Villa de Leyva, Colombia

I’ve only been back from my trip for a week, but it feels like I have been in Amsterdam for quite a while again, soaked in emails, enquiries and planning some other trips already. But of course I cannot go on with my life without informing you about my trip! So here it goes…

Colombia in one word? AMAZING. And I know that I use that word a lot, but in this case I really really mean it… Colombia literally amazed me. Besides Colombia I was also visiting Cuba and Cuba was like my dream destination. I had heard so much about Cuba and I just knew that it had to be my country. Colombia on the other hand, I had only heard a lot of bad things about. For example, it was said to be very dangerous… So to be honest, a few days before I left I felt really bad about going there. How was I swept off of my feet when I got there!?

First of all, Colombia is quite modern. So the circumstances of backpacking are not that bad. You can mostly count on good airconditioning, a nice bed, warm water and good wifi. All of this surprised me a little. But what surprised me the most, were the people. Where I was informed (or say warned) that people would be hostile thieves, I have only met wonderfully honest and nice people. You ask them one thing and they help you from A to Z. Not because they want your money – no, they would be offended if you’d even offer them -, not because they are simply polite, no, because it’s in their core. You just feel that they are passionate about helping others, not anything like what we’re used to here in Holland. And why? Simply because you need something. Oh, sincerity. I can go on and on about this.

So, I visited a lot of amazing cities, which I will tell you more about in another post. You can already check out my instagram account (@larissabruin) if you want a peak on some places I’ve visited. Photos in this post were made in the small town Villa de Leyva, pronounced Bija de Leyba which almost brought us elsewhere since we didn’t know… It’s a small town, said to be the most beautiful one of Colombia. And I must say that it was indeed very pretty. With all houses being white with green and red details, it looked very film-ish and stylish. So of course I had to take some pictures…

This is just a brief and short impression of how I experienced Colombia. I will write more about it in another post. For now, I am very busy with some upcoming projects and scheduling events into my full agenda. One of these events will be Vogue Fashion Night out next thursday September, 10th. I will be visiting the Zalando House a.o. in the P.C. Hooftstraat. From 18.00 until 22.00 you will there have the chance to win a premium item worth €250… Whoohoo!? And of course there are a lot more fun activities and giveaways going on in the street. So… who will I be seeing there?

Wearing: New Yorker palazzo pants, Zara top, Cheapasssunglasses sunnies, River Island arm bracelet
Photos by Oussama Benalla