Friday night Lina, Guille and I went to Gaira Cafe, a bar/restaurant owned by the brother of Vallenato (a type of Colombian music) legend, Carlos Vives. Gaira Cafe is a definite must for anyone visiting Bogotá as it serves great drinks, great food and an unbelievable live show. There is really nothing better in the world than live music, especially live Colombian music. Welcome to Colombia!
Lina, Guille and me hanging out at the bar upstairs before we got a table for dinner. If you go to Gaira Cafe I recommend arriving early - this place gets packed! Luckily there is a large selection of yummy drinks that are uniquely Colombian waiting for you upstairs.
Once our table opened we ran downstairs for some delicious arepa de choclo. It kinda of tastes like sweet cornbread. This particular dish was made all the better with cheese.
We also had patacónes. Sorry, I can´t even begin to describe what´s all included but it was fabulous!
Soon after we finished eating the music started. Amazing! I have no other words... Plus, I think it would be worth staying in Colombia just a bit longer if only I could learn how to move like the woman in the above video. Once again... amazing!
...And then Guillermo Vives, the brother of Carlos Vives, took the stage. I´m in love. Swoon...
After the live show ended, music was pumped through speakers and people stood up to dance in between the tightly packed tables. Let me just stop now and say thank you, Lord, for introducing Africa to Colombia... they get along splendidly and I could not be happier to hear drums rather than the incessant panflute that I am so used to in Perú. Love, love, LOVE Colombian music - so much so that Guille gave me a CD by Bomba Estéreo due to my constant professions. I love the CD. Thanks Guille!
Guille trying to teach me how to dance. I´m afraid I´m hopeless but it´s soooo much fun!
Guille and Lina showing me how it´s really done. Very impressive!
Cute photo of Guille and Lina.
Lina and me.
Fabulous, fabulous night... I couldn´t ask for anything more for my first day in Bogotá.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Saturday, September 26, 2009
If you only have one day to see the sites of Bogotá let me show you how... It´ll be crazy but definitely worth it.
Saturday morning, Lina had things to do and people to see so Guille picked me up bright and early. And so commenced my nutty day...
Our first stop was Chorro de Quevedo, Bogotá´s origin, located in the lovely La Candelaria neighborhood. I recommend taking a quick photo and moving on... P.S. Try not to disturb the sweetly sleeping hobo in the fountain located at the bottom right hand corner of the photo.
Next stop - Museo Botero (named after the famous Colombian artist, Fernando Botero, who paints all things chubby) and Casa de Moneda. Both museums are located in the same gorgeous sprawling mansion. Anyway, before we entered the museum, Guille and I stopped at a Juan Valdez Café. Juan´s coffee could definitely rival that of Starbucks and his cafés are just about as prominent in Bogotá as Starbucks are in Chicago.
Guille suggested I try some achiras with my coffee... not gonna lie, they kind of remind me of Cheetos but they´re tasty all the same.
After finishing off our tintos and achiras we entered the museum. Above is a perfect example of one of Botero´s works of art.
Botero even painted a dead FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) leader chubby. Nice!
We also got to see some Picasso´s... I love the saturated green in this one.
... and some sculptures. I totally feel for this sculpture and her overly bulbous bee-bum.
One last picture in the museum´s gorgeous garden and Guille and I were off to our next destination...
La Puerta Falsa - a super cute, overly cramped (it only made it that much more charming!) two-story café/restaurant located across the street from Guille´s old secondary school. Here you can order any type of sweet imaginable or a tamal. My travel book recommended that I order a Chocolate Completo and so I did. A Chocolate Completo includes hot cocoa, buttered bread, cheese bread (I forgot it´s specific name), and a block of cheese. The idea is to break off pieces of the cheese, throw them in your hot cocoa and fish them out again once they´re all good and melty. Yummy!
Plaza de Bolívar was our next stop. It´s a huge plaza surrounded by many of Bogotá most important government and historical buildings. The plaza is actually quite a bit bigger than the picture lets on and the abundance of pigeons and people selling pigeon food make the plaza look a lot like a brother of Piazza San Marco in Venice.
Bogotá´s beautiful cathedral is also located in the plaza.
The president´s house, called Casa de Nariño, is located within a block or so of Plaza de Bolívar. Surrounding the president´s house on every street corner are cute baby-faced Colombian guards with big mama guns who would smile sweetly at me as they asked to search my bag. What else could I do but comply? ... they were just too cute (and they were holding those big guns).
The final stop for Guille and me was Museo del 20 de Julio. This place was almost worth skipping since the only thing worth looking at inside is the above pictured florero [vase]. But the vase supposedly spurred on Colombia´s independence so, you know, it´s a very important vase. Anyway, the story goes that a local creole, Antonio Morales, demanded the above vase from Spaniard, José Gonzáles Llorentes. This led to a fight and the vase was broken. Apparently this gave the creole an excuse to then start the revolution for independence.
At 1pm Guille and I met up with Lina. Guille took off and Lina and I started marching towards Cerro de Monserrate - a mountain whose summit is located 10,341 ft above sea level. The trail up to the top is currently closed (I was sooo looking forward to hiking it!) so Lina and I took a cable car up instead. The view was breathtaking and a must see for anyone in the vicinity of Bogotá. Below are some photos from our walk around the summit.
After walking around Cerro de Monserrate other people may have called it a day, gone home, rested and prepared themselves for a fabulous night out... but, you know, Lina and I choose another option... we walked to Museo del Oro. Why waste a single minute in Bogotá, right? Museo del Oro is full of intricate golden artifacts from the pre-hispanic societies in Colombia. I should have taken a thousand pictures but I didn´t... I only took one and I´m selfishly going to keep it all for myself. ;-)
Two hours later when I made it out of Museo del Oro, Lina suggested we take the TransMilenio (Bogotá´s super safe/clean/efficient/metro-like transportation system) to Bogotá´s dreaded south side. She wanted me to see the whole of Bogotá, not just the ritzier areas and I totally agreed. My travel books warned me not to go to the south side and Lina herself had never even been. We talked to Guille about it and decided that maybe if we sat close to the conductor, only looked out the windows and kept my camera in my purse we´d be fine. So, we braved the trip and road to the south side. What did we find? Only the nicest of places. I mean seriously unbelievable. There were tons of shops, restaurants, nicely dressed people... in short, the supposed worst parts of Bogotá remind me of only the nicest parts of Huancayo. Now this doesn´t mean that poverty in mass doesn´t exist in Bogotá... it only means that the TransMilenio doesn´t go there and perhaps the south side has cleaned up it´s act in recent years.
Unfortunately, after riding the TransMilenio from the north to the south and then back to the north again, Lina and I were exhausted. We had planned to go to Vinacure, a bar that specializes in drag show karaoke (sounds fabulous, right, but for some reason I don´t think Guille was too excited) but instead decided that going home early sounded like a better idea. So if you are in Bogotá and feel like some drag show karaoke action (and who wouldn´t!?!) please visit Vinacure at Av. Caracas No 63-52 and let me know how it is. Sometime´s it´s just hard to chose between guys in drag and a comfy bed. This time the bed won out.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday started with another bright and early morning. Lina and I met up with her brother and aunt and went to eat at Banco de la Republica´s (did I mention that Lina is a very important employee there?) country club. I also asked Lina if the Banco de la Republica is looking to hire any Americans... she said no. Anyway, gotta love the perks that go along with working at Colombia´s most powerful bank. Breakfast was delicious and what was even better was that Lina´s aunt spent the morning explaining CIREC (Centro Integral de Rehabilitación de Colombia) to me. CIREC is a government organization whose mission is to improve the lives of disabled Colombians, most of whom have become disabled due to landmines that dot the countryside. The government helps the disabled in part through lending start-up capital (micro-finance!!!) for small business thereby changing the social status of the disabled person while at the same time changing the community´s perception of what it means to be disabled. This is definitely something I am interested in and if I could find a position associated with CIREC in the United States that would send me to Colombia once a month or so it would be perfection...
But back to reality because I don´t think such a job exists... after breakfast I sat and watched Lina at her band practice. That´s right, Lina and some other Banco de la Republica employees are in a band. Who knew a group of bankers could have so much soul and rhythm?
Lina and her co-workers.
Video of Lina´s band. They´re seriously good. I only wish I had more video to show you.
A little after 1pm Guille picked us up and off we went to Andrés Carne de Res, a 100% MUST SEE restaurant located outside of Bogotá in Chía. I´ve never seen anything like it. I mean, how am I suppose to describe such eccentric craziness!?! Carne de Res sprawls for what seems to be blocks and blocks and blocks and every inch of the interior is filled with eccentric, crazy, artistic, junkiness that it somehow beautiful and brilliant in its collection. Andrés, the owner, is obviously crazy because I´m not sure how else a person could think up a place like this.
Soon after Guille, Lina and I sat down at the restaurant some of the equally eccentric actors, who are paid to wander around the restaurant (great gig!), came up to our table to entertain us. First up to bat was a crazy guy with a uni-cycle and basket filled with letters. He asked us if we needed mail services. Guille said no... wrong answer but I think we were just caught off gaurd. He wandered away (the guy with the uni-cycle not Guille). Then a card magician performed for us (amazing!) followed by St. Peter. St. Peter was trying to convice Guille to join him and some of the other angels for a soccer match at 4 o´clock against the devils. What were they playing for? The key to heaven of course. Toward the end of our meal the devils appeared in the restaurant and we followed them outside to watch the game. We saw the devils score one goal (they so cheated!) before we headed back in to watch the waitresses perform a dance. The whole experience at Andrés Carne de Res was amazing and utterly indescribably... excellent entertainment and excellent, top-notch food. Now if we can just figure out a way to bring a restaurant like this to the States. I think we could make millions...
Some of the kitsch that lines the ceiling, walls and counter tops at Carne de Res.
Guille and Lina deciding what to order... the menu was huge!
I tried some lulada, a drink made from lulo, a fruit that can only be found in Colombia. Delicious!
Our appetizers: Chicharron (fried pork), choclo and empanadas. The choclo (it looks like pizza in the above photo but is really more like cornbread and cheese) was definitely the best.
I told Guille and Lina that I wanted to try something specifically Colombian so they suggested I order ajiaco, which is the typical dish of Bogotá. Basically it´s chicken soup with potatoes and corn. A bunch of stuff also comes with it, which you are supposed to dump into the soup. I was given sour cream, avocados, capers, some green garnish and a banana to throw in. I guess everything was very typical besides the banana but might I add that chicken soup with banana is delicious!
My ajiaco after I dumped everything in. So much food!
Above is a photo of Guille cradling a baby devil. The baby devil, a grown man, was wearing a saggy adult diaper. Hilarious! But what makes it even better is that the grown-man-baby-devil with saggy diaper spotted Guille, screamed and jumped into his arms. Love this place... you just can´t get this kind of service at TGI Friday´s.
After hours and hours spent in Andrés Carne de Res and hours and hours stuck in traffic with full bellies trying to get back to Bogotá the only thing Lina, Guille and I could think to do was go to the mall to see a movie. You should have seen this mall. It was ridiculously fancy with stores like Lacoste and Dolce and Gabbana (Colombia is a third world country? Seriously!?!). Anyway, we decided to see Rescate del Metro 123, The Taking of Pelham 123, with John Travolta and Denzel Washington. It was a nice relaxing way to end the weekend that was comfortably reminiscent of being home.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Monday, September 28, 2009
My last day in Bogotá was spent on my own (Lina and Guille were both at work) hopping from Juan Valdez Café to Juan Valdez Café and in between walking around barrio La Candelaria, Bogotá´s bohemian neighborhood filled with cafés, restaurants and universities. I am completely content existing just like this - drinking coffee, reading books, taking pictures and walking. For me this is bliss....
Below are just a few of the pictures I took on my last day in Bogotá of the beautiful streets of La Caldelaria.
My departure on Monday came way too fast and saying goodbye to Lina, Guille and Colombia was heartbreaking. I NEED to go back! There so much more to learn, place to see (Cartagena anyone!?!), people to meet, food to try, music to hear and dances to inevitably mess up. Sigh, sigh. Tear, tear. One of these days I´ll be back... Maybe even before I move back to the States but if not before then, Bogotá is only two hours off the coast of Florida, right? Tricky geography...
So anyway, to help heal my broken heart I have found two new countries to fantasize about... in 21 days I´m off to Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina for nine days of fabulousness! I´m super excited but we´ll just have to wait and see if my new countries can measure up to the ever enchanting Colombia...
Lina y Guille - ¡Muchas gracias por todo! Mi visita a Colombia no hubiese sido la misma sin ustedes. Tenemos que encontrarnos otra vez muy pronto en Colombia... ¿Quizás en Cartagena? Ya harblaremos. Un abrazo. - Heather
Heathie, I love the "fat people" photos! Wow, I never would have thought that Columbia would be such a tourist destination! I guess that just shows my ignorance. In America, it feels like South America is just one big country, and we know very little about it beyond the Andes Mountains, coffee beans, and cocaine. The restaurant experience you described reminded me of some of my dreams. Can't actually imagine it!! I started my new job last Monday. So crazy to not have to be at the bedside. I will send you something over Facebook this week. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteEmmy
Not photos...I meant paintings...proofreading is very important.
ReplyDeleteEmmy!
ReplyDeleteI´m so proud of you for getting that new job. Congratulations! See, your absolute brilliance and natural leadership qualities make up for a few years lacking in experience... I knew you´d get that job. But yeah, I want to hear all about it. ¡Cuéntame!
I totally know how you feel about S.A. I practically knew nothing about this continant before I came down here. The last time I saw Lina was in November 2007 right before she was moving back to Colombia and I remember ignorantly feeling a bit nervous for Lina that she had to go back and asking her if it was safe there... ah, us silly Americans have so much to learn! I guess Colombia has made an absolute transformation in the past ten to fifteen years (or maybe even more recently). It is gorgeous. Can´t wait to tell you all about it in person. Three months to go.
Love you bunches!
Heathie
I can understand now why Columbia has the third happiest people in the world...great places to party, wonderful uplifting music and beautiful scenery! What a wonderful experience for you, Heathy!
ReplyDeleteLove you lots!
Mom
Ma -
ReplyDelete... and the people are gorgeous. Colombians are probably content just looking at each other. No wonder they are so happy. ;-)
Love you!
Who knew Colombia would be such a gem! I remember looking into Belize for our honeymoon and being told over and over again to avoid Colombia and all borders at all costs. Glad to hear you had a fabulous time! Sidenote: Just found out there is a peruvian restaurant in Hollywood (of course) - we will have to give it a try when you get back and test its authenticity! Miss you chica!
ReplyDeleteHey Paigie! Colombia is fabulous... as is S. America in general. One of these days you, David, me and whoever else (oh, and can´t forget Steve and Dee... and Chrissy and Dustry... and Zach) are going to have to take a climbing trip to S. America. It´s the only continent you guys haven´t been to, right? Good times, good times.
ReplyDeleteAs for that Peruvian restaurant in Hollywood... well we´ll just have to see how much I´m missing potatoes and roasted rodent by then... Can´t wait to see you! Only a few months left! Te extraño mucho!