A Friendly Despedida in Bogota

With just four weeks left until I am northbound to Minnesota, things are wrapping up very quickly here in Colombia. Final exams are just around the corner and I have an apartment full of things to give away or pack, so I feel like I will be on that American Airlines flight before I know it.

Based on the past two years on experience, Kelsi and I knew things at the end of the year would get crazy so we decided to plan a weekend getaway with some of our closest friends here before the insanity hit. The weekend following our celebration of Teacher's Day at school, we treated ourselves to a little weekend fun in the capital of Bogota. While I have been to Bogota a few times before, this was my first trip there in over a year and I remembered all the reasons I fell in love with the city the first time!

Sitting much higher in the mountains, Bogota has a colder climate than Cali, so the trip warranted both jeans and sweatshirts AKA my favorite things to wear. We basically just spent the weekend hanging out, going back to some of our favorite places and enjoying time with friends. The whole weekend was a great break before the end-of-the-year stuff and reminded me just how much I will miss seeing Kelsi, Stetson, Sam, Mandi and Rob on a daily basis next year. They have been wonderful, amazing friends and I am so grateful for the time I spent with them here in Colombia.

First stop - a brewery tour at Bogota Beer Company. Good beer in Colombia is practically non-existent as most people just embrace the idea of cheap, light beer that tastes like unfiltered water... so when I saw the link for a tour on the BBC website I knew we had to do it! For $60,000 COP (about $30 USD) each it is an awesome deal because they take you to the brewery, where you drink for free, then 3 BBC locations of your choice in Bogota with VIP service & 1 one free drink at each one, a t-shirt, souvenir glass, official certificate of participation and a tour guide/DD for the night.

Award winning beer - yes, it's that good. 

 Bogotá Beer Company - "The biggest small brewery in Bogota"

 Me, Stetson, Sam, Mandi, Rob and Kelsi at the first BBC location of the night in Usaquen. 

Smizing aka smiling with my eyes with my favorite four Gossip Girls at BBC #2 in Parque 93.   

 In the BBC tour van with my ROOMIES. (Did I mention that Stetson's lease ended in May and he is now our third roomie? Oh yeah, that happened.)

The next day we got a lazy start, enjoyed some Juan Valdez in the Zona Rosa neighborhood of Bogota and then made our way to the suburb town of Zipaquira to see the Salt Cathedral. Located about an hour from Bogota, only Stetson had been here before, but we had all heard enough to want to check it out. Basically it is a cathedral built in an old salt mine about 180 feet underground and then lit up with LED lights. Pretty cool to see and worth the trip from Bogota!

 A little blurry, but the group inside the Salt Cathedral.


Overlooking the main nave of the cathedral.


Lit up Nativity.

Later that night we made it one of Bogota's most famous restaurants - Andres Carne del Res. We went to the original location in Chia, which was enormous. Making our way from the bar where we waited before getting a table literally took us on a winding 5 minute walk through the restaurant and I still never saw the end of it! The food was amazing and the decor is kitschy and full of crazy things. After dinner there is a dance floor that gets pretty crowded. 

With Stetson and Sam at Andres Carne del Res.

Our last day we found ourselves at Crepes & Waffles for brunch, because we are just that obsessed with their brunch menu :) From there we walked around a bit, saw the market in Usaquen and made our way back to the airport. Happy, well-fed, and content with an awesome weekend! 

Good morning to you Crepes y Waffles.

Brunch buddies!

...we watch a lot of Gossip Girl together, so this was our version of a photo on the steps on the MET....or a random bank building in Bogota.