Arrival in Bogota and Reunion with the Eslavas

Thursday afternoon we arrived on time with our Avianca flight to hazy Bogota.  Not checking luggage we went directly to the taxi stand and took a very cheap cab (less than $10) to our hotel, Embassy Suites located in the middle of the restaurant area of Bogota.  Upon arrival rain started to fall and developed into a huge thunderstorm with big booming thunder.  We were snug in our comfortable room, which is actually a bedroom and small living room.

The fir tree outside our window during the storm

Our view - mainly a parking lot but also a fir tree where I could view some birds and the nearby mountains

Our comfy living room

The crowded and rainy street outside of our hotel

The Eslavas (Mauricio and Angela) picked us up about an hour later and we returned to Casa Eslava located in the upscale northern Bogota area of Usaquen.  At their comfortable and welcoming fifth floor apartment we reunioned with their daughter, Paula, a language student at University of Los Andes, the best private university in Colombia.  We also reunioned with their extremely handsome cat, Anis, and met their new dog, Coco.  Coco was a rescue dog and is very sweet and calm.

Angela pets Coco

His majesty, Anis

Anis is an exceptionally beautiful Ragdoll cat

Paula examines the necklace I gave her from Turkey

I look good in the infinity scarf that Angela knitted for me

Anis watches the action from one of cat structures

Mauricio and Paula chat about Japan, where Paula spent the preceding year as a scholarship language student

One more shot of Anis

Coco in his bed

The large cat structure in the living room which also includes special shelves on the wall for Anis to climb around

Anis checks out Randy

After an exchange of small gifts (including a hand knit scarf for me by Angela) we took Coco for a walk around their neighborhood.  This is a great neighborhood with trees and greenery and is very relaxing.  We then drove the short way to the center of Usaquen, an old square, to eat at a fusion Peruvian/Asian restaurant, Madam Tusan.  It was more Asian than Peruvian but the food was very good indeed.  We shared a variety of dishes and started with steamed dumplings.  We also enjoyed a bottle of Spanish sparkling wine and a bottle of Chilean carmenere.

The restaurant in Usaquen

Mauricio drank a traditional drink made from red corn

The waiter (a little surly) takes Paula's and Angela's order

The dumplings were very delicious

The shared dishes (here, my mixed seafood and vegetables) were also excellent

We had quite a feast but pretty much ate it all

The group at the table, very happy to be together again after two years

The Eslavas took us back to the comforts of the Embassy Suites where we slept, anticipating the road trip to Boyaca the next day.  The same night (Thursday), the Rolling Stones were playing Bogota to a huge sold out crowd so the city was jumping with excited and many Rolling Stones T shirts and other paraphernalia were in evidence.  I am sure that Mick Jagger was still singing when we went to sleep that night.  Our only impact from this event was that the hotel price for Thursday was twice as much as for the other nights (Saturday and Sunday) we would spend there.