Medellin
July 26, 2005
Bogota y Medellin
This trip was a Harcourt regional conference to which I was also invited. It was also the first trip I feared I might not survive. Not because of kidnapping or drug violence but because of the hospitality of the locals. Colombians party.
We arrived in Bogota late Saturday night via Dallas and Miami (where we squeezed past hurricane-related weather.) Went to bed exhausted while the Harcourt crowd partied until 3 am. Next morning we had a lovely hotel breakfast (piles of fresh papaya, mango, pineapple!) and explored our hotel, La Fontana. There was a market in the courtyard, mass in the chapel and later, a folkloric dance show. Then, the group (all the Harcourt South America division- 25 or so people) met up for our bus trip to the Salt Cathedral at Zipaquira, 50km north of Bogota. Well, I was astonished. It really is a Salt Cathedral. Hundred-year-old salt mines that were exhausted have now been carved into gigantic cathedrals and chapels, with Stations of the Cross, mammoth crucifixes and even a huge chapel where weddings are performed. We were underground at least an hour but there is a steady stream of fresh air that once served the miners.
On the bus back to Bogota, they broke out the aquardiente (foul anise-tasting local drink) and all proceeded to get drunk and dance in the aisles. Later, after a welcome dinner I went to bed and the others met in the hospitality suite until 2 or 3 am.
Monday
I had a delicious room service breakfast after Hector left to begin his meetings. Watched a bit of South American television ( no better than anywhere else) then met Hector for lunch. Since he was off in the afternoon, we got one of the drivers to take us downtown for some local color. Hit the Plaza Bolivar (like the Zocalo in Mexico city- a big square surrounded by government building and churches), the Chapel of San Francisco and the Donacion Botero, a museum housing replicas of the works of Fernando Botero, a Colombian painter. Although I'm not a fan, it was a lovely building with a surprising collection of European Impressionists as well.
In the evening we had dinner on our own since all the ladies left to get cheap Colombian manicures and facials. They were all glowing when they returned but I'm not sure if it was due to the facials or the savings.
Tuesday
Another lay-about morning for me. I went for a massage, sadly it was the usual hotel massage- just a lot of rubbing oil on my neck with no actual massaging going on. But I practiced my spanish with the masseuse, then I went to the dry sauna. After lunch Hector and I went to the Museum of Gold downtown, a spectacular showplace of a lot of the gold artifacts found in the pre-Hispanic ruins of Colombia over the years.
This afternoon we heard that there was an accidental explosion in the Salt Cathedral and 2 people were killed and several dozen injured. Apparently, sulphur and other gases collected and a mechanical spark ignited it. Oi, that was a bit close for comfort.
Dinner was at Carbon de Palo, a great local restaurant that specializes in beef and local dishes. We ate and drank and drank and danced and drank and smoked and then it was 3 am and we went back to the hotel.
Wednesday
I'm not sure where the morning went but in the afternoon the conference was over and we all boarded a Chiva, a ramshackle old wooden contraption that was once part of the Bogota bus service, just benches in a row with an open area in front. These days they are used for tours so we climbed in and proceeded to spend the next 5 hours banging around the city of Bogota, increasingly loud, increasingly drunk on aquardiente, dancing and screaming at passersby. The most fun was watching the reactions of the people we raced past. If memory serves we went up into the mountains for a wonderful view of the city, we stopped to watch the changing of the guard at Plaza Bolivar, and when we finally spilled out in front of our hotel, it was only 730 pm. I told Hector I was done and I went to bed. That was the last I saw of him. Apparently the party continued until 3 am in the hospitality suite.
Thursday
Up early for a flight to Medellin. Most of the crowd returned to their homes in Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, etc but we were invited to go on to Medellin for a couple of days so Hector could talk to a school there. They were all so bleary-eyed and hungover that it was a pretty quiet flight. Blanca had arranged drivers here as well so we were picked up by a couple of loud, friendly local guys who were at our beck and call for the next 2 days. Took a gorgeous drive through the hills from the airport into the little valley that holds Medellin, then checked into our charming hotel, the Poblado Plaza. Medellin is smaller than Bogota and since it is at a lower elevation it's warmer and a bit more tropical. I really liked it. Dinner that night was at Casa Vieja, a large palapa with the breeze blowing through and the sound of the rain outside. Wonderful local dishes- fried bananas, chicharron, beef and chicken. Oh did I mention aquardiente?
Friday
Today I had the day to myself while Hector worked all day. I walked next door to the huge mall and bought a wristwatch and a pair of shoes and was heavily cruised by some young locals. Apparently, blue-eyed gringoes are the thing. After Hector returned we grabbed one of the drivers to take us back up into the hills to see the local carpentry workshops all lined up along the road, their wares displayed out front. Lots of chairs and tables but also some fun items used by locals- wooden kitchen gadgets, brooms, bowls and plates. We didn't buy anything.
That night we were taken to a local club/restaurant/hangout/freakshow- a huge open palapa with long tables and a small stage in front. It had a name but I never knew it. We sat down about 8 pm and the entertainment and the food and drinks continued until 330 am. There were rock bands, Arab dancers, an incredible blind kid who sang Mexican ballads, a Shakira imitator, amazing dancing horses, a drag show (not kidding!) and couples dancing in and out of the tables the whole time. The first three hours I was absolutely enthralled by the spectacle of the whole thing but I began to wear down by the drag show. I'm pretty sure we ate dinner there and people kept coming and going all night. At last we demanded that one of the drivers take us back to the hotel.
Next morning or, rather, an hour later we were awakened by the still-drunk drivers and were poured into a car with our luggage and whisked perilously off to the airport. We all caught our flights and some days later we seemed to end up back in San Diego.
We arrived in Bogota late Saturday night via Dallas and Miami (where we squeezed past hurricane-related weather.) Went to bed exhausted while the Harcourt crowd partied until 3 am. Next morning we had a lovely hotel breakfast (piles of fresh papaya, mango, pineapple!) and explored our hotel, La Fontana. There was a market in the courtyard, mass in the chapel and later, a folkloric dance show. Then, the group (all the Harcourt South America division- 25 or so people) met up for our bus trip to the Salt Cathedral at Zipaquira, 50km north of Bogota. Well, I was astonished. It really is a Salt Cathedral. Hundred-year-old salt mines that were exhausted have now been carved into gigantic cathedrals and chapels, with Stations of the Cross, mammoth crucifixes and even a huge chapel where weddings are performed. We were underground at least an hour but there is a steady stream of fresh air that once served the miners.
On the bus back to Bogota, they broke out the aquardiente (foul anise-tasting local drink) and all proceeded to get drunk and dance in the aisles. Later, after a welcome dinner I went to bed and the others met in the hospitality suite until 2 or 3 am.
Monday
I had a delicious room service breakfast after Hector left to begin his meetings. Watched a bit of South American television ( no better than anywhere else) then met Hector for lunch. Since he was off in the afternoon, we got one of the drivers to take us downtown for some local color. Hit the Plaza Bolivar (like the Zocalo in Mexico city- a big square surrounded by government building and churches), the Chapel of San Francisco and the Donacion Botero, a museum housing replicas of the works of Fernando Botero, a Colombian painter. Although I'm not a fan, it was a lovely building with a surprising collection of European Impressionists as well.
In the evening we had dinner on our own since all the ladies left to get cheap Colombian manicures and facials. They were all glowing when they returned but I'm not sure if it was due to the facials or the savings.
Tuesday
Another lay-about morning for me. I went for a massage, sadly it was the usual hotel massage- just a lot of rubbing oil on my neck with no actual massaging going on. But I practiced my spanish with the masseuse, then I went to the dry sauna. After lunch Hector and I went to the Museum of Gold downtown, a spectacular showplace of a lot of the gold artifacts found in the pre-Hispanic ruins of Colombia over the years.
This afternoon we heard that there was an accidental explosion in the Salt Cathedral and 2 people were killed and several dozen injured. Apparently, sulphur and other gases collected and a mechanical spark ignited it. Oi, that was a bit close for comfort.
Dinner was at Carbon de Palo, a great local restaurant that specializes in beef and local dishes. We ate and drank and drank and danced and drank and smoked and then it was 3 am and we went back to the hotel.
Wednesday
I'm not sure where the morning went but in the afternoon the conference was over and we all boarded a Chiva, a ramshackle old wooden contraption that was once part of the Bogota bus service, just benches in a row with an open area in front. These days they are used for tours so we climbed in and proceeded to spend the next 5 hours banging around the city of Bogota, increasingly loud, increasingly drunk on aquardiente, dancing and screaming at passersby. The most fun was watching the reactions of the people we raced past. If memory serves we went up into the mountains for a wonderful view of the city, we stopped to watch the changing of the guard at Plaza Bolivar, and when we finally spilled out in front of our hotel, it was only 730 pm. I told Hector I was done and I went to bed. That was the last I saw of him. Apparently the party continued until 3 am in the hospitality suite.
Thursday
Up early for a flight to Medellin. Most of the crowd returned to their homes in Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, etc but we were invited to go on to Medellin for a couple of days so Hector could talk to a school there. They were all so bleary-eyed and hungover that it was a pretty quiet flight. Blanca had arranged drivers here as well so we were picked up by a couple of loud, friendly local guys who were at our beck and call for the next 2 days. Took a gorgeous drive through the hills from the airport into the little valley that holds Medellin, then checked into our charming hotel, the Poblado Plaza. Medellin is smaller than Bogota and since it is at a lower elevation it's warmer and a bit more tropical. I really liked it. Dinner that night was at Casa Vieja, a large palapa with the breeze blowing through and the sound of the rain outside. Wonderful local dishes- fried bananas, chicharron, beef and chicken. Oh did I mention aquardiente?
Friday
Today I had the day to myself while Hector worked all day. I walked next door to the huge mall and bought a wristwatch and a pair of shoes and was heavily cruised by some young locals. Apparently, blue-eyed gringoes are the thing. After Hector returned we grabbed one of the drivers to take us back up into the hills to see the local carpentry workshops all lined up along the road, their wares displayed out front. Lots of chairs and tables but also some fun items used by locals- wooden kitchen gadgets, brooms, bowls and plates. We didn't buy anything.
That night we were taken to a local club/restaurant/hangout/freakshow- a huge open palapa with long tables and a small stage in front. It had a name but I never knew it. We sat down about 8 pm and the entertainment and the food and drinks continued until 330 am. There were rock bands, Arab dancers, an incredible blind kid who sang Mexican ballads, a Shakira imitator, amazing dancing horses, a drag show (not kidding!) and couples dancing in and out of the tables the whole time. The first three hours I was absolutely enthralled by the spectacle of the whole thing but I began to wear down by the drag show. I'm pretty sure we ate dinner there and people kept coming and going all night. At last we demanded that one of the drivers take us back to the hotel.
Next morning or, rather, an hour later we were awakened by the still-drunk drivers and were poured into a car with our luggage and whisked perilously off to the airport. We all caught our flights and some days later we seemed to end up back in San Diego.
July 17, 2005
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