Bye Bye Bogota

Given the intense sightseeing and serious walking we did during our first few days in Bogota, we decided to take it easy on our last day. We had planned to walk an hour or so to Usaquen, a nearby colonial town surrounded by the city proper, but it rained most of the day so we opted to stay closer to the hotel instead.

We got a fairly late start so headed straight to an area known as Parque 93 for lunch. The small park there is surrounded by many coffee shops, bars and restaurants, most of which have outdoor patio seating. We chose La Xarchuteria, known for their sausages and burgers, and were not disappointed. We had a pretty American-themed meal, opting for a bacon cheeseburger and Rueben sandwich - Alex agreed to a rare 50/50 share so I was pretty happy before the food even arrived.

The "New York Rueben," complete with kale Caesar salad. We were pretty happy.

Love eating outside when the patio looks like this.

After lunch the weather still looked pretty ominous so we popped into a few nearby shops. I have been trying to find a new bathing suit, which is, in my opinion, the perfect souvenir as it is both useful and compact for traveling. After all of Alex’s hemming and hawing over how a) I didn’t really need anything and b) we are traveling light, of course he bought an awesome new bathing suit while I ended the day empty handed. I’m sort of surprised he didn’t just tell me he liked the first suit I found because now he has to continue to look at them with me in Colombia…

We made our way back to the hotel right before it started pouring and spent a couple hours resting and catching up on the news. Once the sky cleared up a bit, we went back to Zona Rosa and lazily strolled around one last time. Instead of having dinner in the area we walked a bit further south to Zona G (for Gourmet), known for its concentration of nice restaurants. By the time we got there it was nearly 8pm on a Saturday so we were surprised that most places were nearly empty. The scene picked up a bit but we definitely felt like Zona G had a more residential feel as compared to the Soho-like Zone Rosa.

I had heard about a New Orleans-themed restaurant that played live jazz called Bourbon Bistro so it seemed like a natural spot for our last meal in Bogota (not really, but I can’t pass up a NOLA themed spot when we are on a completely different continent).

Even the menu reminds me of NOLA (except maybe the Spanish).

We struggled pretty heavily with the language barrier until our patient server got an English-speaking chef to come to our table. I’m really happy he was able to help because I almost ordered seared octopus tentacles, which was not exactly what I had in mind.

Seafood bouillabaisse (the picture really doesn't do it justice). Alex had the "Kentucky Pork, so we really had an all-American day of eating!

After dinner we headed home to pack and get some sleep before our flight to Cartagena. In the morning we grabbed breakfast and checked out at the hotel. We had asked to have some laundry done so I expected our bill to be a bit higher (laundry in San Jose was roughly $3 per kilogram), but not COP$100,000 (~USD$55) higher! Turns out they had individually dry cleaned every single item (including underwear), which is of course more expensive than wash and fold. We blamed the experience on our lack of Spanish skills but now we know we need to be a bit more careful with what we ask for!

In a couple of hours we will land in Cartagena, where it is supposed to be sunny and 90 degrees - good thing Alex got that new swimsuit!

Bogota by Foot

Today we walked (what felt like) most of Bogota. Around 7 miles to be exact. It was a beautiful day so we figured walking would be a good way to get a feel for more of the city and to explore its parks.

Don't believe Google Maps...it took much longer than 2 hours, 16 minutes!

Our first stop was Parque El Lago, which felt strangely like a mini-golf course. There is, of course, a real golf course on the northern part of the park, but we didn't expect the pond to be surrounded by miniature windmills and waterfalls.

The water was a little murky, but still a nice view to take in while we rested.

Next we navigated our way to Simón Bolívar Park, which was not quite as easy as the map made it seem. Given the highways running right next to the park, the pedestrian walkways were a bit of a maze. It was worth the effort though - the park was a very well-maintained open space with great views of the Andes.

The park's namesake.

The park was very peaceful - only a few other people were walking.

The next, and final, stop on our walking tour was Bogota's Botanical Garden. Admittedly we are a bit spoiled by New York's great botanical gardens, but this was still definitely worth the trip. Lots of diverse plants from different regions of Colombia. While I wouldn't describe this as a "must-do" for others planning a trip to Bogota, it was a great way to spend an afternoon on a beautiful day.

Made some local friends to take this shot - fortunately "photo" is a pretty universal word because that was the only English they spoke!

Beautiful palm trees.

The rose garden.

In the greenhouse: Strelitzia (a.k.a. Bird of Paradise).

After all the walking today, we were ready for a hearty dinner. We grabbed a cab and headed to the Zona Rosa for a beer at La Cerveceria, then walked over to Andrés Carne de Res for dinner. We'd read a lot about this restaurant - it is frequently recommended on travel sites - so we were ready for "the experience." It's a huge place (four stories) and the atmosphere is very lively. The menu is huge (literally 70 pages) so deciding what you want is a little difficult. And the servers all wear Pieces of Flair. I would describe it as the Bogota version of Cheesecake Factory meets TGI Fridays, so naturally Sarah loved it. We ended up having a really good meal - the perfect end to the day.

The bibs were necessary.

Only the sauces remain.

Colombia Culture

Our first full day in Bogota was amazing - we were able to sightsee, taste local cuisine and really explore the city. We started with breakfast at our hotel and really enjoyed the arepas served alongside our meal (we are also loving the daily hotel free breakfast which seems to be a staple pretty much everywhere so far). We then set off to explore La Candelaria, a popular historic neighborhood in Bogota that is located near many tourist destinations. When we left our hotel the sky was clear so we headed directly to Monserrate to ride the gondola up the mountain and take in the city views. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived it had started to rain so we decided to switch up the plan and hope for better weather later in the day. We walked down the hill a bit to the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) and spent a few hours looking at shiny things and learning about the history of metallurgy within South America.

Just doing a little window shopping in the gold museum.

Pure gold. The detail on each piece was really impressive.

Alex and I aren't really museum people, which is to say we'll enjoy browsing one for a couple hours but generally prefer outdoor sightseeing. That said, I would recommend a stop at the Museo del Oro if you are ever in Bogota.

Next, we decided to stop for coffee at the nearest Juan Valdez and then walked over to the Plaza de Simon Bolivar, a central square in La Candelaria.  

Plaza de Simon Bolivar (plus too many pigeons to count).

After walking around the square, avoiding the pigeons and checking out some of the surrounding historical buildings we decided to try Monserrate again. This time, the sky looked clear so we booked our gondola tickets and headed up the mountain.

Not the gondola, but view of a train track to show how steep it is. Eek!

I'm so glad we waited until the weather cleared up a bit as the views from the top were totally breathtaking.

A little sunny on the top of Monserrate.

Panoramic view of Bogota from Monserrate.

Taking in the view.

Being able to see Bogota from the top of Monserrate was one of our trip highlights so far - definitely make sure you stop here if you come to Colombia!

Once we came down the mountain it was after 3pm and we were starving. After watching Anthony Bourdain in Bogota on Parts Unknown, we made a point to stop at La Puerto Falsa, the local restaurant he visited to get some authentic Colombian food. For about USD$20 we had a traditional Colombian meal consisting of two huge tamales, ajiaco and chocolate completo. Ajiaco is a hearty soup consisting of chicken, corn and potatoes served with rice and avocado and it was delicious; we would definitely want this if we were feeling under the weather! Chocolate completo, on the other hand, is literally hot chocolate, buttered bread and cheese. We found this to be a very strange combination but When In Rome!

Traditional Colombian fare.

After a very filling meal, we headed to the Museo Botero, which houses pieces by Colombian artist Fernando Botero (knownfor his full bodied figures) as well as other famous artists like Picasso, Chagall and Monet. The museum was free and we had a great time checking out the art and the beautiful courtyard.

Still taking in the view.

I swear I know left from right.

The museum courtyard was as impressive as the art.

After visiting the museum it was time for a beer so we took a cab to the Bogota Beer Company, where BBC does not mean Bailey's Banana Coloda. We tried a couple local brews before calling it a day and walking back to our hotel. We covered a lot of ground today and are so glad we were able to see so much of Bogota. We are excited for the next two days!

Sayonara San Jose; Buenos Bogota

Our final day in Costa Rica was a pretty slow day in San Jose. We figured out how to do our laundry - easier than we thought - by simply dropping it off at our very accommodating hostel. Given the consistently humid weather in Costa Rica we wanted everything properly dried (done by a machine, not air dried) before packing it up for Colombia. Then we headed for a nearby coffee shop to catch up on some emails and back-logged blog posts. Sarah was especially excited to stop at Viva Café because they had - you guessed it! - iced coffee.

The baristas told us they were jealous because we came from New York - a place they said had an "excellent coffee culture." I would've thought Latin America had a pretty strong coffee culture too, but I guess nothing beats NYC!

Around mid-day we headed to lunch at Mantras Veggie Café - we wanted to try something new and a little on the healthier side. It didn't disappoint. Sort of hard to find (like a lot of places in San Jose) but worth the trip.

Then we just walked around one last time and tried to see the last few remaining sites we hadn't seen on our previous stays in San Jose. The weather was actually great (the best we've had yet in San Jose) and we were pleasantly surprised by some of the views we got.

Iglesia Santa Teresita.

Parque Nacional.

The highlight of the day came at dinner. We met up with a friend-of-a-friend who grew up in San Jose for dinner at Restaurante Grano de Oro, one of the best places in town. We've been budget-conscious eaters up to this point so this luxurious treat was very welcome. It was a very fun evening and the perfect end to our time in Costa Rica.

Today we woke up early to get to the airport for our flight to Bogota. We over-estimated the amount of traffic and lines at security so we had a little extra time to take in the views one last time.

Not quite the same backdrop as LaGuardia.

Another thing we did not anticipate was the meal service on a short (albeit international) flight. We ate breakfast at the airport, but were offered a full meal on board (and a full open bar) even though we would only be in the air for an hour and a half. We'll have to keep this in mind for the rest of our flights coming up...

Airport security in Bogota did not take long and the taxi line was short; it took longer to get through downtown traffic to our hotel than to get out of the airport. We're staying at Hotel La Mansion which is in a residential neighborhood about half an hour's walk from the Zona Rosa (nightlife district). After we got settled in, we figured we'd walk down to check it out; felt a lot like SoHo - lotof restaurants and shops. We moseyed around for a bit, then grabbed a bite at Central Cevicheria. Sarah and I shared a couple different small dishes and all were great - if you're ever in Bogota, we highly recommend you stop by!

Beautiful sunny afternoon for a walk around Bogota.

Since we got free lunch at 11am on our flight we were hungry for dinner a little early and basically had Central Cevicheria to ourselves.

Obligatory food picture - we got the chowder, fried fish balls and (of course!) ceviche.

Tomorrow we'll explore more of the city; for now, we're beat after a long day of travel and are heading to bed!

One other note for anyone interested: after we leave each country, we are going to upload our favorite pictures in the Galleries page; you can check out Costa Rica and Panama now!