At long last i'm visiting my childhood friends from COLOMBIA in their home country. I was five years old when three girls from South America lived with us for a year and a half. Luzelena, the oldest, invited me to visit. We fell out of touch for many years, but about 10 years ago we got in touch and emailed all this time. After that much time she invited me to visit and i thought that sounded like a great idea. So this February and March i took two weeks and went down to what i thought was the tropics. But Bogota is at an elevation of over 8000 feet in the Andes, soooooo no such luck. It was rainy and chilly most of the time, just like San Francisco at the same time of the year. However, when the sun did finally come out briefly it felt VERY intense! I was then glad that it was cloudy most of the time or i would have come back a lobster!
Most people don't know much about this city or country. Please read more about it. It is not as dangerous as it once was. Most of the violent crime has moved up to Mexico these days. Ciudad Juarez across from El Paso, Texas is now one of the most dangerous places in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogotá
The day ended by us taking a walk to the district known as La Candalaria, where the government buildings are located. Luzelena was a senator for 4 years and showed me the area.
Most people don't know much about this city or country. Please read more about it. It is not as dangerous as it once was. Most of the violent crime has moved up to Mexico these days. Ciudad Juarez across from El Paso, Texas is now one of the most dangerous places in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogotá
ZOOOOOOM! Colombia here i come!
DAY 1 in BOGOTA: Luzelena treated me to a guided tour of the city. It was very wet and rainy most of the time, but the tour guide was quite informative. He spoke English well and took me to all the major tourist destinations. I took pictures where i could but it was not always practical or desirable to do so.
I stayed at the Hotel Tequendama a few blocks away from Luzelena's condo in the downtown area of Bogota. More pix to come but this was the first pic i took there as we exited the pick up zone. This is a "do not enter" sign with showgirl legs. Hilarious!
Luzelena Restrepo and her husband Roberto. Actually he does have a different last name but i don't remember it!
This simply shows the mountains above the buildings.
Smile!
Hey! I said smile!
The Cerro Monserrate peeking at us from above.
Musel del Oro is the Museum of Gold. I have never seen so much gold in my life. This is one of the most visited sites in Bogota and i could see why. It is a well-designed museum with lots of stunningly beautify artifacts from antiquity. I only took a handful of pictures since my cheap little camera doesn't do well in low lit places especially with reflections off glass.
This is the scene from the entrance of the museum.
Museum of Gold. Bank of the Republic.
This guy greets you as you go in.
As you exit the museum a cute little señorita stands next to you so you can get a picture with her.
This was next to the museum and colorful, so i had to photograph it.
Museo Botero. This was a trip. Botero is Colombia's most famous artist. He specializes in all things plump. No kidding. One of the funniest museums i've ever been to. Lighting was horrible and i got very few pics, but there was much more to see.
The buildings from outside the museum.
Hi! I'm in Bogota! I can hardly believe it!
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