Empanadas Out of Cars, Cathedrals Out of Salt

While we haven't really had a blistering pace to our trip, a lot of time has not been spent hanging around the room or typing away in Internet cafes. So I'm behind on this here blog thing, but that's ok. Day 4 here in Colombia today, three nights so far in an incredible hotel in Bogota. We've just arrived back from our day trip to the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira, a must see adventure for any Bogota traveler. But before I dive into the top new wonder in all of Colombia, let's rewind the tape to Day 1 - DC to Bogota via Miami.

Dani arrived at Dulles airport just after 6am, fresh as a spring chicken. A spring chicken who hadn't slept in close to 24 hours, but a spring chick none the less. I picked her up at arrivals and we went back to my house to finish any last minute packing. 9am came very quickly and our cab was on the way so we kissed Max goodbye, dragged our bags down the stairs, and hopped in a yellow taxi waiting to take us to National airport. While we were lucky that Dani's redeye flight was not delayed, not all went smoothly as I still couldn't find my small digital camera, the little guy that fits in my pocket and is ready in a half second to shoot whatever random scene it might be that captures my eye around the world. I had to give up on looking for it and resign to the fact that my iPhone would need to act as my primary shoot and go camera for the trip. But do not fret for I still have my big daddy Nikon D2H along for the ride! Let's get to the airport already....I feel the need to rush through security so we can sit and wait thru a 2 hour delay.

Siting at our gate in DCA, a quick conversation with the gate agent causes concern as she tells us that we may miss our Bogota connection in Miami if our flight is any further delayed. While this gives us time to sit  back and take care of emails and outstanding work, we do so anxiously, hoping that we can board and get out of DC in time to prevent us from spending the night in the MIA airport. Our flight actually was delayed slightly even beyond the original delay, but luckily Mr. Pilot was able to make up time in the air and we landed early relative to our departure time. It also didn't hurt our chances that the flight from MIA to BOG was about 20-30 minutes delayed as well. We grabbed some snacks (yes, there were gummy bears) and boarded the AA plane full of mostly native Spanish speakers returning home. Now the real adventure can begin.

It took 90 minutes or so from deplaning thru baggage claim, but aside from the wait for immigration, all went smoothly. Looking back, our first experience in Colombia was rather foreshadowing of the trip to come (so far at least) as the process of getting a taxi to our hotel was one done in an orderly fashion with a set price and helpful, friendly Colombians assisting along the way. I say this because my experience with exiting a major international airport and finding a taxi to downtown has been anything, anything but easy in other third-world countries. Cairo being by far the worst experience but even other Latin American cities, like Quito, were not nearly as "tourist friendly" if you will. We had a printed ticket that told us what to pay, our luggage put in a cab for us and a driver that was not more concerned with cheating us out of a few bucks than getting us where we were going in a timely manner. $24,000 pesos was the price - abut $12 or $13 dollars for the 30 minute ride. And yes, they use the USD currency symbol for their pricing in pesos which can lead t all kinds of confusion. But after a few days here, you learn to just cut three zeros off the price and divide by two. That gets you pretty close to knowing what the cost is to you.

Our Spanish quickly came in handy in brief discussions with the driver and would certainly be needed in the days ahead as English is practically unspoken outside of the American hotel. And I'm definitely ok with that - the less English spoken, the more Spanish I learn. We've spent a good amount of time in cabs so far as they are pretty cheap and most of the sights are spread out around this city of 6 million people - few are really in walking distance of the hotel with the exception of a nice restaurant district called the G Zone. As you may have expected, food has been at the forefront of this trip and rightfully so. Empanadas, empanadas, empanadas. That's the name of the game for me! The plantains (platanos), yuca, arepas, potatoes and abundance of grilled meats all come in a very close second. We've had some semi-formal meals which proved to be great ways to get our feet wet and included a slew of fresh juices. Strawberry juice is my favorite but Dani really likes the mandarin and the passion fruit, both a little too "intense" in flavor for me. While our first two meals were sit down in upper to middle class restaurants, we all agreed that street food was calling our names, an loudly! Monday was to be declared Street Food Monday and we made good on our goal as soon we stepped foot out of the hotel Monday morning. Dan and Steph did the preliminary spying - there were station wagons selling empanadas out of their trunks on multiple corners. How do we choose just one? Silly reader, of course we don't choose just one. We choose them all plus the little food cart down the street selling chorizo hot dogs in a big arepa! In case you haven't been able to tell yet, I love empanadas - with beef and rice, chicken and mushrooms or, my all time favorite, simply con queso. No matter what shape, size or filling, they are so freaking good. Sometimes more crispy than others, but I could eat them all day long. In fact, I just may do that tomorrow.

I've gotten so caught up in the details of getting here and the specifics of how we ate that I've found myself in the typical predicament I experience with every single blog post. I can spend more time here finishing what quickly becomes a novella each  time, or I can go play and further experience the wonders that await me outside of the hotel (or hostel) doors. But I didn't even get to tell you about the miraculous views to be had from our cable car ride up the mountain at Monserrate (which was called teleferica, the same as the one in Quito with very similar views), or our tour through the Gold Museum, or the details of how many different ways these brilliant Colombians have of cooking and preparing that fruit, aka God's gift to man,  the plantain. Or how about our trip today into the giant salt mines at Zipaquira to see the fascinating wonder of the Catedral de Sal, an enormous cathedral and church complex carved inside of the earth out of salt? Well. tomorrow we get up early to fly to Barranquilla on the coast and catch a car down to Cartagena on the beach. Perhaps I'll have beach side time where I feel like doing nothing but blogging and drinking? Actually, that seems kinda likely and probable. Here's to that happening! 

This country is no Ecuador or Egypt - it has the infrastructure, safety, laws and security of a much more advanced and even progressive country than I would have expected given the average person's perception of Colombia and South America as a whole. This is a pretty modern city and country and, so far, is one that has left me wanting more, more, more (empanadas)!

Back to South America I Happily Go

In 12 hours, I will be pulling up to DCA in a taxi, ready to take on my next big adventure. I am tremendously excited to be going back to South America tomorrow. Colombia to be exact. A country that fascinates me in more ways than one. I'm not sure if there is really a true pattern to my traveling, because countries are often selected based on the best airfare deal to be had, but I have a strong desire to visit, photograph, eat and see countries that are not on the average American's checklist, are seen as a tad bit dangerous, are full of natural beauty and, last but not least, have the ability to provide for endless delicious meals. Colombia definitely fits that bill - bring it on!

Food grabs the first focus of this trip, especially since I'll be traveling with my good friend, amateur chef and food blogger Dan Tompkins (aka Kitchen Geeking). I've written on WeLoveDC.com a few times about our epic local food journies and we also have a history of tasting the best ethnic food each city around the US has to offer when we traveled domestically. But this time, for the first time ever, we get to take our culinary foodventure abroad. It is not by chance that we chose a Latin country, the home of the empanada. Empanadas, arepas, platanos...I am so hungry I can't stand it. We are happily joined by my quickly-becoming-an-ethnic-foodie-and-lover-of-plantains girlfriend Danielle as well as Dan's fellow foodie friend Stephanie (who Dan refers to as #TheQuietOne). Nobody is going hungry on this trip, that is for sure.

True to style, only the infrastructure for the trip is already planned and reserved. The details and internal travels are yet to be solidified and will be based on some great local advice as well as anyone we happen to have a conversation with on the street or in a bar. Or more likely, in a restauarant (or food cart?). While my Spanish is nowhere near what I want it to be, I have a feeling I'm the translator for this trip. Let me apologize in advance, Colombia - please bear with me.

We fly to the cosmopolitan capital of Bogota tomorrow (via Miami) and have reserved 4 nights in a super fancy hotel which happened to be super cheap because of hotel points. It's supposedly one of the best in Colombia so I'll be traveling just slightly differently from my previous South American adventure in which I slept on concrete beds in 100 degree hostels that only had cold water. But regardless of 0 star hotels or 5 star hotels, my goal of experiencing the culture, food, people and sights of the country will absolutely be realized. It just may be in comfort this time, that's all. After Bogota, we hope to get flights to Cartagena on the coast to enjoy a historic colonial town and a little white sand beach time. A lot of delicious fun awaits and you can bet there will be something new on the menu at Pound in the coming months!

Well, packing is calling. I've got the iPad with me on this trip so chances are good that pictures and blog posts will be frequent. Adios.

Karl