You'll be happy to know that as a man, I feel as awkward in a Colombian lingerie department of a shop as I feel in the equivalent back home. It's even more imperative to stray no further than 2.5 metres from your female partner here, purely because you stand out more as a tourist and I'd only get my grammar mixed up as I say in Spanish: “Don't worry, I'm not a pervert, I'm just trying to inspect the label of this bra to aid my girlfriend's research”.
Anyway. Football and beer, football and beer. We watched Colombia take on Argentina – it kicked off earlier than expected so the first half clashed with the aforementioned bra shopping. I was over the moon to stand outside 'Women's Secret' watching the first half on HD TV.
We watched the second half in a gringo-filled bar in the posh end of town. It served ribs and over-priced beer and Argentina ended up winning 2-1, which was a shame. Talking of beer and things being a shame, here's my two-month report on the beers of Latin America so far.
Costa Rica. Basically it served one kind of beer, called Imperial, which tasted like Carlsberg. 5/10
Panama. Lots of choice here. There was Panama Beer, which had a label which looked like it should be on the front of a super hero's shirt. Unfortunately it tasted a bit weak. Then there was Atlas, which wasn't great either. My favourite by far was Balboa, which had a cool label, was quite strong and had a great name. Everything in Panama is called 'Balboa'. They even call US Dollars Balboas, despite the fact they are definitely US Dollars as they are covered in dead presidents. The Panamaniacs must just really like the Rocky films - who doesn't? 7/10
Colombia. I wanted Colombia to have great beer, but it doesn't. Aguila is everywhere, it has a great label, a pretty dull name ('Aguila' is Spanish for 'Eagle') and tastes really bland. Poker is better, but hard to find. Pilsen has a boring name, a boring label and is probably the best of a bad bunch.
But I'm not going to score Colombia just yet. Just as I was beginning to get sick of fizzy lager and yearn for a good old English Ale, we arrive in Medellin and come across 3 Cordilleras, which is a micro brewery which may just be Colombia's savour. I have avoided trying any because we're going on a tour of the brewery on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it.
Stacey would be justified if she made me spend the day visiting a textile and flower museum beforehand though. Bloody ying and yang.