After my tour of Cartagena, Medellin, and Salento, it was
time for the main event: Bogota! As I mentioned in the last blog, the reason I
was in Colombia was for a wedding, and the nuptials were the grand finale of my
visit in Colombia. But before that, I had
over a week to explore the city.
A few highlights of my time in Bogota:
Museo Botero:
Museums are a big deal in Bogota and they are of high
quality. My favourite was Museo Botero –
devoted to all things Botero. The museum
houses a massive collection of his paintings and sculptures and has a fantastic
audio guide which provides interesting facts on many of his top works. The museum also houses works from other
famous artists such as Pablo Picasso.
Exceptional.
Museo del Oro:
Most guide books describe the Gold Museum as one of the best
museums in Latin America. And it is. The collection is huge and the free
English-language tour made us look at the gold pieces in a way that the text on
the signage just couldn’t. The museum
was one of my 103 Things and I was super stoked to check it off my list. Another exceptional museum experience!
Museo Historico Policia:
The Police Historical Museum has a great collection of
artifacts mainly surrounding Pablo Escobar and other notorious criminals. The main event for most visitors is Escobar’s
red-turned-pink motorcycle and displays on the events that led to his
capture/death. The museum is only
accessible on a guided tour and I had my own private tour guide that morning. And that was the main event for me. All of the tour guides are police officers and
I was assigned to this stud muffin drool-worthy 20-year old in uniform. He smelled nice. I could hardly pay attention to anything he
was saying. I wanted him to frisk me.
He didn’t. I was
heartbroken.
Other museums:
Elsewhere in Bogota, I visited the Museo de Arte Moderno (it’s
cool, but not nearly as good as Medellin’s modern art museum), the Iglesia
Museo de Santa Clara (with its religious colonial art), and the Museo Nacional
(a massive museum detailing Colombia’s history and art). The Banco de la Republica museum complex
where Museo Botero was located also has massive sections for art and the
history of money in Colombia.
Elsewhere in Bogota:
I took a recommended graffiti tour one morning in the old part
of the city. I also checked out a few of
their malls (I had purchased a suit for the wedding in Medellin but still
needed shoes and a belt). I had some
time to enjoy a few cafes, and most importantly, I got interviewed for
Colombian TV. I’m not sure if I ever
made it on the air, but another traveller and I were pulled aside by a local
news crew to ask our opinion on new informational signs that the city installed
for tourists. I’m so famous. Martha & Thiago also invited all of the
visitors out for a night of drinks and dancing at a club/restaurant with live
music in one of the trendier parts of town.
Outside of Bogota:
Martha & Thiago arranged a bus to take all of the foreign
visitors to a few sights in the countryside.
The most famous is the salt cathedral at Zipaquira. At 180 metres below the ground, the salt
cathedral is a massive church built into an old salt mine and one of only three
like it in the world. The other two are
randomly in Poland. Aside from the church,
there was an introductory movie and a light show. Very weird. But very cool.
The trip also included a stop at the small town of Guatavita to visit
their small museum and check out the man-made lake, and the town of Sopo, home
to the Alpina dairy brand. Alpina has a
massive store there where we stopped to pick up some delicious dairy desserts. Yummy!
The big day:
I had a prequel to the wedding the weekend before the big
day. As the first foreigner to arrive in
the city, I was invited out to Martha’s uncle’s farm for a big family BBQ and
get-together. I was the only
gringo. I can speak some Spanish
one-on-one but a big group trying to talk to me just goes straight over my
head. Some of the cousins tried to make
me dance. I’m Jewish. I have no rhythm. These people can salsa all night long and it
looks effortless. I humoured them for
about fifteen seconds before I escaped to the bathroom. Thank god there were no Colombian gays there
to see my terrible moves.
The main event was the following weekend at Martha’s family’s
church in the countryside outside of Bogota.
The ceremony was beautiful but super long. Leave it to the Catholics to make religious
weddings painful. They were delaying my
cake! But it was all worth the wait: the reception was a ton of fun! The food was delicious, the drinks were free
flow, the music was good, the dancing was fun (there were other gringos there
so I didn’t feel so embarrassed dancing among the talented Colombians) and
Martha & Thiago have a great group of friends that I was introduced
to. It was a fantastic night!
I would like to thank Martha & Thiago for the
invitation. It was such a great event
and I’m so glad I was able to come share their special day with them – and get
the chance to explore Colombia too! I wouldn’t have come to this spectacular
country had it not been for them.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: why haven’t I mentioned Colombian food? Don’t worry:
I will. But first, let me take a
selfie.
I was the only guest tacky enough to take a selfie with the bride and groom.
To see more photos of my time in Bogota, follow this link:
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