Bogotá was supposed to be an airport stop before connecting to a US-bound flight. The Avianca flight from Cartagena flew around and around the mountains for an hour, then returned to Cartagena. OK, no USA flight that day. When we finally reached Bogotá, Avianca put us up in the elegant Sheraton Hotel. What to do with a spare day? Easy, hire a retired opera singer and car for a tour to the cultural core of the city.
Bogotá is the capital and largest city of Colombia, and is a vibrant metropolis of 10 million people. It is the center of government, industry, and universities in the country. Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founded Bogotá to be the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada in 1538, making this one of the oldest capitals in the Americas. For a casual visitor just getting off a plane, it might be a bit overwhelming.
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| Cathedral Basilica Metropolitan & Primate of the Immaculate Conception & Saint Peter of Bogotá (1807-1823) |
Most tourists go to the Candelaria district. La Candelaria is Bogotá's historic 17th century Old City. The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings are an interesting mixture of Spanish Colonial, Baroque, art deco, and some post-modern residential. This area also has universities, libraries, museums and government buildings. Oh, and lots of coffee shops!
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| Plaza Bolívar after the rain (Leica M2, Fuji Acros film) |
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| No, he won't poop on your shoulder. Bolívar Square |
Plaza de Bolívar or Plaza Bolívar is the main central plaza in La Candelaria. This is where people gather, laugh, take selfies, dodge the pigeons, and occasionally demonstrate or riot. Interesting place.
As you can see, there are outdoors art classes and lectures, narrow alleys dating back to the 1500s, and students everywhere. Public art is a major theme throughout the country. Recall the
Parque El Gato De Tejada in Cali, that I photographed earlier in the trip.
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| Hanging out at a coffee shop |
Well, after another coffee, it was time for some culture at the Museo Botero del Banco de la Republica at Calle 11 No. 4-41.
Fernando Botero has a unique vision of the people in his world. OK, they are a bit chubby - maybe they ate too much of the excellent Colombian cuisine. From the
Museo Botero:In the year 2000, Fernando Botero donated an art collection of 208 pieces to Banco de la República. 123 of these were his personal artwork and 85 were from his private collection of renowned international artists. Based on this collection, the Botero Museum was founded. The museum is located in the La Candelaria neighborhood, a historical section of Bogota, in a colonial house that until 1955 served as the office of the archbishop. The house was restored and adapted by Banco de la República to become a museum, under the guidance and curatorship of the master artist himself. As of the first of November, 2000, the collection has been available at no charge to the public every day, except on Tuesdays.
This has been an all too short of a stopover in Bogotá. There is much more to see - some other year. I spent a short time here in the early 1980s, another life when I worked for the geotechnical company. But I could not find any negatives from that era.
The black and white frames are from Fuji Acros film exposed in a Leica M2 camera. The color frames are from a Moto G5 mobile phone.
Thank you all for coming along for the ride. Explore your world, always look for new experiences, peoples, food, climates, and geology. And take film pictures.
