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Culture, South America

Bogotá and beyond part 2

December 15, 2015 • By

Before traveling to Colombia, everyone warned me to be careful. Former residents claimed it’s “not dangerous anymore,” while the Internet stated to “use extreme caution.” I don’t like money belts. They make me sweaty and I end up emptying the contents out in the open anyway so I decided to embrace an alternative method of safety—My underwear. I stuffed my nearly expired driver’s license (tomorrow) in my underpants along with some money and a credit card. I took the remaining money and my current driver’s license and stashed them in more visible outside pockets.

Unfortunately, I did not foresee a drawback to this plan until the waiter delivered the bill at the fancy restaurant in Bogotá and I could not seem to find my credit card in my purse. When the light bulb went off, I sheepishly dug down there to find my girl, Capital One. I laughed and the waiter seemed to understand my dilemma briefly turning away. It only got worse when I went to the bathroom minutes later and the driver’s license and the equivalent of $20 fell into the toilet. Safety first!

Colombia today is a thriving diverse country. It borders Panama to the northwest, Venezuela and Brazil to the east, Ecuador and Peru to the south and it enjoys access to both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. There are approximately 48 million people in Colombia making it the third largest in Latin America behind Brazil and Mexico. Bogota is the capital of Colombia with a population of roughly 8 million people. It’s crowded but somewhat pleasantly. The traffic is horrendous and everyone seems to own a car or two but with spring like temperatures year round and stunning views of the Cordillera Oriental (foothills of the Andes) it makes it bearable.

Fantasy Aisle

Bogotá Brewery

Bogotános appreciate dance, food and art. They blast music in their cars and on the streets (take ear plugs), they consume breads, fruits and specialty dishes on every corner and museums welcome as many locals as tourists. The city closes streets on Sunday’s for bicycling and markets with handmade crafts fill parks on weekends.

Colombians are a mix of native tribes, Spanish conquerors and African slaves. Locals claim their shorter friends and neighbors are native, while taller lighter skinned people more European. I witnessed combinations of both but the differences only striking when side-by-side.

Fantasy Aisle

Chivas, the party bus with booze and music

Young adults (or old adults) celebrate life nightly on colorful party buses called Chivas. Imagine trolley buses for bachelorette and bachelor parties around big cities in the USA. What could be a better way to view the city at night but with liquor and salsa music? It seems a bit wild for my taste but I’m all for a magic party bus.

People in Bogotá make jeans and t-shirts sophisticated and salt in their food a necessity. They brag about possessing 90 percent of the world’s supply of emeralds and exporting 70 percent of their cut flowers to the United States. They consider themselves American. I am not an American and I am a United Statesian or something like that. Don’t bother arguing. You will lose.

Fantasy Aisle

aquaspanela & cheese

For breakfast, Bogatános sip aguapanela (sugarcane tea) accompanied with cheese for dunking or maybe they will choose a papaya or guava juice. They eat ajiaco (soup) for breakfast, lunch and dinner and its ingredients include yellow potatoes chicken, an ear of corn and avocado. The avocados are the size of a cantaloupe and the fruits as exotic and as tasty as they come. You must try curuba, a banana “passion fruit” or uchuva, a small cherry tomato sized yellow fruit tasting like a cross between a grape and a cherry. The fruit excites me more than Juan Valdez.

Fantasy Aisle

Salt Cathedral located in a salt mine in Zipaquirá

On a side trip to Zipaquirá, my guide ensured I feasted on Parilla, a hearty serving of grilled steak, pork, chicken and most of Colombia’s traditional dishes at Brasas del Llano. I may or may not have thrown up in my mouth and then passed out on the car ride back to the city but I’ll leave you to ponder. Zipaquirá is worth the hour drive north of Bogotá to visit the colonial city still very much intact. I also suggest a tour of the Cathedral de Sal, a former active salt mine. Miners and artists carved out enormous Stations of the Cross and designed a baptism and sanctuary complete with pews for mass on Sunday.   It’s believed the oceans created the halite deposits some 250 million years ago and the area has been mined since the 13th century. If you are traveling with kids or more ambitious, there is an old-fashioned train that departs Usaquen for Ziparuirá on Sundays. I pulled up right as it was departing the station in Zipaquirá.

Old-Fashioned train departing Zipaquirá

 

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Culture, South America

A two-day sprint through Botogá Part 1

December 14, 2015 • By

If planning a trip to Bogota, you really must reserve four to five days in order to appreciate the city’s cultural institutions, as well as its many diverse neighborhoods. I crammed a little bit of eating, drinking and walking into my three days in Bogota.

Fantasy Aisle

Museo de Oro, the Gold Museum

My first day admittedly was a flop, which meant I needed to make the most of my time on day two and three. I started the day early arriving at Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) when it opened at 9AM. It’s worth an hour or two to explore the beautiful pre-Colombian gold collection and to learn how gold, emeralds and macaw feathers play into the history of what is now South America. The craftsmanship is quite impressive.

Fantasy Aisle

Plaza de Bolivar, traditional Spanish square and the center of historic Bogotá

Back on Carrera 7 (the main thoroughfare), I navigated the National Geographic Traveler Walk Through La Candelaria. It covers most of the historical district and sheds a light on colonial times with an eye on the present. The obvious start to the walk is Plaza de Bolívar named after Simón Bolívar, known to Colombians (and many South Americans) as El Liberator. His name graces public parks everywhere and statues and sculptures of him proudly occupy squares throughout Bogotá.

Fantasy Aisle

The Presidential Palace in Bogotá, Case de Nariño

Making my way toward the Presidential Palace, Casa de Nariño, a police officer shooed me away from the gates as I set off some sort of invisible alarm. I moved undeterred because a picture without security bars is essential to portraying the beauty of the building but when I went to exit the area two officers wanted to rummage through my bag a second time in case I was planning some sort of assault. It seemed like a good idea not to upset the officers so I wandered down an alternative route until a gentleman asked me where I was going. When I replied, “I don’t really know” in English. He politely said, “If you don’t know, then it is better for you to go another way” and he pointed me back to Plaza de Bolívar. Point taken and I returned though the security gates to tourist land. It is possible to spend an entire afternoon tackling the sights of Plaza de Bolívar but bring tuppence for the birds or an umbrella for cover. The pigeons are ripe for the taking.

With limited time I moved briskly through Museo de la Independencia (you must have an English guide unless you speak Spanish) and Museo Botero. I’ve never been a huge fan of modern art but I really enjoyed Fernando Botero’s work. Botero is a figurative artist and sculptor originally from Colombia. He transforms plump into sexy appealing, and chic. It’s a free museum and houses 85 other artists like Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso. I highly recommend.

Fantasy Aisle

Antigua Santafe in La Candelaria

I finished my walk at Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo, where Bogotá was founded in 1538 and then rewarded myself with a tamale and rice pudding from Antigua SantaFe. After consulting with my waiter, I settled for something less filling but when the 8-inch corn stuffed tamale arrived with a chicken leg fixed atop I negotiated I would not eat the arepa and only half of the tamale. When my waiter presented me with dessert choices, I completely caved and powered through a rice pudding topped with raisins, a local favorite.

The most important thing I learned in Bogotá is how to follow directions. Why is this necessary? The avenues or carreras move east to west and the streets or calles move south to north. Otherwise, I walked in circles not completely understanding why I passed 1 and then was back at 11. It’s very confusing and necessary to grasp quickly. As you move south, the neighborhoods change drastically and the discrimination in social classes becomes visible. It’s best to keep to the center or the north in the city. The northern neighborhoods of Zone Rosa, Chicó, Parque 93, Usaquén remind me more of fancy suburbs in Los Angles or New York City complete with modern shops and the likes of Jimmy Choo and Dolce & Gabana. I am convinced the drug industry is funding but my guides informed me there is money to be made in Colombia.

Fantasy Aisle

Santa Veracruz Plaza Santander in La Candelaria

I wrapped up my sightseeing with a Spanish speaking mass at Santa Veracruz in Plaza Santander off Carrera 7. My Catholic guilt got the best of me after I visited approximately 15 churches and prayed that I would not get mugged at every one of them. There was a big crowd for a Saturday 6PM mass maybe 100 people. Crying babies drowned the choir, women pushing strollers down the aisle and in front of the alter provided a distraction and men holding up their hands as if they were surrendering (maybe to God) provided more entertainment than a Broadway show. Adding to the chaos, Malonga (tango) music blasted outside the church the entire mass but the priest preached unfazed for 33 minutes. When mass ended, I admired the furnishings and the beautiful design and then giggled for a few minutes. At the very least, my parents and Godparents will be proud.

 

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