duminică, 8 aprilie 2012

The city of graffiti and Villa de Leyva

I was waiting so anxiously for this holiday week, that nothing in the world could make it go wrong. On Monday, we left Valledupar for Bogota and the Manu Chao concert. After 16 hours here we are in the capital. We quickly find a hostel and here we are wandering on the streets :) The old center looks so nice, and the colonial houses in Candelaria and all those narrow streets would like to keep me there forever. But unfortunately the bohemian spirit is killed by humongous sky-scrapers (very similar to our communist architecture), pollution and cars queuing on the main carreras.

And here we are, Tuesday evening heading to Plaza Bolivar which is packed with people and getting inside the crowd is impossible and more than extreme sport :) So, we sit on a beautiful street nearby the church and really enjoy. Meeting an old friend is always a pleasure, but meeting a friend after 1 year of traveling and new experiences for every of us is delightful :) After the concert we head up to our hostel and hang around with some Argentinian guys fostering intercultural exchange with some Cuba Libre.

The next day we get again lost in the big city on its never ending carreras and calles and we visit "Museo del Oro" (Gold Museum) - which is a history of all the Colombian natives carved in gold. I liked the fact that is very interactive and it offers a genuine experience of ancient times.

And here it comes the big night, another old good friend is joining the group and it's just us on the streets of Bogota fooling around like only we know. The following days were just about eating, drinking and most of all, enjoying being together. We weren't sightseeing, we weren't tourists we've just enjoyed the streets and the people.

On Friday we've decided that 3 days is more than enough for noisy, chaotic Bogota and we've moved in Villa de Leyva, a small colonial town, in an epic landscape. It is said to have the largest square in South America and indeed it is a very nice one surrounded just by colonial small houses in a bohemian atmosphere. That's were we found the best bar in Town: La Cava de Don Fernando! If all the bars would be like this, no one would ever by a house, we would all live in bars: good music by request, good local beer and the nicest bartender. We really had a good time!!!

And here I am on the road again...here, in Colombia, the way back to your house, offers you always a long time to reflect on your holidays. On Sunday very early in the morning, I arrive at the Valledupar bus-terminal and I must say, I missed...this heat! :)


Za humongous Bogota seen from Monserati


Walking on sunshine...


Happy three friends :)


On the streets of Candelaria










Villa de Leyva