Candelaria, Bogota

We've spent the last three days in Candelaria, which is the historic part of Bogota with lots of colonial architecture and museums.  The first day here was New Years Day, and it was really quiet and sleepy.  There were families out and about but most shops and restaurants where closed.

Colonial Architecture in Bogota

Here's where we stayed, Hotel De La Opera

Hanging out at a cafe in Bogota

The following day (Jan 2) life seemed to return to normal for Bogota.  The streets were filled with people, shops were open, and the city had a good energy.  The day before, it felt a bit empty with kind of a lot of sketchy people out and about.

The only problem was that Stacie woke up with a stomach virus.  After making sure she was stable, I went out and visited the Museo Del Oro (Gold Museum).  It was a top-notch museum and worth the visit.  I powered through it since I didn't want to leave Stacie for too long, and I didn't feel 100% either.

Bustle on the streets of Bogota

My favorite little guy from Museo Del Oro - the original batman

I also ended out getting sick, so we changed our flight and stayed an extra night at our hotel and basically hunkered down.  Not the best way to start the trip, but we're looking forward to rural coffee country tomorrow.

Arrived in Bogota, Colombia

Feliz Año Nuevo from Bogota!  We've arrived at Hotel De La Opera in Bogota safe and sound.  The clock just struck midnight, and the fireworks are still going off!

We'll get the blog updated as we adjust to elevation and our new environs in the next few days.  Bogota is a city of 9 million people that sits at an elevation of 8600 ft.   Our guidebook says it's the third highest metro area in the world.

We flew through Atlanta on Delta.  The flight from Atlanta to Bogota was the emptiest flight we've ever been on!  There couldn't have been more than 30 people on the 737.

The flight was mostly empty, which felt a bit odd.

Getting from the airport to the hotel in a new country is usually the most stressful part of the trip for us.  You need to get sorted, but haven't gotten an idea for the feel of the country yet or how the local transport works.  On the plane we met a Peruvian guy, Juan Carlos, who worked for Delta and was going to Bogota for New Years.  He totally hooked us up, took us under his wing and shared a cab with us to the hotel, even though he was headed to a different part of town.   Meeting super friendly and helpful people is a great way to start the trip!

I'm glad we had him along.  Our driver didn't know where our hotel was, and we had to go through military checkpoints and roadblocks to get to our hotel!  Turns out it is right next to the presidential palace, hence the security, so no big deal, but it would have freaked us out without a Spanish translator along.

We're already feeling the effects of the elevation, so we'll be mellow tomorrow as we adjust.  So for the trip is off to a great start.