts Center in Jackson. The musical is really wonderful. Sydney Burngasser stars as Li'l Abner.

Wonderful time in Bogota, Colombia

Thanks so much to Richard and Cristi Wernick for a wonderful time in Colombia! We very much enjoyed our visit with you both and seeing the lovely country of Colombia! It was wonderful to also leave the city to see the countryside and visit with Cristi's family on the farm!

We look forward to seeing you in Iowa in September!

Andres' DC - modern restaurant in Bogota

Cristi and I had lunch at Andres' DC - a really cool restaurant in the upscale area of Zona Rosa in Bogota! The restaurant is designed after Dante's Commedia - with 3 levels in the warehouse style restaurant - the lower level is Hell, the middle Purgatory and the top is Heaven.

Cristi's niece - Bibi works there. A World Cup soccer game was being televised - so the "Portugal" fan - visited with us!! The food was fabulous - but this is a "happening" kind of place!

Museo d' Oro - Gold Museum in Bogota

I have never seen so many golden objects - Amazing! A fortune in historic gold pieces is displayed at the Gold Museo in Bogota. The museum features finds from all regions of the country of Colombia. The final room displays the "Offering" - a depiction of how the native people tossed beautiful gold crafted pieces into the lake in an effort to please the nature gods.

Chiquinquira, Colombia

We stopped to see the "Virgin of the Rosary" at the church in Chiquinquira the Basicila de Virgin. The Catholic Church has recognized that a miracle occurred when the painting of the Virgin repaired itself in 1586. Pope John Paul visited the church in 1986 to see the painting.

Our visit to Cristi's family farm

Again - we had a wonderful time at Joaquim's (in the hat) - farm. They made us feel so very welcome. Joaaquim, Nicko and Jose David. Darrell, Hernando David and Richard. Richard and Cristi Wernick. Darrell and Elaine. Thank you so much for your kindness!

Joaquim and Mirian's family and home

We were delighted to visit with Cristi's brother Joaquim wonderful family. We have never been more warmly welcomed - and fed. We had a lovely 2 days in the country side. The meals were fabulous - fresh garden food with grilled steaks!! And a fun time around a roaring fireplace trying to translate the conversation!
The farm house has evolved over the years as Joaquim has added many rooms - and family frequently visits the farm!

Joaquim (in hat) and Mirian Silva, Cristi and Richard, Darrell and Elaine - the youngest boy is Nicko and the older boy is Jose David.

Villa de Leyva, Colombia

We visited another lovely town in the region of Boyaca - Villa de Leyva! An historic city - founded by the Spanish in 1572 - the typical plaza anchors the center of the city. Now the city is an important resort and university town. Many lovely restaurants and shops are found - including "99 bottles of wine on the ceiling!"
David Hernando is Cristi's nephew. We really appreciated his talented driving and willingness to spend a couple of days showing us the region!

Steets of Raquira, Colombia

Raquiri is really a vibrant little town. Behind the doors to the street - loverly courtyards open up as restaurants and hotels. A group of children take an ice cream break on the side walk!!

Raquira, Colombia

After a huge family style breakfast - we visit a couple of the towns around the Boyaca state area. First we visit Raquira - a small tourist type town - known for beautiful pottery. The town is quite colorful with shops and restaurants painted in bright colors. Darrell , Richard and Joaquim take a break in the plaza area with the central church.

Dairy Farm

The cows are milked at 2:30 am and 2:30 pm. The workers take the equipment into the fields to milk the cows and then the milk truck comes to pick up the fresh milk for processing 2 times per day.

Mirian loves to play with the dogs - Bruno (golden retriever) and Martina (Jack Russell terrior). The grounds are beautiful - with a kitchen and herb garden, rose garden and many beautiful flowers and plants all around.

Visiting Cristi's brother's farm

We had a wonderful trip into the beautiful countryside of Colombia - to visit Cristi's brother's dairy farm. Joaquim and Mirian opened their wonderful home and we had a delightful visit. The farm is near Chiquinquira in the state of Boyaca a few hours north of Bogota in a beautiful lush valley known for dairy farming. The home was filled with beautiful antiques and special features.

Wonderful lunch - Sancocho soup

One of my favorite meals of our visit to South America - was this wonderful soup - Sancocho - in Bogota, Colombia. A farm style chicken stew -it contained special spices that give it a wonderful flavor with 3 kinds of potatoes, chicken and corn. We had lunch at Hotel d Opera - next door to the main Opera House of Bogota - Theater Colon - currently undergoing rennovations.

Plaza Bolivar and Presidential Palace

The historic center of Bogota is also the location of the government - the President's home as well as Supreme Court and Congress Building. The statue in the center of the plaza is of Simon Bolivar.

Historic Center - Bogota

The large plaza in the center of the historic part of Bogota features a plaza and the Cathedral - The Cathedral Primada - was started on this site in 1530's by early Spanish explorers.

Botero Museum

Cristi and I visited the Botero Museum. Fernanado Botero is from Colombia. His work features paintings and scupltures of "Large" people and things. The Naples Museum did an exposition of his work in 2009. Bogota is noted for a wonderful museum scene.