Adventures of David and Paul: Bogotá - Parques, Museos & Cervezas

For day two in Bogotá, we decided to spend some time outdoors in the morning and hit up some museums in the afternoon. The weather was lovely, a mix of sunny and cloudy in the mid 60s - perfect for jeans and a light jacket. We had this weather for most of the trip. We started with breakfast at the hotel. There was a large group of performers staying in our hotel for some sort of carnaval or event, which added a festive atmosphere. After breakfast we took an Uber to Parque Simon Bolivar, a large park on the western side of the city. There were a lot of people out and about jogging, biking, and flying kites. We walked around the lake in the middle of the park, and then crossed the street to Salitre Magico, a small amusement park. Paul got a roller coaster credit (only his second in South America) and we rode the Ferris Wheel for views of the city and surrounding mountains.

Some of the performers getting ready outside our hotel.

Breakfast on the hotel terrace. A lot of places had these partially open, partially glassed-in eating areas.

The lake in Parque Simon Bolivar, with skyscrapers in the distance.

It's a nice big city park.

Salitre Magico!

Salitre Magico has one of the first modern looping coasters, originally built in South Carolina in 1975.

Unfortunately this unique French-built coaster wasn't operating.

Great views from the Ferris Wheel.

David isn't the biggest fan of heights....

Skyscrapers and mountains.

After spending some time at Salitre Magico, we took an Uber to La Macarena district for lunch at Chibchombia, a restaurant specializing in typical Colombian cuisine. We tried Bandeja Paisa and Ajiaca, two popular local dishes, both delicious. Next we walked to the National Museum, just a few blocks away. Unfortunately large portions of the museum were closed for extensive renovations, but what we did see was great. It's housed in a former prison, so it has really interesting interior design that highlights art inside former cells. After strolling around for a while, we took a break at the museum cafe and had some tea. Another general truth is that museums outside the United States have better cafes; something we've come to experience on multiple trips. Here we discovered that té nevada means a frappe. Something we didn't forget later on the trip.

The cool interior of Chibchombia.

Bandeja Paisa, a dish with all kinds of meat.

David with the first ajiaco of the trip.

View toward a business district. There were several large modern skyscrapers under construction throughout the city.

The National Museum, housed in a former prison.

A recently renovated exhibit. Cool mix of paintings and projected photos.

The museum has nice interior design. You can tell where former cells used to be located.

Mixing impressionism with realism.

Some more Botero, because Colombia.

National Museum courtyard.

After touring the museum we took Bogotá's bus rapid transit system towards the city center to visit another museum and a shopping area called the Pasaje Rivas. The bus system, called Transmilenio, functions somewhere between a train and bus system. The station near the National Museum is underground and looks like a train station. You get a transit card and tap to enter the station. once inside you line up at the door with the bus number you want to take. When the bus arrives, the gates open and you enter flat as if you were boarding a subway. The bus then comes out from underground and generally operates in it's own exclusive lane, with the only delays being at cross streets when there's a red light. Overall, this system is held up as a great example of how you can build a reliable transit service without the immense cost associated with building a subway system.

Pasaje Rivas is an interesting artist market. There are tons of stalls with different art, handicrafts, tourist knick-knacks and food. The market is located in a bustling part of the city near some of the other major tourist attractions, like the Museo del Oro; which we visited right after exploring the market. The Museo del Oro is a modern museum that houses numerous exhibits of crafts produced by pre-Columbian people in the Andes and coastal plains of Colombia. The museum does a good job explaining some aspects of the culture of the indigenous people through their craftsmanship. The well manicured exhibits highlight some really spectacular pieces of art and the museum is worth a visit, as it doesn't take too long to explore.

The Transmilenio station near the National Museum.

Bustling streets near the Pasaje Rivas.

Museo del Oro exhibit.

Lots of gold here, obviously, but also exhibits detailing the history of the pre-Columbian period.

Candelaria area at sunset.

After walking around the city center a bit, we took an Uber to a beer bar called Dos Carreras. Our Uber driver was very friendly and he told us he collected US quarters. We were bummed we didn't have any on us to contribute to his collection.

Bogotá has a small but burgeoning beer scene. There are lots of little beer bars and pubs popping up around town and it seems to be more common than wine. That said, the beer scene isn't quite as diverse or well crafted as many other places we've visited. Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day. After getting a drink at Dos Carreras, we moseyed a few blocks down the road to another bar called El Mono Bandido Quinta Camacho (The fifth monkey bandit Camacho) - weird name. The bar had a really cool industrial interior vibe, some good snacks, beer and cocktails. Overall, one of the better bars we visited in Bogotá.

Afterwards, we stopped by the neighborhood grocery store on the way to the hotel to relax a bit. A little later that evening we went out because David was hungry. We found a little Mexican fast food chain restaurant called Taco Loco - where David got some nachos - and then swung by a small park near our hotel called El Parque de Los Hippies (weird, right?). The park had a bunch of people hanging out, drinking and socializing. All in all a great way to end a fun day in Bogotá.