I knew today was going to be a great day when, just as we were being seated on the verandah of the chocolate museum for breakfast (yes, Oliver is never coming home) which overlooks a beautiful courtyard with a large Spanish moss draped oak, ‘The Saints, Go Marching In’, starts to play over the speaker. It was a day full of laughter, surprise, and a bit of New Orleans funk. In One Day: Only in Colombia could you wander through cobblestone streets shaded by colorful bougainvill

After two weeks in Bogota, it was time for some adventure. We decided to take a bus from Bogota to the old colonial city of Villa de Leyva, a four hour drive. And, public transportation in Colombia provided plenty of adventure. We successfully navigated the bus terminal despite a total absence of English and boarded the bus for the afternoon drive. No sooner than we had left the bus terminal, the bus driver pulled over on the side of the road and began picking up passengers s

b Wrapping up our time in Bogota, we have spent the last few days enjoying the city and preparing for the next leg of our trip. We have strolled beautiful city parks and enjoyed some great meals in sleek modern restaurants. We discovered why Bogota has the reputation as a European style capitol. Parque 93 is the gem of the Bogota park scene. It is a manicured green space filled with adults, children, and pets lounging, exercising and just enjoying the cool mountain air and be

As we sat in a wi-fi zone in La Candaleria, between museum visits, we met a kindred spirit. Jerry from California is the first American we have met in Bogota. He had just flown in from Quito, Ecuador after having visited Machu Picchu in Peru and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. After talking in English for a while we found ourselves going in the same direction and ended up visiting a museum together. We then headed to lunch where Jerry shared his story and graciously treated

We have spent the past two days visiting five of Bogota’s top museums and cultural attractions. Museo Botero, features 125 pieces of Colombian artist Fernando Botero and 85 pieces from world renowned artists such as Picasso, Degas, Chagall, Monet … it is one of the best museums Ol and I have ever visited, anywhere in the world. Botero donated the works, on the condition that they be shown free of charge. The collection is housed in a beautiful colonial mansion which was reno

Since today is laundry day, I will write about getting around Bogota and share some of Ol's photos of beautiful street art (graffiti) while Oliver navigates the Spanish washing machine. It is a bit confusing, the laundry that is, because it washes clothes and then turns into a dryer. Though the laundry is free, Oliver keeps running back to the room for more pesos. It appears that he is tipping the staff who insists on helping him, apparently in Colombia men do not do laundry

It seems impossible, but every day seems to outdo the next. We awoke to another beautiful day in the home of our new friends, with fresh squeezed orange juice waiting for us. We are so spoiled I am beginning to think we will not make it around the world, because we will never leave Colombia! The night before we stayed up late with our maps and computer and Gustavo and Adriana helped us fine tune a plan for the sites and cities that we should see in Colombia. Before we knew i

One of the great joys of travel is meeting new friends and learning about other cultures. One of the greatest discoveries is learning how similar we all are. After posting about out trip to Colombia I received a message from my high school English teacher. Thank you Martha! She graciously told me about her son's in laws who live just outside Bogota and about their amazing hospitality. To make things even more delicious, she told me that they owned the best ice cream factory i

Today was filled with so many firsts. I had my first photography lesson, because Oliver is tired of me telling him to take another picture of a flower or plant during our visit to the Bogota Botanical Gardens. I was used to just stopping and pointing at what I wanted photographed. It was rather fun traveling with my own personal photographer. He finally said, you have a camera use it. If you know Ol, the delivery was all in his facial expression. So, out came my new iPhone an

When we arrived in Colombia we only had our first week planned. We decided we would go where the wind took us, ok, maybe where the best airfare took us. After talking with fellow travelers, we decided to head from the coast to the capital. Bogata was not to be missed! We would be going from sea level to a plateau in the eastern Andes, known as the Bogota savanna at 8,660 feet above sea level, the third highest capital in South America. More importantly it's a cool subtropical