bigger than a monolith

Colombia is really a hidden jewel. Everyone in the United States is afraid of visiting so they never hear about the people in Medellín taking dance classes in the plazas or the friendly people and dogs. Or a gigantic rock sticking out of a flooded valley like the Lady of the Lake beckoning young Arthur to destiny.

I came, I saw, and I miraculously scaled Guatapé, Antioquía's famous monolith, during a daytrip out of Medellín. 740 steps doesn't sound like a lot, but the base sits at 2000 meters. Combined with my throbbing right foot, the altitude turned this quick jaunt into an exhausting trial. All bitterness dissipated when I reached the top and took in 360 degrees of the gorgeous green view, as you can see here:

flying the friendly skies

I'm ar Terminal 1 in SFO right now and despite a few self-imposed setbacks, I am at the gate waiting to board an Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle. Now I'm not on my orignal flight but that's another story about alarm clocks.

Alaska deserves a great big hug for their customer service. The clerks at the check-in counter were very helpful with my checked bags. It's cheaper to check 2 bags than to pay overage for one, and these heroes of the airline will let you know. Now I just have to hope that the runway construction at SFO doesn't delay me too much.

So far, this Alaska Airlines experience could not be more different from Jetblue odyssey to and from Colombia. I have never been delayed coming and going, nor have I ever been delayed as long as 10 hours. Jetblue's proactive reroute of my itinerary to Colombia is commendable. Sitting on the tarmac for 1 hour and causing me to nearly miss my connecting flight is not. And that connection from dull Fort Lauderdale back to SFO? That was a jetblue flight, too.

This poor soul didn't make it, and I almost thought my fate would be the same. Beware Jetblue!