Posted on 2015-5-5 by AGF

On my first full day in Bogota I just spent walking around, as I do most cities when I visit for the first time.  While most of the day is spent walking, I do enjoy to just sit and people watch and I did just that.  It was in one of the city’s main squares and one the city’s larger churches.  And as I said in my first piece about the amount of homeless, it was in front of the church I found the most, men and women sitting there hoping someone would help them any way possible.  Like so many cities around the world they’d become a part of the city’s face.

So many of my friends and family sadly believed the Bogota of the 90’s must still be the same as today.  The violence and a city streets littered with dead bodies and my personal favorite – the Cali Cartel driving throughout kidnapping tourists.  The level of ignorance of my fellow American’s when it comes to travel astounds me.  Well anyone considering a trip to Colombia you can put your mind at ease as none of that is true.  Bogota is a thriving metropolis no longer locked in the grasp of Pablo Escobar and Manuel Noriega and for those of that may not know, these men are dead.

Something else I’ve learned in my seventeen years of travel when it comes to local cuisine sometimes it’s either eat or go hungry.  Now there were plenty of restaurants that cater to tourists.  The safe places like a Hard Rock Cafe, the places that you’ll find at any mall in the US.  If I wanted that I would’ve stayed in Boston.  I must always try the food native to that country.  For dinner that night the hotel recommended a place nearby and I’d come to find out the food varies by region. Let the feasting begin.