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Published: August 30th 2010
National Congress Building
Bolivar Square is surrounded by local and national government buildings. I believe that this is the one where the Colombian Congree meets.Hi Everybody!
Friday
Walt and I have ventured out of our La Candelaria neighborhood. The owner of the hostel negotiated with a taxi driver to take us to several areas of Bogota. We went to the train station to purchase tickets for the Sunday tourist train. The station was quite large and vacant except for one ticket counter. The station property was not well kept. I wanted to take some photos but a policemen stopped me. Trains no longer run in Colombia except for this one tourist train. It goes to two neighboring towns, Usaquen and Nemocon. Passengers are given an opportunity to get off of the train in Nemocon for a few hours before the train returns to Bogota.
Next, we went to the Harley-Davidson Dealership in the northern part of Bogota. Walt was interested in getting some t-shirts there. We have not seen a Harley on the streets but have seen a small number of other kinds of motorcycles. We rode through a very upscale neighborhood called Zona Rosa and were very impressed with the homes, shops, etc. On our way back to the hostel, the driver took a scenic road on the mountain above the city.
Later
that afternoon, we visited the Bogota Museum Complex. My favorite museum was the Botero Museum. Fernando Botero is Colombia´s favorite native artist. If you don´t recognize his name, I guarantee you that you wil recognize his work. He always uses plump models in his drawings, sculptures, and paintings. Many of the models are nude. Over 50% of the works in the Museum were Botero originals. The other paintings were by famous artists - Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Dali, Renoir, Claude Monet, etc.
Saturday
We started our day at the Gold Museum (Museos de Oro) and found it to be quite spectacular! It contained a remarkable collection of prehispanic items. Every Indian wore gold jewelry - bracelets on arms and legs, rings in ears and lower lip, necklaces, masks, and crowns. Even very young girls wore 4 to 6 gold jewels around their necks.
We walked to the foot of Monserrate Mountain. From there, I took the cable car to the top. Even though it was raining, I enjoyed the views of the city. I didn´t realize how large it was. It sprawls in all directions. The Monserrate Church was very simple in design both inside and out. As
Statue on the Roof
We have seen numerous statues like this one. They appear to have on regular jeans that have been painted. It gives the look of copper patina. I walked up the hill to the church, I could hear beautiful music. A man was giving a concert with just his voice and a keyboard.
One funny note, we stopped at a fast food type restaurant that specialized in broasted chicken. When they served our meal, they gave each of us a pair of plastic gloves to wear while eating. Another funny thing happened in a shop. I had purchased a pretty jewelry set when I went to the Monserrate Chapel and shops. On our way back to the hostel, I stopped in a shop to look at some handmade goods. I saw the same jewelry set. A young girl was translating for me since no prices were marked on the merchandise. She quoted a price 4 times what I had paid for an identical set. I asked her if that was the Gringo price. The young girl did not work there. She laughed and said, ¨Yes.¨
Sunday
Today, we took the tourist train Usaquen, La Cara, Zipaquera, and Cajica. The train was an old steam engine and it ran on coal. Not long after we took off, a couple of musicians got on board. When they finished playing
in our car, Walt tipped them. That was a big mistake. Three more groups came through -one group was a 6 piece band- and they all stood beside us playing very loud music. The train car rocked back and forth so it wasn´t a very smooth ride. We rode by coffee plantations, horse farms, cattle ranches, and lots of countryside. When we arrived in Zipaquera, a bus picked us up for the ride to the salt mines. We went underground and saw a very large Salt Cathedral. It had small chapels carved in the cave with each representing one of the 14 stations of the Cross. At the end of the cave was a huge dome shaped room with a gigantic cross. It was very impressive! We were the only Americans. There were a couple of foreign couples, one from Italy and one from Brazil. Everyone was exceptionally nice - especially the train personnel.
I am not going to do another blog. My camera has stopped working and I am just using a disposable one. We have enjoyed this trip and have found Bogota to be a very interesting destination!
Take care,
Everette
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Stacey
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Love the blog!
Thanks once again for sharing your trip with us! I so love reading about the places you are going and seeing the pictures. Hope you are having a blast!