Bogota

We've been in Quito for about 10 days now.  In fact, here is a photo of the view from our dinning room window.  I have to say...this is one of the best views we have had since arriving in South America.  Check it out!

I had hoped when we  arrived that I would find time to write a little something about Bogota...but I unexpectedly ended up at the dentist.  Yes, that's right...apparently Lance and I are on a dental tour of South America.  When we left Cuenca in early January, we had seen our dentist there for some minor work with hopes that our teeth would be in good shape for our world tour.  However, Lance ended up having not one, but two root canals in Medellin...and a few weeks later, I ended up having a tooth extracted in Quito. Of course, this was after it was determined that the tooth could not be saved.  That decision was made after three visits to the dental office to meet with various specialists.  Luckily, the tooth that was pulled was in the back of my mouth, so it's not very noticeable.  Oddly enough...the dentist who ended up pulling the tooth had a brother who went to school in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  As my friend, Sue, says...there seems to always be a Wisconsin connection...no matter where you go.  In four to five months...when we are in Europe...I will have to arrange for an implant.  Life on the road can be tricky.  That being said, we both feel we got good care from each dentist that we saw, and felt their equipment was state of the art.  They also were able to speak English...which is always a comfort when you have medical issues that need to be addressed. 

Now that my dental problems are behind me for the time being, I would like to go back and share a little bit about our four day visit to Bogota.  We left Medellin early in the morning on February 24th, and rode the bus to Bogota.  It was a long nine hour trip...but our bus was very nice and quite comfortable.  While in Bogota we rented a room in a lovely condo owned by our Airbnb hosts, Martha and Hugo.  They had three cats...Pink, Floyd, and Moon...all named after Hugo's favorite band, Pink Floyd.  Hugo is a math professor at a private university and Martha works for their son.  They are both close to our age, and have a passion for travel. Their condo is filled with objects from all around the world.  They were wonderful hosts and we enjoyed visiting with them when they weren't at work.  

Bogota is a big, gritty city...and much cooler than Medellin.  Luckily, we stayed in a nice neighborhood that had many hip and trendy restaurants and shops.  There were also two nice malls nearby that had many recognizable high end stores and movie theaters, all within easy walking distance.

Unfortunately, during our stay, we did have a somewhat scary experience.  Our second day in Bogota, Lance and I took a taxi to visit the Gold Museum, and when we got out...Lance dropped his wallet on the floor of the taxi and didn't realize it until it was too late.  This was a huge problem for us, because Lance had the address and phone number for the Airbnb in his wallet...along with all our money, with the exception of a few coins.  We also had no phone because our sim card had stopped working in Medellin and we had not replaced it.  We considered walking home, but the taxi ride took us a considerable amount of time to get there...and we appeared to be on the other side of the city from where we were living.  Besides...we had no GPS to help us navigate the way.  Needless to say...our very limited Spanish, was also no help.  What to do???

We decided to go into a coffee shop, sit down with a cup of coffee...and try to come up with a solution.  I'm happy to say, we didn't panic...but were very concerned and feeling a bit helpless at that point.  As we sat there, we noticed a gringo couple sitting across the room.  Out of desperation, Lance decided to ask them if we could borrow enough money from them to take a cab home...with the promise that we would bring the money back to them.  Sadly, they said no...but just as we were about to go talk to a police officer to see if they could offer some help...the same gringo man came up to us and said his Spanish was very good...and that he would be willing to talk to the taxi driver for us to see if we could work something out.  Surprisingly, that worked!  For a pretty generous fee...the driver was willing to take us home and wait while Lance ran up and got some money to pay him.  I remained in the car until Lance came back.  Problem Solved...and more importantly...Lesson Learned!  Now...both of us always carry money, a working phone, and the address and phone number for where we are staying. 

The next day, we had a Graffiti Tour booked near the downtown area.  The tour company we chose is run by street artists who actually produce the art.  Our tour guide was a woman...college educated, with a degree in politics...and an urban artist.  Unfortunately, I don't recall her name...but she was very knowledgable about the art as well as the artists who produced the works that we saw.  We learned that urban art is often a commentary on politics, social problems, ecosystems, and nature.   Below are just a few of the many pieces of art that we saw on our tour of downtown Bogota. 

Above is a picture of our guide.  She explained to us that some pieces of art are commissioned by the city government, while some artists are hired to do work by the owners of the buildings, and others pieces are done randomly by the artists. The three pictures below are murals that adorn a local park that is filled with urban art.    

We really enjoyed our tour...and would highly recommend it to anyone who plans to visit Bogota.  

The next day we returned to the Gold Museum for a tour.  It was stunning to see the large collection of pre-Columbian gold artifacts in the museum.  Besides the gold artifacts, there were other pieces of art made from other metals, pottery, stone, shell, wood, and textiles.  Many of these artifacts were made by the indigenous cultures before the Spanish conquest of the Americas.  The museum has a collection of about 55,000 pieces and about 6,000 of these are on display for the publics viewing.  It is one of the most popular sites to see in Colombia.

    

Before going, we had heard many disparaging things about Bogota.  But, in all honesty, we really enjoyed our visit there.  Like most of South America...or at least the places we have visited, we found the people to be friendly and helpful.  We saw many interesting sites, and liked the place where we lived.  

In about a week I will be returning to the states to pick up my youngest grandson, Adler, for a visit to Ecuador.  We will be visiting Mindo...and viewing all the pageantry that takes place during Holy Week in Quito.  I hope to write one last post before we depart for Europe so I hope you stay tuned.