Productivity and pretty city

Today I had an extremely productive meeting and managed to get some further meetings lined up for next week, including a trip to a nearby city called Armenia to see how they manage hazards there. So, after a few hours of discussion and plan-making, I was able to take in some of the sites around Manizales.

First stop the plaza near the cathedral. The military is on the steps there preparing for an event for the Environment Week. The second photo is right by the cathedral, an awesome bird-man statue.

The next stop was the Torre al Cielo (Tower to Heaven). I suppose that if you don't actually intend to reach Heaven it isn't sacrilegious. It wasn't even that tall, just well placed on the highest point in Manizales. You get a nice panoramic view from there, so I took several photos. Apologies for the repetition if you're checking out the photos I'm posting on picasa, but I was also waiting for a break in the clouds to catch some of the bright green countryside when the sun shines.

The sun finally DID shine, so Andreas and I went to the Bosque Popular, a large and very lovely park on the edge of town. Bosque is misleading since there aren't THAT many trees there, but it was still very nice to get some sun and some fresh air. I read through some of the grammar lessons and lists of irregular verb conjugations in my Spanish dictionary to pass the time and work on my Spanish, which is gradually improving.

I swear I am working very hard.