After pigeons, the next most ubiquitous thing is graffiti. This is just one of many such splashes of color in Candelaria, where we are staying.
We were on our way to what would be an adventure up north. Our plan was to take the bus the 100 blocks or so we needed to go. It sounded easy enough.
These windows with their ornate bars reminded me of a story I heard when I first came to Colombia in the 70's of the bands of street urchins who burgled the rich of the city because they could squeeze between the bars.
But back to the bus story. We got to what appeared to be a bus stop. However, those waiting for their buses sent us back and forth across the street to wait for a bus that just didn't materialize.
We were actually going to meet a friend of a friend, so at some point we jumped in a cab in order to meet her at noon at the Centro Comercial Santa Barbara.
It turned out that much of our bus trouble had to do with the fact that much of downtown Bogota is closed to vehicular traffic and reserved for bicycles on Sundays until 2 PM. Here are just a few getting ready to ride.
After a lunch of typical Colombian food, we leisurely strolled through an upscale flea market, finding stands like this one pushing coffee grown by small independent farmers. Of course we had to buy a bar of delicious 70% dark chocolate.
While waiting for a place to have coffee, we were entertained by Andes Cosmos, a musical group from Ecuador who played Andean instruments.
We all had an "aromatica" made with hibiscus blossoms and apples, a very typical Colombian beverage.
We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon with our new friend Maria, who was determined to teach David Spanish in one afternoon. It is interesting that after living in the US for 6 years, she still prefers to speak Spanish. I was grateful for her patience as I practiced.
We finally got our bus ride as she put us on a bus heading south. It turned out not to go all the way back to Candelaria, but at least we can say we rode a bus while in Bogota.