Bogotá

Patricia had to go to a conference in Bogotá recently, and since we hadn´t been there before we decided to travel together and spend a couple of extra days to explore the city. Colombia is quite a way from Chile (i.e. a 6 hour flight), so after all these years in South America it was only our second brief visit to this beautiful and diverse country.

Neither of us is naturally much of a city dweller, therefore we had lined up a short but intensive sightseeing programme. We started with a climb of Cerro Monserrate, which is one of the hills above the eastern edge of the city. It stands out from the other hills as a place of pilgrimage and tourist attraction, with a cable car and and funicular providing easy access to the top. We, of course, opted for the footpath which steeply winds it's way 500 vertical metres up.

Climbing Cerro Monserrate

The top is at approximately 3100m above sea level, and although it's not that much of a climb, we could feel the air getting a little thinner, which made it a worthwhile exercise. At the top one is rewarded with some beautiful views across the entire city and lush, green mountains beyond.

After having burnt a little excess energy we dedicated ourselves to the more cultural highlights that Bogotá has to offer. The city is a crazy mix of old and new, with pretty colonial buildings and high rise towers and busy traffic in many places. The next item on our list was one of the museums (more on this below), but on the way we bumped into some beautifully done Street Art, which we thought was worth mentioning.

Street Art in the Candelaria neighbourhood

The museum that had been recommended to us was the Museo Botero. It occupies a pretty colonial building with a beautiful and tranquil inner courtyard, and houses some 200 pieces donated by contemporary Colombian artist Fernando Botero. He calls himself the "most Colombian of Colombian Artists" and is internationally known for his style of... how to put it... exaggerating proportions. 

A place of tranquillity in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city: The Museo Botero

His style of "exaggerating proportion" could be easily mistaken for drawing fat people, but considering the below example I can see how his models probably don't look exactly like he draws them.

Mona Lisa, a la Botero

After Botero, we strolled a little more through the Candelaria neighbourhood and on to the Plaza Bolivar to catch a glimpse of the Cathedral.

Plaza Bolivar and the Cathedral

Other highlights of the day included sampling some nice veggie food and trying out the TransMilenio public transport that we've previously in Chile heard more than once being praised as a role model (it's OK, for South American standards, I guess). In a nutshell, an experience that we probably wouldn't have otherwise sought without the excuse of going to that conference, but definitely a worthwhile trip.