February 17
For our last day of the trip, we enter the center of the historic capital (population about nine million), accompanied by a terrific, irreverent, and very informative guide, Veronica, who makes both the history (particularly that of the indigenous people), and the current political situation come alive. It’s too bad that we did not have this at the start of the trip.
We head over to the colorful Candelaria neighborhood to see the formal and stately capital buildings intertwined with contemporary commercial structures. More interesting, though, are the narrow streets, with spectacular graffiti (state-sponsored) and colorful windows and doors, which make iconic backdrops to the distant mountains. I am fascinated by this, and so will include far too many examples.
We also encounter various street and church scenes, including guards at the presidential residence.
We spend part of the day enjoying one of Bogota’s famous museums: The Botero Museum, which houses both Botero’s paintings and his personsl excellent and broad collection of 19th and 20th century European paintings.We also visit the spectacular Museo de Oro, which has the most elaborate collection of Pre-Colombian gold objects in the world, and sits in a modern building in the center of the city. The museum required far more time than we had to do it justice. Our group does considerable damage in the beautiful museum gift shop.
After a long and interesting day, we head back to the hotel to relax, shower, pack, blog, etc. At six, we gather for wine in a room Nevada has reserved. I deliver the humorous blog that I’ve been keeping about things that have happened on the trip, skewering everyone in the group. The blog reading is very well received.
After the reading, we walk to our farewell dinner at the famous Casa restaurant, where we have a terrific dinner, many toasts and fond farewells.
Great, Dadz! I love the nude in the high heels. I suppose the roast was too full of insider jokes and references that we’d have no way to appreciate, but glad it was well received. Sounds like an A+ day. Looking forward to seeing you and Maz tomorrow!
I bet your group really helped the country’s GNP. Safe trip home.