Villa de Leyva and other small towns

May 29 - 31. Friday morning, before going to Villa de Leyva, Juan Pablo took Izzy and I out to a small town where we visited a salt mine. Normally that wouldn´t be to exciting except for the church made of salt in the mine. There were different stations that represented the life and death of Jesus along the way. Later that day, we went to a small mountain town north of Bogotá called Villa de Leyva. It was a nice break from the big city noise of Bogotá. The trip out there consisted of winding through mountain roads and a lot of recalculating from our human GPS system. Needless to say, we arrived in one piece and had dinner before calling it a night after 4 hours of driving. The city was very colonial in appearance and a lot of the buildings maintained much of there old world appeal. Our tour guides told us that a lot of movies filmed there involve settings from the colonial times. In the main plaza, a lot of people, young and old, gather together and just pass the time sipping on beers or sodas and talking. The town definitely had more of the small town feel. We had a few drinks at a local bar, listened to some sad music that was being played, and headed back to the house we were staying in. Later that night, Iz and I encountered a first, a 4 legged spider that was quite scary in appearance. We ate breakfast at a wonderful little place called Tienda de Teresa and filled up on about $3 worth of food. We spent Saturday morning wandering the town, bought a half kilo of blackberries for .50 and tried some other Colombian fruits that I don´t know the name of, and made our way out to some smaller towns in the mountains. The first place we went to was a field with ancient indigenous penis statues. The place provided a wonderful view of the town and the mountains around the town. As we were leaving, a group of what appeared to be Chinese tourists were entering the site and giggling profusely. From the site of the penis statues, we went to an old convent that maintained one of the best looking gardens we´ve seen here. Most of the rooms there were open to the public and tried to help recreate the feel of the convent when it was established 400 years ago. From there, we went to another small town that was full of arts and crafts stores and spent the rest of the afternoon wondering around there looking at little trinkets and souvenirs. We headed back to Villa de Leyva and joined the locals in sipping on a few drinks in the main plaza while watching some old main light fireworks with his cigarette in front of the church having mass. The kids in the square chased the little bits of fireworks that fell to the ground until one time, the last burst of firework didn´t explode until it hit the ground and the kids quit chasing them. On Sunday, we ate breakfast at the same little shop again and chatted with a couple who we had seen there the previous day. We arrived in Bogotá later that afternoon after another long car ride. The great thing about being here with friends is the fact that you can take a car ride and see the countryside instead of just being stuck in the city. Another thing we´ve noticed is a lot of military checkpoints and the military people and citizens give each other a thumbs up, its almost like a new symbol of unity.

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Bogotá - Day 2

     Our second day in Bogotá was yet another success. We had planned to go to an amazing church made in the local salt mines but instead, we ended up going to the top of the mountain on the north side of the city to get a nice view of everything. The view was amazing and a little short drive took us to a man made lake/reservoir that feeds the cities water supply.

     The view on the ride down the hill back into Bogotá was great. We could see the whole city sitting in its bowl. 

     From time to time, the view of the city was obstructed by mountains and driving through small towns. Everywhere we looked, there were people with their horses, businesses, and signs of building.

     For lunch, we ate with our friend Juan Pablo and his family. We had a traditional Colombian soup called ajiaco and a very tasty dessert called torta de platano(maduro y bocadillo). They were amazing to say the least. How often do you get to travel to another country and enjoy home cooked food your second day? After lunch, we went to a feria(open air market) near the north western part of the city. We rummaged through arts/crafts/food/alcohol from various parts of the country. Apparently, you can walk through and sample all of the food and alcohol you want. We got a good buzz from free rum and aguardiente(which is a licorice flavored alcohol very popular here). 

     We bought some souvenirs and other various things, went through a petting zoo that included llamas, ponies, and cows, and finally ate in the food section of the feria. There was food from all parts of the country and we settled on some cooked beef, yuca(kind of similar to a potato) and potatoes. Juan Pablo´s mom bought everyone a choclo con queso(sweetened corn bread with melted cheese) and Juan Pablo bought a champu(liquid dessert with corn and pineapple flavors). Both of them were tasty and delicious. I bought some giant ants for us to eat but we haven´t quite mustered up the courage to tackle them but I´m sure after a few spirits and beers, the courage will not be in short supply to tackle these giant ants. They are called hormigas colinas so feel free to google what we will be eating soon. Iz claims she won´t but I´m confident that with some liquid courage she will eat them and then make faces. We finished the night at a nice poche martini bar that was well worth the wait and money because that was by far the strongest martini I´ve ever paid for and I used to make them. The bartender was rather entertaining throwing around the shakers and bottles too. Basically what we are saying is, take a trip down here because it is well worth it. Enjoy the pictures and the soon to come video of a Colombian dance we saw at the feria. And the beer here is around .50 a bottle, beat that!

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Bogotá - Day 1

     Our first day in Bogotá was a lot of fun. The roads here are intriguing to say the least. I´ve never seen a place that accommodates buses, cars, bikes, motorcycles, skateboards, people walking, and a horse pulled cart all at the same time. There are lines on the road but those aren´t even suggestions as to where you should drive. The rule of the road here is if it fits, go for it. Anyways, we found several plazas de Simon Bolivar, the man who liberated Gran Colombia from Spain before it split into 3 countries(Ecudaor, Colombia and Venezuela).

     We stumbled upon a museum of old artifacts from the natives who were living in the area of Colombia before the Spanish arrived. There were all kinds of small artifacts like spearheads and fun statues of gods. There are still descendants of these people in Colombia but they usually aren't on the high end of the social scale. 

     We thought Paris was the pidgeon capital of the world but we were wrong as you will see from a photo taken at one of the many plazas de Simon Bolivar. A woman stopped us to give us a little brochure for a restaurant and when she pointed to where it was, 2 pidgeons landed on her arm like parrots.

     The complex where the president lives and important government buildings.

     Near the presidential palace, there is an old church decorated with red and white stripes. Along the wall at eye level is an old blue painted mural of what looks to be the Spanish arriving. They brought Catholicism to Colombia and now its the most popular religion amongst the people.

     We found several art and photography expositions and the art of the famous Colombian Fernando Botero, who is famous for his works of over sized and rounded figures. If you are unsure of what a cankle is, see the art of Botero, it will clear it up nicely. The flowers at the exhibition really caught our eye. They show part of the exotic side of Colombia in the midst of the city.

     After a lot of walking, we took an hour long bus ride across town and had a nice dinner in a place that looked like a brewery back home. Even though it's early, we called it an early day because the next one was to be even busier.

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Arrived

We have made it to Bogota, Colombia and are staying with some good friends of ours. We will start posting some pics after we´ve had time to explore the city.

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Let the travels begin!

We are preparing to join Juan Pablo and Marco in Bogotá on Tuesday. Tomorrow, we head to south Florida to spend time with some family before our departure. Packing is not fun.

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