We both arrived safely and with all of
our luggage in Bogotá. That is always nice. Yesterday was tough for me having taken two
flights, both of which were too short to allow for much sleep. But
Jorgé was there waiting for me at the airport, and Margaret was
dressed and ready to go out, so we had breakfast here at the hotel
and off we went. We started at the
Museo de Oro making our way over
two floors of pre-Colombian and Colombian artifacts organized by
their indigenous peoples which of course is also geographic. There
are mostly gold and silver alloys made into fine jewelry, giant nose
rings, hairpins, meticulously carved breastplates and such. I have
no pictures from inside the museum but this tiny raft made from
gold, perhaps 10 inches long, with amazing detail chiseled into the
gold is a highlight. You can see it here.
La Balsa
There are also functional pieces, of
course. The finest piece, and the first acquired by the museum, the
Poporo Quimbaya. It is a vessel for retaining lime and coca. The
material is a combination of gold and copper. I think this one looks
like some sort of symbol of fertility, but that's just me. You can
see it here.
Poporo
After an obligatory cafe latté for me,
we headed down Calle 7 and then found lunch on the top floor of the
Hotel Operá overlooking all the red tile roofs, cupolas and steeples
that surround Plaza Bolivár (you remember him from high school social
studies, right
?). I slept for a couple of hours in
the afternoon so that I could stay awake through dinner. We chose a rump house called T-BONE: a menu of beef, beef and mostly
beef done every which way. Excellent food. I had my medallions of
tenderloin with blue cheese cream, oven roasted potatoes, and salad.
There was wine by the mini-bottle, and an amazing mousse with passion
fruit for dessert. Way too good. And speaking of eye candy, hip and handsome young waiters with hats. And great music. Can't forget the music. Blues harp,
guitar; another handsome dude in a hat!
Here's a few pics from the day, as many as I have patience to upload.
 |
| Gigantic watermelon cut and ready to eat. Deliciosa! |
 |
| A street vendor? This was right in the middle of Calle 7. |
 |
| A crowd gathered at a protest in front of the Ministry of Justice |
 |
| Pigeon park. Oops, I mean Plaza Bolivár. |
 |
| Street art and graffiti everywhere. |
It's now Thursday night and I'm a day behind. We spent today at Zipa touring the Catedral de Sal which was quite remarkable, and then wandered the streets of Bogotá taking in more architecture and street life. It's quite a city. Photos hopefully tomorrow, as we head for the hills at noon, and I'm not sure what connectivity we will have in the Tatacoa and then in San Agustín. Hopefully somewhere.
We also learned about the Colombian soup called Ajiaco and the herb guascas which makes it so. Here is a recipe though ours didn't quite look like this it was delicious. Who knows where we will find the herb. I hardly took any food pictures this trip - not sure why. Don't have one of the soup.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-colombian-ajiaco-chicken-and-potato-soup-35078#recipe