Posted 2015-05-8 by AGF

  After the Salt Cathedral we went to lunch, a local place my guide took all his tours.  As I would find out during my entire time in Colombia English is not spoken much so I was lucky.  When I entered the man cooking to food offered me a piece of meat, I didn’t know what kind it was or what part of the animal, he just had it on the end of his fork and like a fool I accepted not knowing for a moment what animal it was I didn’t want to insult him.

The place was open air with a canopy covering us and a band was playing ‘Sounds of Silence’ and within a few minutes one of the servers placed a pile of meat in front of meat, a plate full of meat and once again I had no idea what animals were on my plate, for all I know it could’ve been the buffalo that was in the room with Jesus.  I was assured it was beef, so I started eating it and the only thing I can truly compare too would be shoe leather, I needed a saw to cut through it not knowing for a moment what animal I was eating and perhaps even worse what part of that animal I was eating.

After lunch I spent time walking around the town.  Zipaquira is a colonial settlement with a population of around 70,000 about on hour outside of Bogota it is one of the oldest cities in Colombia dating back to the Spanish conquest.   Gonzales Forero Square is the city center here you will find buildings that have conserved their colonial style, many of which are national monuments.  The square is where you will find a cathedral constructed between 1760 and 1870 and City Hall and streets off the square are pedestrian walkways lined with street vendors, stores and restaurants.  It is a great way to end your day.