Above the city

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Today didn’t turn out exactly as I thought, but that happens when you travel.  Kylee agreed to come to Monserrate with me this morning so we took a taxi to the funicular and up to the top of Monserrate at 3,210 meters above sea level.  There were amazing views over the sprawling city of almost 9 million people.   We strolled slowly around the hill past the new convent, which is now a popular shrine and pilgrimage site, and to the Calle del Candelero, a reconstruction of a Bogota street of 1887, with tons of street stalls and snack bars.  On the way down the mountain, we took the cable car, slowly returning to the hillside of Bogota.

I stopped by Pamela and Brie’s hostel, but they were out, so I for lunch on my own to a place that advertises having the best ajiaco in the world.  Ajiaco is a traditional Bogota soup with chicken, potatoes, corn on the cob with a side of avocado and rice.  It was fantastic.  Before I got my food, I offered for a man and woman to sit down at my table since there were no other seats.  He is Austrian who just moved to Colombia with Doctors without Borders, and she is a Colombian who studied at the same school in Germany.  We spoke a bit of Spanish but mostly English.  So while I thought I’d have to eat alone, I ended up with pleasant company.

Street in La Candelaria

Post our enormous lunch, we went to Juan Valdez for coffee before my new Colombian friend showed us around part of downtown Bogota.  We walked to Plaza Bolivar (first ever statue of Bolivar) on which lies the Corte Suprema de Justicia (built in 1999 after the other was destroyed by fire in 1985 after the now extinct M-19 guerrilla group stormed in), Capitolio Nacional (congress, an imposing classical style structure with fine colonnades), and the Catedral (built in classical style).  Casa del Florero (aka Museo 20 de Julio), on the corner of the plaza with early 17^th century Spanish-Moorish balconies, was where the first rumblings of independence began.  Further down the street, and through a security check-point was Palacio de Nariño (1906), the presidential palace and offices.

Plaza Bolivar

By this point it was 5pm and the clouds looked about to break, so we said goodbye and I walked back to the hostel.  I missed an email from Andrea while I was out inviting me to join her at a friend’s house party before going to Andres Carnes de Res.  After doing a bit more research, I found out that the restaurant isn’t just a restaurant but turns into a night club.  Pamela and Brie were also going, but the place is almost 45 minutes from La Candelaria and doesn’t close until 3am.  While I really wanted to go for dinner to experience the unique atmosphere, I wasn’t really interested in partying until 3am.  Maybe it’s bad to know yourself too well, but I just didn’t think I would enjoy it, even though it’s the thing to do in Bogota.  I ended up consulting my parents and concluding that I didn’t have to go even though part of me felt I should.  It seems like a silly dilemma, but after going out in Vina del Mar I realized (or rather was reminded) that random nights out aren’t my thing.

So instead, I ended up going for a late dinner in Zona Rosa with an older guy (John, an Irish guy who lives in Chicago) at my hostel.  He was going for food, and I figured I might as well join him.  It took 25 minutes to get there, and since we didn’t have a specific restaurant in mind, we ended up at some restaurant with a mix of local and American food.  My veal dish was fair but the potato balls were somewhat tasty.  Not a great meal though and after we finished, I took a taxi back while John tried to find the Irish pub.  I’m ready to get to a smaller town tomorrow and hoping it will be a bit warmer in Villa de Leyva.  Night.