Sunday in Bogota, Colombia

Dear Family and Friends,

If you know us, you know that we have a traditional Sunday walk with our friends, Rich and Nancy every Sunday that we are in Cuenca.  Although we missed Rich and Nancy, Chuck and I headed out for a nice walk today.

We took a taxi and started our adventure at Bolivar Square.

Bolivar Square is located in the heart of the historical district.  It houses governmental buildings and the Primary Cathedral of Bogota which is on the left in the picture.  Above Chuck's head on the right are dozens of tents.  These people are protesting something and camped out on the square.

What amazed me was the number of pigeons....EVERYWHERE!

Vendors were selling cracked corn to feed them and they were gathered for breakfast!

This little girl literally had her hands full.

Check out her precious look of surprise mixed with happiness when a pigeon landed on top of her head.

Pigeons were not the only critters at the square...

We walked about in the historical district.  It is not a well preserved as the historical districts in Quito and Cuenca are.

This is a picture of typical Colombian pastries.

We wandered into a part of town that was full of military stores.  Chuck wanted to check this one out.

Yikes!  Well, after all, we are in Colombia.

Time to move on......

We stepped inside a small old church where the vibes were much better.

We walked on until we came to this pedestrian street of artisan markets.

Here are some pictures of some things we saw.

Handmade grandma style rocking chairs.

Beautiful woven baskets...

Colombian style woven hats.

And lots of grandparent bait....

This lady is selling some (fruit?) that we have not seen before.

Here is a close up view.  It appears to grow in bunches on stalks like bananas.

We had a wonderful day with plenty of walking.  Our day was topped off by this pretty señorita who happily posed for us.

I was a little apprehensive about coming to Colombia but so far it has been a wonderful trip.

Looking forward to what tomorrow brings.

Love,
Nancy

Gold Museum - Bogota, Colombia

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I went to the Gold Museum today.  What a great adventure we had!

Here is the outside of the museum.

We have never seen that much gold at once.

These are some of the beautiful pieces we saw inside.  The most incredible thing is that these pieces were all made before the Spanish arrived around 1500....many were made around 500.

Take a look.

Because we are "old" we got free admission.  We spent hours inside enjoying ourselves.

We highly recommend this museum if you go to Bogota.

Love,
Nancy

FOTO FRIDAY - 1/17/14

Dear Family and Friends,

When Chuck and I went on a "total eclipse" cruise in the Mediterranean, one of the places we visited was Egypt.  We went to Cairo to see the pyramids and the sphinx.  We also took a dinner cruise on the Nile river.

We saw this handsome man, dressed in an interesting costume when we were boarding the boat.  After we ate, we were entertained by him.  Beautiful costume, interesting dance.

FYI Chuck and I arrived safe and somewhat sound in Bogota, Colombia yesterday.

Love,
Nancy

Here We Go Again....

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I are flying out tomorrow morning for three weeks in Colombia.  This will be our first trip there.

We plan to spend about a week each in the cities of Bogota, Cartagena and Medellin.

I will have my camera and computer and hope to share with you as we travel.

Lot of packing to do....

Love,
Nancy and Chuck

New Voting Machines

Dear Family and Friends,

Over the past month the city of Cuenca has been offering tutorials on how to use the new voting machine.  The election is about a month out.

Voting is not optional in Ecuador.  If you are eligible and do not vote, there is a fine.

The campaigns are revving up..... a month before the election only...that is the law.

Love,
Nancy