Back in August of 2009, Team Frowow boarded a plane and traveled south to the land of Colombia. Why? Because Andres Frowow is Colombian. I had never been to South America and was so excited to go and see a new place and, of course, meet Andres's familia. Many people associate Colombia with Pablo Escobar, crime, guns, cocaine, and general unsafety. The reality is that the people are friendly and probably won't shoot you. Andres's family lives in the capital, Bogota, which is big, beautiful, and has lots of buses. LAWTS of buses. Here are more random facts about Colombia:
1. It's known as the Athens of South America
2. It has world-class eye doctors. I believe Lasik surgery was invented in Colombia.
3. Hillary Duff has given a concert in Colombia.
4. The Killers have also concerted in the country.
So, you see? It's not all buses, all the time. There's also eye doctors and concerts. Here are seven rapido takes about Bogota, Colombia:
UNO
Ever here of Fernando Botero? Now you have. He's a Colombian artist known for painting and sculpting bloated, oversized people, places, and things. All the nouns. He creates. The Botero museum is located in Bogota. We went. We saw. We photographed Andres with a painting of a bloated posterior.
DOS
Every major city worth it's salt has an abundant pigeon population. Bogota has pigeons and alpacas. Or maybe that's a llama. Or maybe alpacas and llamas are the same animal. I don't know. I am not an animal person. At all. But whatever they are called, Bogota has them.
TRES
If memory serves, this was taken in the Macarena district of Bogota. Why is the Macarena section significant? Because it was in this area that we ate at a restaurant where I had Thee Best pulpo of my life. Which brings me to...
CUATRO
The Food. Oh my goodness, I cannot even. The first photo is soup made by Andres's grandmother. The soup in Colombia was so freaking amazing. Even the mondongo, which contains sheep stomach. Almojabanas are pictured second. I cannot even describe how good they are. There is nothing here in the United States that compares or even comes close. Lastly, we have hot chocolate with bread and cheese. Apparently, putting slices of cheese into hot chocolate so they melt is a thing. A good thing.
CINCO
Umm, look at that tree house. Do I even need to explain further?
SEIS
Andres's Aunt Dula is an amazing painter. All three above paintings are just a sample of the work she has displayed in her house. We purchased a gorgeous red painting from her and it hangs in our family room. It is so beautiful and sentimental, it's one of my favorite things in our house. The process of transporting it from Colombia back home to Raleigh is one of the most stressful, irritating tales of my life thanks to the insanity, cold-heartedness, lunacy, and self-importance of Miami TSA agents. But whatever. It's here now and thankfully did not get damaged or lost flying without Team Frowow as it's chaperones and spending an hour alone, discarded in a pile at RDU baggage claim.
SIETE
I told you Bogota was big. How did I get this aerial view? By going up here:
On this mode of transportation:
The teleferico ride to Monserrate was...honestly not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The picture is deceiving. The ride to the top of the mountain is so high and so steep that it was practically a vertical line. But, it was worth it for views like this:
And pictures like this:
Hmmm...maybe not that. But whatevs, I was glad we went. I look forward to the day when we can take Max to Bogota to see family and learn about his heritage. A heritage to be proud of, except for all the buses.
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