Jardin Botanico- José Celestino Mutis

The Botanic Garden is part showcases of flora in Colombia, part conservation effort, part teaching gardens plus a beautiful Butterfly Garden. It is named after astronomer and botanist José Celestino Mutis who also contributed Colombia's first observatory and was fundamental to increasing knowledge in the country.

My favorite parts were the palm grove and the rose garden that had roses that looked so perfect they could only be works of art.

Short Video: Bogotá

Back in the snow, I have over 2, 000 pictures more to publish and tell stories about. In the meantime, I made this short video:

The song is "Volverte a Ver" by Juanes. It's a song about missing someone you love and I think it applies to Bogotá.

Bogotá is unlike anything you'd ever expect. It's a city of 8 million people and it's always alive. These are just some of the beautiful things you can see there.

Ciclovia- Bogotá's Bicycle Lanes

On Sundays and holidays, Bogotá opens up the Ciclovia and closes principal avenues to clear the way for cycling and skating aficionados. We rented two bikes and joined in on the fun. Although the ciclovia extends for most of the city, we stayed in a 8-block area since we were on rentals and I didn't exactly think I could rush back to the bike shop in time.

Nonetheless, we had an awesome time and, since we were around the city's principal Plaza Bolivar, had bonus fun of people-watching.

On the outskirts of Bogotá...El Dorado

Friends of friends took us on a small tour of the towns around Bogotá today that can be reached by the highway. All along the way, the Cordillera provided beautiful vistas. We forgot the camera, so the pictures below are similes of sorts.

Suba: Exurb of Bogotá. It started out small but is now a place for the upwardly mobile. It's grown really big and has a lot of construction.

Chia: We just saw a picturesque town with a range of homes from very humble to gated and invisible.

Cajicá: Drove on the outskirts. Lots of pretty houses.

Sopo: Home of Alpina milk products. Alpina was started in the 40's by Swiss guys who saw in Colombia the perfect opportunity to start a dairy operation. Alpina is Colombia's largest producer of milk products and they have a market, La Cabaña, for their products (which are also in markets all over Colombia.) I tried their cottage cheese, arequipe, and grape combo. Delicious and extremely filling.

La Cabaña was very crowded, so multiply the number of people in this picture by 3.

Guasca: Drove around it. Small.

Guatavita: About 40 years ago, an energy company in Bogotá received permission to flood a 504-yr old town to help meet the energy needs of the capital. In exchange, they built another town, a replica of one in Granada, Spain. The flooded area is the Embalse de Tominé. The town they flooded was the basis for the legend of "El Dorado".

The original town of Guatavita was the capital of the Chibchas of Zipazgo. It's sacred lake was where the chiefs of the Chibchas made offerings of gold to their goddess. The Spanish didn't really get that this was more of a ritual and were among the first to try to drain the lake in search for gold. (Which probably means they used forced native labor for a futile task.)

The new town of Guanavita is white-washed houses and government buildings including a town hall, church and plaza de toros (bullfighting ring.) Somehow, it has an old soul.

La Calera: Posh suburb of Bogotá. It has a winding road that leads into the city and gives a magnificent view of the city.

La Candelaria

La Candelaria is Bogotá's historic district. It's filled with universities, schools and museums. Scattered throughout the neighborhood are a myriad of hostels so the area is always filled with tourists from abroad and Colombia. You can walk to most of the museums and the buildings are almost all colonial.

It's a bit disconcerting to see the dogs that run around free here- back home I am always afraid a lose dog will bite me but that's probably because it's rare to see. A lot of the walls in the streets are full of graffiti, but if you think about the sheer number of young people that are in this small area it makes sense.

A lot of the graffiti is political, but there are entire walls with a more artistic bent.

In Bogotá, the streets are organized according to a new alphanumeric system, but in La Candelaria- Centro you can still see the interesting names they had before Carrera #.

Plaza Bolivar marks one of the boundaries of La Candelaria and hosts the congressional and judicial buildings. On our first Saturday, an awards ceremony was held by the police. Almost all of the soldiers/policemen are extremely young.

Yes, that is a llama:

The area is in the shadow of Monserrate and evenings are always picturesque.

Museo del Oro

The Museum of Gold in Bogotá is a sight to behold: the metal workings of pre- and post-Columbian South America are on display there. Most of the gold-workings are pre-Columbian since the Spanish weren't especially interested in the local art, they just wanted the gold.

In the second floor, there is a fascinating display that shows how early goldsmiths were able to use as little as 10% gold mixed with copper to create gilded jewelry, decorative armaments and crowns for their leaders. When the Spaniards saw these, they assumed that

the natives were swimming in gold and this led them to employ all their energies to find these non-existent fountains. The rest of the displays show the different modes of metal-working used throughout Colombia.

La Casa de Manuelita Sáenz

"La Libertadora del Libertador"

The former house of Manuelita Sáenz is now the Museum of Regional Clothing. It is an exhibition of typical, historical and modern clothing from all over Colombia. Part of the exhibit is dedicated to the different types of weaving to be found in South America and includes tools and samples.

Manuelita Sáenz was one of the most influential women of post-colonial South America. She was an extremely beautiful and intelligent woman. She was an Ecuadorian who originally supported the war of independence from home. Later, she became Simón Bolivar's mistress and followed him to Bogotá when the government was set here. After she saved his life (multiple times) from the plots hatched against him, he called her "La Libertadora del Libertador."

Museo de Arte Colonial- Colonial Art Museum

This museum is simply amazing. It is located in La Casa de las Aulas, which a guard told us used to be a convent. It has a beautiful courtyard garden and the best part about it is that it doesn't sugarcoat history while at the same time showcasing the beautiful art pieces that came out of one of the most violent parts of colonial history.

The colonial art produced in Spanish New Granada (it was originally a viceroyalty of Peru but as it grew in power and commerce it became its own viceroyalty) is beautiful. The museum showcases not only the types of objects one might have found in the churches and wealthy homes of the era, but also the religious relics that were used to wield religion as a tool of colonization. The pieces are formed from the silver and other precious metals that were found in South America. The paintings of the various local saints and apparitions of the Virgin show how religion adapted to local customs to gain entrance. The saints, the Virgin, and even the angels all look different and reflect the people they were supposed to inspire by example.

Also on exhibit are a "Painter's Viewpoint" featuring the works of Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos, Gaspar y Baltazar de Figueroa and Antonio Acero among others. My favorite was one that gives "Trinity" a whole new meaning:

Lunch....

For some reason, whenever we get directions people assume we wouldn't want to walk anywhere. We walk as much as we can, but everywhere we've gone, we are told that taxi is the best way to get around. But, it's not the only way.

Bogotá has this bus service called the Transmilenio and we decided to try it today. Despite warnings you'll get about hugging your things close to you and watching out for everyone not in your party, the Transmilenio is just like public transport in any major city. It has it's own lane in traffic (like the T in Boston) and is a pretty effective way to get around. Well, it probably works better if you know where you're headed. We didn't so we had to double back but we had a very pleasant ride and got to see a lot more of the city.

We missed lunch at Quinua y Amaranto- it's actually made fresh and once they run out of almuerzo, they've run out! Instead, I had a mushroom & avocado salad, fresh guava juice, and a vegetable empanada.

It's amazing how important good nutrition is.

Bogota, First Week...The search for good food.

The first few days in Bogotá were a mixed bag. Viewed at night from the foot of Monserrate, the city is beautiful, resplendent. The food, however, wasn't what I expected. (Read: where were the fresh fruits, vegetables and local dishes I'd been looking forward to?) The best places we found to eat were a local chain Oma and a place called Crepes & Waffles. They are both very popular, but the food is definitely Americanized.

But now, success! We found this great place, Quinua y Amaranto, that serves organic food, Colombian-style!!

We made it in time for breakfast, so I had a fruit salad (strawberries, starfruit, papaya and bananas), French bread (fresh) with a delicious strawberry jam, and something called "Caldo de Huevo" but with no visible egg and it tasted delicious. I wanted chocolate but decided on carrot juice instead. It was a good choice because it was made on the spot and delicious.