April 10, 2019
The plane landed on time and passport control took forever - both the line and the questioning. I almost didn’t pass the test because when the guy asked if this was my first time in Brazil I answered yes. He asked again and I remembered that I stayed in Foz one night for my Iguazu Falls trip! Whoops. I changed my answer and explained a little bit about that two day trip. He looked skeptical but then he believed me. I was so nervous he was going to reject my entrance because I lied at first! I’ve been traveling so much here, there, and everywhere that it’s near impossible to remember everything. I’ll cut my brain a break this time. I took a nap in the terminal until Dad and Kenneth arrived. I was in good company - lots of people were napping.
Kenneth and Dad’s flight arrived an hour late and we hailed an Uber. I asked the driver if he spoke Spanish and he said no. Womp womp. So sad. My Spanish was of no use anymore. The ride took FOREVER. I think it was an hour and a half. The airport was so far from the city center and there was horrible traffic. I enjoyed the car ride for the majority of the time because I had a chance to recount some of my adventures thus far. Dad had read my blog and it was neat that he would bring up things that I mentioned in the blog. It was like he already knew most of the stories so all I had to do was provide some details. It made it so much easier! We arrived at the Airbnb location around 12:30pm and getting into the building was like a 007 mission. First, Dad had a list of instructions from the host that told us specifically what to do. We needed to go up to the gate, press the speaker button, provide the apartment number, the name and passport number of the renter, and a predetermined password. We literally stood outside the gate (which looked like a highly surveillanced prison gate) for about 5 minutes trying to get in. The person on the intercom would ask us things in Portuguese so we had no idea what he was saying. Eventually, we were accepted as the elite and the gate slid open. SUCCESS! Except not really. There was ANOTHER gate just beyond the first one. We stepped beyond the first gate into a small crated area as the first gate closed. Kenneth joked “I think this is the point where we get gassed.” I laughed so hard. It did feel like we were taken as prisoners and something was about to happen to us. Then the next gate slid open. FREEDOM! We finally walked into the building and rode the escalator up to our apartment. Though before exiting the elevator, there was another door that we needed to push open before getting out. Another measure of precaution I guess. We definitely felt safe in this building with so much security. We opened the door to the apartment and it opened up to another world. The place was HUGE! Like seriously! We could have fit an army in there! We have 4 bathrooms, 3 of which have showers, 3 bedrooms, a balcony/washing machine area, a giant living room space that has about 5 couches, a dining space, and a kitchen with pretty much everything you could imagine. Panini maker? Got it. French press coffee? Check. Water purifier? Check. Our mouths literally dropped. Kenneth and I raved on and on about it as we adventured through all the different rooms. It was amazing.
Kenneth and I ended up wearing the same exact color teal for the Palmeiras match later which was hilarious. We were twinsies. So cute. We got a picture while at the bar. And come to find out, today was National Siblings Day! Perfect. At 6:30pm we walked to the metro station and figured out the ticket process. We came upon 3 major lines and were confused what was happening. A girl, our hero, ended up talking to us in broken Spanish to explain that the lines we were in were for entrance, not for buying tickets. Thank you, miss! We’ve found that so many Brazilians are very friendly and helpful even when you don’t ask for it. It’s lovely. We bought 2 tickets each for the ride to the stadium and back. It’s only one flat rate to ride anywhere in the network! $1! Incredible. The station was packed and we jumped on the green line one stop to meet with Pablo (Enlace coworker). We met right at 7pm and off we went to the stadium. Pablo mentioned that we were the most courageous Americans he had met. Apparently the area the stadium is in is dangerous and the matches can be dangerous, too. He told us that after the match, not to stay around the area. He suggested we leave immediately with the hoards of soccer fans so we would be safe. He was scaring us a bit! But I’m glad he was transparent about it all. As we walked the streets there were lots of vendors selling hot dogs, tshirts, etc. And it was a very low lit street. It definitely had that “third-world country” vibe to it. I enjoyed it. We eventually retrieved the tickets (Pablo had to keep asking people where to go, thank God we had him around to speak in Portuguese!) and I invited Pablo to stay with us for a drink. He accepted and we all walked to a nearby bar that had wooden tables positioned outside. As soon as Pablo walked in, the guy behind the bar zoned in on him and asked what he wanted. I had never seen someone get attention so quickly! It was like Pablo was a rockstar. We ordered two big bottles of beer and some meat to split. They even cleared off a table for us as well while many other people were standing. Pablo’s rockstar status strikes again. People were all over the streets and spilling out of the bars in the area. It was an electric atmosphere. Then a pack of policemen on large horses trotted by. They had guns and SWORDS! The cases dangled from the side of the horse’s body - it was crazy! It definitely felt like Brazil now because Dad and I had seen similar things in Manaus during the World Cup.
April 11, 2019
Kenneth slept until 1pm and then we walked to a nearby rooftop bar. It was called Sesc Avenida Paulista and we took an elevator to the 17th floor. We ordered food which was pretty straight forward although they forgot one of our beers (how dare they!) and then we walked to the outdoor section to find a place to sit. It was a challenge because there weren’t many tables and all of them were taken. We tried to sit on the ledge of a planter bed, which was challenging, until two ladies at a table invited us to join them. How nice! Once again Brazilians were being extremely friendly and helpful. We enjoyed our meals and then walked up the stairs to the observation deck. I couldn’t walk out to the edge due to my fear of heights. Kenneth, at first, stayed away from the edge too. There was water dripping on us from above and he said, “I don’t know what to do. Stay and get wet, or move and die.” It was funny. I thought we would be “fear buddies” but then about 20 seconds after he said that, he practically sprinted to the edge! Noooooo! From that point on I only slightly moved toward the edge while clinging to the metal bar. We took a bunch of photos here and it was a nice view of the entire city. Sao Paulo is ginormous! There were high-rises as far as the eye could see. There were also some small mountains in the distance which made me happy. It was selfie city on the observation deck as many people tried to get that “perfect photo.” It was neat to see the main avenue, Paulista Avenue from above and how it sliced through the city.
April 12, 2019
We started the day semi-late today which I enjoyed. I woke up at 10am and Kenneth at noon. We hadn’t fallen asleep until 2am. We left the apartment at 1pm to explore the city center of Sao Paulo which had many older buildings and government buildings as well. We rode the metro there and then walked through a handful of pedestrian streets. It was a nice stroll. An acai place caught my eye so I went and ordered an acai concoction. It was like a parfait with many different layers. It was delicious! We walked to Se Cathedral which was really cool looking. In the plaza, just in front of the cathedral, a line of palm trees framed the cathedral on either side which made it look even more impressive. We struggled with Dad’s selfie stick for a bit and then moved on. We walked toward a building that was the “Empire State Building” of Sao Paulo. We got to the foot of it and yep, it looked tall! Dad wanted to go up to the rooftop to grab a drink and I told him there was no way I would make it so I would wait in a café or something. We decided to go to a café/bar together to order drinks and food. This place had the pastels that were on our “must eat” list so we ordered a basket of them. I ended up being the translator throughout our meal and even before our meal to grab a table near the street. It was tough but I could pick up on a few words and then piece them together in Spanish to figure out what the waitress was saying. She was so sweet to us! I asked her about stores that would sell Palmeiras scarfs and the whole staff huddled together to figure it out. After a while of conversing among themselves, she came back and suggested two places. They both were 30 minutes away by car! Geez. I asked through Google translate if there were any close by and she said no. She said one of the places was in a dangerous area and she could go with us at 4pm when she got off work if we wanted. It was so nice of her to offer! I think she was referring to the location near the stadium. We told her thanks, but it wasn’t necessary and that we’d figure something else out.
We walked to the metro and took it to a place a friend recommended called Bar Veloso. Apparently it had traditional Brazil food and good drinks. Along the way, I saw a big screen in the middle of the bustling city that was showing a white cat lapping up some milk in a saucer dish. I immediately pointed it out to Kenneth, hoping it wouldn’t disappear before he saw it. Well it turned out that the video just kept running. So literally the screen shows a cat drinking milk for hours on end. It was so freaking hilarious! One of the best things everrr. Kenneth and I took videos of it and could not stop laughing. Someone in Sao Paulo has an awesome sense of humor. We arrived at Bar Veloso around 6pm and ordered caipirinhas and food. We all enjoyed our meals and we walked back to the metro to go home and change. Dad wanted to check out a place 3 blocks away called The Blue Pub. There was a long line to get in and it wasn’t moving so we switched our plan to go to a bar 3 blocks away from our apartment in the opposite direction. It was part of a fancy hotel and at first we were wondering if they would let us in since we weren’t dressed up as much. There was no problem and we sat outside in a tropical styled patio. It was lovely. There was even a pool in the center that was lit up. It was a great way to wind down before our big trip to Rio tomorrow. We are all so excited to stay in Rio for 7 days! Kenneth wants to go to the beach as soon as we land. Our plan is to leave the apartment at 9:30am to catch our 12:50pm flight. So long Sao Paulo! You were just ok, haha. On to paradise and pretty views!
April 13, 2019
We gathered our things and left the apartment at 9:45am. So long you beautiful, spacious thing! It was great living in you. It was like a tropical paradise in the form of an apartment. The ride thankfully did not take an hour like it did to get to our apartment from the airport. We boarded the flight and took off slightly behind schedule at 1pm. The flight was less than an hour long. By the time we got level, we started dipping back down again to start our descent. It was crazy. We actually landed a little early despite our late takeoff which Kenneth was extremely happy about because he had beach brain (it’s a condition where all you can think about is the beach and you go into super “I need sun and sand” mode). It was hilarious. He actually led the pack (us) through the airport at super speed when it’s usually the complete opposite. I could barely keep up with him! Just add “beach” to the equation and he’ll speed up by a factor of 10. I QUICKLY bought some acai because I didn’t want to upset the timekeeper beach monster inside of Kenneth. The acai was divine, as usual. We hopped in an Uber and it only took us 30 minutes to reach the apartment. The scenery and vibe of Rio is so much better than Sao Paulo. There was so much green! It had a more natural feel and you didn’t see just high-rises for miles. Christ the Redeemer statue was shrouded in clouds which was pretty cool. We arrived and our nice host showed us around. As soon as she left, we TOOK OFF for the beach. We found a spot and Kenneth was loving it. It was sunny which unfortunately won’t be the case for most of our trip. The clouds rolled in and Kenneth and Dad opted to stay another hour while I went back to the apartment to chill. I enjoyed the views from our balcony which were outstanding. You could see many of the mountains nearby covered in clouds and also an island in the ocean in the distance. This Airbnb was a great pick.
April 14, 2019
Today was the first leg of the Rio state finals between Flamengo and Vasco da Gama. Our host sent us an address where we could buy the tickets so we hailed an Uber and headed toward the address. The driver dropped us off after a 12 minute ride in a desolate location with a beat-up practice stadium in front of us. It had the Flamengo symbol which was promising. However, the address the host gave us did not align with the stadium so we walked to the exact point. There was absolutely nothing at the exact point…uh oh. We asked a guy nearby and he pointed us beyond the stadium and made it seem like we needed to go to the entrance. We followed his directions and walked up to the entrance. We couldn’t get beyond the turnstiles so a lady came and helped us. I showed her the address and mentioned (in Spanish) that we wanted to buy tickets and she made a phone call. After she hung up, she said (in Portuguese) that we couldn’t buy the tickets there. Womp. Dead-end. She then told us that we could only buy them at the stadium itself, Nilton Santos, which was like 30 minutes away. Dad and I contemplated what we should do since even if we went to the stadium there may not be tickets left. We decided to go for it. Little did we know this would become a 20 step process which we thought would only be 2 steps (Uber to current location, buy tickets, done).
I called us another Uber which seemed to have trouble navigating because it kept increasing the wait time. Around 10:45am we reached the stadium and I was impressed with its design. It looked like a big tube/roller coaster was placed along the top. The area in front of the stadium was swarming with people. It looked like they were a part of some exercise club because none of them were buying tickets and they were all dressed in athletic gear. This area was a little sketchy so having that many people around staring at us made me nervous. Dad and I walked up to the ticket booth and tried to figure out how to tell the ladies behind the counter what we wanted. One lady had broken English and she helped. She asked us which team we wanted to root for and I told her Flamengo. She told us that this area was only for Vasco tickets but she had trouble telling us where to go for Flamengo tickets. Then a guy standing in the area heard us speaking English and asked if he could help. He told us to go to the side of the stadium. We thanked him and started heading that way. He followed us and some of his friends started following us too. That made me really nervous. His friends dipped out after a minute or so but he still followed us on his skateboard. He meant well, but it was just unsettling how he was following us rather than leading us. We reached the side of the stadium, he pointed, and then left. Thanks bro! Except it didn’t end up being the right place…about 50 more yards further we discovered that all the ticket booths had Xs on them. What do we do now? We asked some nearby stadium workers and they pointed us to the next side of the stadium. By this point Dad and I were getting a full blown walking tour of the outside of the stadium. We walked to the next side and Viola! ticket booths and a few people selling Flamengo jerseys. Success! Except not quite. We spoke to a guy who had broken English and he mentioned they only accepted cash. No problem since Dad had a bunch. Except he didn’t. He left most of it in the apartment and I had hardly any cash. Ahhh. This was getting too frustrating to handle. Thankfully Dad used Google Maps to search and pinpoint the exact location of the nearest ATM. We withdrew the money, returned to the booth, and FINALLY had 3 tickets in our hands. LONGEST GOOSE CHASE EVER. It started spritzing at this point so Dad and I just called an Uber back to the apartment.
Dad, Kenneth, and I left the apartment at 1:45pm to take an Uber to the stadium. I recounted our ticket adventures from the morning to Kenneth because he didn’t wake up until noon. I’m sure he was thrilled he missed out on it! The Uber dropped us off around 2:15pm and the place was bustling with people. We walked around to find food and jerseys. There were little stands set up along the entire sidewalk. Each stand was practically the same, selling kabobs of different varieties on a small grill. Dad bought a Flamengo jersey and then we wandered a bit more. I was hoping to spot some scarves, but it wasn’t looking good. I ordered an Acai bowl (of course!) and then saw a sign with a cartoon chicken on it that said Empadas which reminded me of Empanadas, so I walked over to it. The little stand was run by a few ladies, and it seemed liked they were all sisters. I asked what Empadas were but I couldn’t figure out what she was telling me in Portuguese so I told her to go for it. She laid a skewer of chicken into a metal bowl with boiling hot oil. It looked really good and started smelling really good too. She pulled it out and then pointed at two bags of mush. I had no clue what they were and then she held her pointer finger up, put it to her tongue, and made the “eelh” noise as if licking something. It was hilarious. I took her suggestion of taste testing it and she squeezed some of the mush onto my finger. I tried both and they were both a type of cheese. I opted for the one with less in the bag because obviously that one is more popular. She squeezed the cheese onto the chicken stick and I was super pumped. Kenneth and Dad kept raving about how great it looked and they were jealous that they already ordered other food earlier. They seriously could not stop talking about it haha. I guess I made a good decision then! Dad then caved and went back to the chicken ladies and bought the chicken stick. Kenneth was targeted by a street seller who was carrying nuts and other small snack items. Everything was very cheap so Kenneth bought some nuts. He gave the seller a 5 Reais for a 4 Reais purchase and the seller was so cute trying to explain that he didn’t have a coin to give back. He asked Kenneth if he had another 2 Reais so he could return a 2 Reais back. The way he was describing it made it seem like he was doing a magic trick. He’d point at one of the bills, then point at Kenneth, then smile with the biggest grin on his face like he was anticipating magic to happen. It was hilarious. Eventually we figured out his message and our magician friend was on his way. To add to that, the seller was wearing a goofy Brazil hat which made it even more comical. I told him I liked his hat and he grinned very wide and got excited.
April 15, 2019
We successfully woke up “early” this morning! We hopped on the metro and rode 11 stops to the meeting point in Relogio Da Carioca plaza. We arrived right at 10:30am, but like all other walking tours I’ve done, they waited 10 minutes. Kenneth and I took this opportunity to buy a soltado/refresco combo for a total of 4 Reais which is like 50 cents for each of us. It was a killer deal. The tour started at 10:40am and the group was HUGE. It was 75% English and 25% Spanish. There were two guides for the English speakers and each group had 30 people! Largest groups I’ve experienced by far. We had a girl guide and she was nice. She called us her family and we all said our names and where we were from. At one point everyone kept saying Germany. It was comical. Here are some tour facts:
• They don’t celebrate Vday in Feb, but June
• Rio de Janeiro is named as the River of January because it was discovered in January and it seemed like the city was near a river
• 1807 King of Portugal moved the seat of royal power to Brazil because Portugal was in danger of being overthrown by France. Britain navy anchored in front of Lisbon to put pressure on it’s ally (Portugal). It said either the king moves to Brazil or they would bombard the city.
• 1821 the king returned to Portugal but his son Pedro I stayed. There was a decree demanding Pedro return to Portugal but Pedro I announced from the Royal Palace window that he was staying. This was the beginning spark of independence. His wife mentioned that if he wanted to make Brazil independent then he’d have to do it soon, so he traveled to Sao Paulo to round up the military to try and unite Brazil first. He was on the way back to Rio and his wife sent him a letter saying as soon as he reached Rio he would be arrested. He asked her a favor: to draft up the Declaration of Independence and sign it herself
• He sent his 7 year old daughter back to Portugal so she could become queen but his brother fought against it. Pedro ended up leaving Brazil to kill his brother to make his daughter a queen. He left his 5 year old son behind and eventually that son, Pedro II became the emperor. So he was technically a Brazilian and the people liked that better.
• 1888 Pedro II went to Europe for health reasons and left Princess Isabel in charge. She signed the abolition of slavery
• Brazil was last country in South America to abolish slavery and second to last in the world
April 16, 2019
We slept in a bit today and then left the apartment at 1pm to rent bikes. We headed to Lagoa Rodrigo and biked on the east side first. It was stunning! We stopped for a photo op because it was just too amazing. The mountains were the backdrop to the lagoon and the sky was as clear and as blue as could be. A few palm trees also grew alongside the lagoon which made it even more tropical. It was seriously like we had entered a postcard. We continued biking to Parque Large which I had seen online and it did not disappoint. We walked through the dense forest where we were surrounded by giant ferns and green in all directions. We then spotted the building and walked up the stairs. The Christ the Redeemer statue on top of Corcovado Mountain was sticking up behind it making the view even more breathtaking. We walked through the arch and then saw a glimmering pool of teal water with a small cafe behind it. People formed a line to take photos. It was a beautiful backdrop. We asked the cafe if they had an open table and they sat us right next to the teal pool! It was like a dream. It was around 2pm at this time and we indulged in tons of food because we were all starving. Dad was impressed that I led us to this place. I didn’t describe much about it beforehand on purpose - I wanted to blow their minds!
April 17, 2019
Well, our plan to wake up early and head to the Christ the Redeemer statue didn’t quite pan out. I woke up at 7am and looked out the window and there were large clouds looming nearby. I figured by the time we all got ready, called an Uber, and made it up the mountain, it would be covered with clouds and not worth the journey. Both Dad and Kenneth were still asleep at 7:30am and I decided not to wake them up. Since today was cloudy, we decided to venture out to the mountains in Tijuana National Park since most of the National Park was shrouded in forest with no overlooks (at least in our plan). We planned to first stop at a spot called Pedra Bonita that was supposed to have an overlook similar to Pedra da Gavea. Pedra da Gavea looked too scary for us because you had to climb the side of the mountain with ropes. I called us an Uber around noon and we were on our way. It was a 30 minute drive which wasn’t too bad. We were dropped off at the bottom of a blocked off road and I used my Spanish to ask the attendant if the blocked road was the way to the hike. He explained that there was a hang-gliding area with a good lookout that we should check out first. We reached the hang-gliding spot after about 10 minutes and the view was outstanding! You could see the ocean, the mountains, the beaches, and part of the city below. We were very very high up! We took a few selfies and then decided to head back/skip Pedra Bonita because we were all super hungry. We waited for an Uber for 45 minutes! It was crazy. We chatted with the kiosk attendee in Spanish for a bit and then took the Uber about 15 minutes to the Visitor Center of Tijuana Park.
It felt like such a longgg day but really we didn’t even do that much. Most of it was spent waiting for an Uber or riding in an Uber. Ugh. Oh well. The National Park was still gorgeous to drive through and we at least got to see one beautiful overlook. Tomorrow we forreal are planning to do Christ the Redeemer. The weather has looked solid for tomorrow all week so fingers crossed it doesn’t change last minute!
April 18, 2019
Well this day started off disappointing. At 8am we left the apt and called an Uber to take us to Christ the Redeemer. The App gave the driver a route that showed 1 hour in length. Good grief! We actually drove passed the two points in Tijuana National Park that we went to yesterday. The route took us alll the way to the west and then into the Corcovado Mountain (where Christ stands) instead of approaching from the east which looked way shorter. I guess from the east side there is a one way street or something. The driver stopped a couple times to ask workers on the side of the road if the road was dangerous. The workers said no, and the driver did a really good job driving us quickly through the forest. It seemed like we would get there on time at 9am! He was much better than the tortoise driver we had yesterday for the first leg of our trip. Anyway, the first sign of bad news was that a road that the driver was supposed to take was blocked off. Hmm. I watched the map and as we continued passed it, it added an additional hour to our trip. Say what?! Oh my gosh. Maybe we were supposed to stop at the blocked road and someone would open the gate? We continued on the new route which came from the east side (which I thought was the best initially). The drive was beautiful. We kept going around bend after bend as the lush green trees flew by on our left and right. At times we had a view of the entire city below. My heart started pounding a little bit. The driver stopped multiple times to ask workers on the side of the street (good thing they were there to ask!) if we were going the right direction. They kept giving us directions and eventually we were going down the mountain. We reached an intersection where we needed to go right (the sign for Corcovado even said so), but there were train tracks within the road so the driver started going left. NOOO. We shouted “Right! Derecha!” and the driver hesitated for a second. He opened his window to a nearby police officer (again, thank goodness he was there) and asked where to go. The officer pointed to the right as we had all shouted. Phew! However, it did seem like we were driving on train tracks so all of us looked at each other with faces of confusion. Even the driver turned his head around to give us a worried look. It was funny. We placed our trust in the police officer and road sign and prayed that we wouldn’t be clobbered by a train. We saw other cars coming the opposite direction so that was our first sign that the road was safe. We had been in the car for about 1 hour at this point. So much craziness! We figured we were definitely on the right track now (no pun intended). We came up to a checkpoint where many cars stopped. Dad wanted the driver to continue passed them, but the driver stopped as well. It was here that we were given some very terrible news. We could not access the parking lot by car. The only option was by tram. How could that be?! We went all this way can’t we just be dropped off? The lady kept saying no. From what we gathered, they were doing maintenance on the road from the recent flood. Aha….that’s what the tour guide meant when she said the “bus stations” were flooded. She didn’t mean the actual beginning bus stations within the city, she meant the ones at the top of the mountain. That would have been nice for her to clarify…We were forced to turn around at this point with our crushed hearts. We were so close! Ugh. So we decided to see what the options were for the tram today, but we didn’t have high hopes. The Uber driver was very nice through all of this. He didn’t sign up for that crazy adventure, but he never complained even when his tires took a beating on some of the rough roads. Dad gave him a 20% tip when he dropped us off at the tram station and the driver looked shocked and almost didn’t accept it. No dude, you deserve it.
So our plan was to arrive at Christ the Redeemer at 9am, and now here we were at 9:30am at the tram station. Sigh. There was a MASSIVE line at the tram station. The odds weren’t looking good. As we walked by the main ticket windows to get in line, we noticed that the only tickets left for today were for 6:40pm. Yeahhh that’s not ideal. We decided we would get tickets for tomorrow instead. We stood in line and I thought it would be a good idea to see if we could purchase the tickets online while we waited since the line would take at least 30 minutes. I created an account and tried to purchase tickets for tomorrow morning but they were all sold out! Oh dang! I then tried to buy 3 for 4pm because there were “21 available” but then when I tried to submit the request, the site said none were left. OMG! I needed to amp up the speed on my fingertips. I zoomed through the webpages to request tickets for the 4:20pm slot. Please oh please go through. 10 of the longest seconds went by and then a page came up that said “Success!” Praise be to God! We were close to the front of the line by this point (another 10 minutes) so we decided to wait so they could print the tickets for us. As we approached the front of the line, a lady was standing there turning people away because they had run out of tickets for both today AND tomorrow. Holy smokes! The poor people in front of us didn’t think to get online and buy tickets even though we told them that’s what we were doing, so they were out of luck. They were pissed. They kept saying to the lady that they waited in line for 30 minutes and it would’ve been nice to know before waiting for so long. I can’t believe all the tickets sold out for tomorrow. I did not see that coming. Thank God we bought them online, otherwise we would not be seeing Christ the Redeemer at all! That would have been very sad. We asked the lady if we could print the tickets and she said they can only print the tickets the day of the trip and that we could come back tomorrow and stand in line again at a different window. What! Very poorly organized. Who makes people stand in line TWICE? Oy vey. It was a rough morning, but we had tickets and that was a positive.
We then decided to go to Sugarloaf Mountain to reserve tickets for around sunset since they aren’t available online. We took an Uber there and discovered after about 30 minutes that we didn’t need to reserve tickets at all. Ugh. Another extraneous trip. Our whole morning was such a drag and very frustrating. I also found out around this time that my Avianca flight to Bogota was cancelled for Saturday. WHAT!? Two days notice? Dang. This sucks. I tried not to think about it and told myself to worry about it later when I had access to Wifi. It was hard not to think about it though. Since we drove all the way to Sugarloaf unnecessarily we decided to make the most of our time and hang out at the little beach for a bit. This was a breathtaking spot. It was like a little cove and on the left you could see the cable car going to Sugarloaf Mountain wayyyy up in the sky. It was daunting knowing we would be doing that later today. I kept telling myself “I have done it before so I can do it again!” We relaxed at the beach a for about an hour, bought hot dogs (only food available), and drinks. I was so stressed at this point and desperately needed the sound of the waves crashing in front of me as the sun beamed down on us. It was a good remedy. It felt more like a locals beach which I enjoyed.
At 2pm, Dad, Kenneth, and I called an Uber to go to Sugarloaf Mountain. We arrived around 3:30pm and started the hike up the first mountain. Dad and I had done this the last time we were in Rio and we liked the hiking-to-cable-car option better than the two cable car option. The hike was just as steep as I remembered it. There were hundreds of steps through the woods as we climbed up 2,000’. In 2014, I remember JT and Andre dying on the path and we were all covered in sweat. This time around it was still steep and kept the legs burning, but it wasn’t as hot. We practically did the whole thing without stopping – go us! We reached the top of the first mountain and relaxed up there for a bit. Kenneth and I bought Acai which really hit the spot. I forgot to mention that I carried 2 beers in my backpack for Kenneth and I to drink to prep before the cable car. We figured this would help calm down our nerves haha. We cracked open our beers and Dad bought a caiprihina. As we lounged, we looked over at a table and there was a weird looking creature on it! WTF is that?? It moved like a lizard and looked like a small lemur. It also had sharp little claws. It jumped onto another table nearby where people were sitting and it scared them half to death. It was hilarious. The people jumped up and everyone was mesmerized by it. It was such an odd creature! We discovered that is was called a Marmoset.
April 19, 2019
Today was Good Friday and for the Brazilians that meant it was a holiday. They even closed off part of the street that runs along Ipanema Beach to transform it into a pedestrian street. It was really neat! We went to the beach at 11:30am. It was a nice day for it.
We stopped after about 20 minutes and unloaded the tram. I felt unsteady but overall ok since all I could see were sidewalk and trees. Then, we walked up some stairs and the trees disappeared and clouds came into view. We were ABOVE the clouds and there were small breaks where I could see all the way down to my death. My panic attack started. I froze and I could not move. After about 15 seconds I slowly crawled along the staircase furthest from the edge. I clutched the cold, stone wall with both my hands as I creeped up each step one by one. People walked passed me and some stared at me, wondering if I was ok. Each time I caught a glimpse of how high we were, I froze again. It was also windy which did not help. How the hell did I do this last time in 2014?! All the high-rises and mountains around the city looked like Legos from this vantage point – very itty bitty. Sugarloaf Mountain (which is the tall mountain we went to yesterday) looked to be a quarter of the height of where we currently were. It was daunting. Kenneth was fine and walked around and took photos. He even went ahead of Dad and I as we stopped. I’d say it took me 30 minutes to finally crawl to the platform where the Jesus statue stood. I kept saying to Dad “How the hell did I do this last time. Oh my God. It’s so high. Oh my God.” I kinda wish he had recorded it so I could look back upon it and laugh. He told me the last time I just clung to the wall and eventually made it up. Once I reached the platform, I walked quickly to the center to grab hold of the massive concrete base of Jesus. Lord, help me! Dad went to the edge and took lots of pictures while I stood in fear. I couldn’t even get used to the view because the clouds kept blocking it! I would see all the buildings below and then feel a little comfortable after a minute and then clouds came and all I could see was white. This made it way more difficult than it should have been. One of the positives is that because the sun was setting behind Jesus, it casted a shadow of His silhouette on the clouds below. It even had a rainbow ring around the shadow at times. It was an unbelievable image. Dad took lots of photos for me since I was still too frozen to pull out my phone. Eventually, after about 10 minutes, I made it close to the edge. I looked below and tried to talk myself out of my fear. It worked slightly and I continued walking along the edge while gripping the stone railing. I slowly placed one foot in front of the other. There were lots of people taking pictures so it was a little crammed, which made me nervous every time someone bumped into me. But it felt like there were less people than 2014 which makes sense because it’s not the World Cup AND the tram was the only option to reach the top. At least the tram helped regulate how many people could be there. Again, people kept staring at me and would move out of my way if they saw me. I bet it was funny to witness. I started taking pictures but the clouds kept blocking the beautiful view so I barely got any good ones. I did get some cool photos of Jesus with the sun near his right foot. And a really cool one where the clouds misted over him and the sun brightened a part of the photo. It was an eerie image and I couldn’t help but think it could be showcased in National Geographic. It was definitely a once in a lifetime photo. Dad also took some photos of me with my arms out to match Jesus and those came out well, too. Dad used his selfie stick to take some of the three of us with the “view” but there were too many clouds. We spent about an hour at the top and then it got cold so we stood in line for the tram FOREVER. Another reason why the bus/van system is better if it’s available. Overall the experience was again amazing, but unfortunately we didn’t get the astonishing views like we did in 2014. At least we were able to do it! We were 30 minutes away from not experiencing it at all this time around.
April 20, 2019
The flight took off right on time and then I had a 2 hour layover in Lima. I finally arrived at the apartment in Bogota at 3:30pm, did laundry, took a 2 hour nap, showered, and caught up on my tablet. It was so nice to have some alone time! Brittney arrived downstairs at 9:40pm so I took the elevator down to meet her. When the elevator doors opened she stood there with an excited face, exclaimed “HIIII!” and gave me a huge hug for at least 5 seconds. It was so wonderful! She was super excited to see me which made me excited. At 10:30pm we had drinks at Bar Baranguela Restaurante and caught up with each other’s lives. It was a great “Welcome to Colombia” night! We went to bed at 1:30am and set our alarms for 9:30am. Tomorrow at 1pm we are meeting Lina, Stefania’s (Enlace coworker) best friend, for lunch. I am excited to meet her and get more tips and suggestions!
April 21, 2019
Happy Easter! My body woke up at 6:45am because it was still on Rio time (8:45am). It was nice though because I could catch up with my journal and do some research for Bogota. We left the apartment at 10am to eat breakfast at a café near the Sunday Flea Market in Usaquen called Café Quindio. It was fantastic! They had numerous different methods for brewing coffee and also different blends. It was overwhelming to me because I don’t know anything about coffee, but Brittney was in heaven because she is a coffee enthusiast. We figured out what we wanted, ordered, and then found a cozy place to sit upstairs. There was a security officer inside the café, observing the area, which we found odd. I guess there has been issues at this café in the past. Brittney and I spoke in Spanish the entire meal which was awesome! We were truly living the “local way.” I’m so happy that she is fluent in Spanish because then she can talk more and I can listen and add in comments when I can. I also feel very comfortable around her so it’s easier for me to talk for long periods of time and she can help me with my grammar if I ask. The coffee was excellent! Brittney thought so too, which is the opinion that truly matters. We then walked around the Flea Market which spanned about 8 blocks. It was neat to see all the different items the vendors were selling. And all of them were extremely nice and welcoming. Each one would say Buenos Dias or Bienvenidos, even if we weren’t looking at their stall. We perused through vendors for about 45 minutes and enjoyed the little street of shops that paralleled the market. Most shops or restaurants had small colorful awnings. There were also a few street musicians which always adds an extra bit of fun and flavor. Brittney and I both purchased little souvenirs and when we bought them, we spoke to the vendors in Spanish. It was a wonderful time!
We met up with Lina at the apartment at 1pm. We hopped in her car and went to lunch at Andres D.C. I should note, that before entering the parking garage, we had to stop and open some of the car doors for a security guard. He had a dog with him who sniffed the vehicle. Britt and I were a little concerned, and Lina told us it was to search for bombs. Apparently, a couple years ago a bomb was placed inside the mall building. Oh my gosh! So scary. Britt and I figured the dog was just sniffing for drugs. After passing the sniff test, we parked and went inside. Andres D.C. was a ginormous food venue! It had two floors and about 8 different options for types of food. Seafood, meat, soups, juices, sandwiches, desserts, etc! Lina pointed out the Ajiaco which is a soup I had been told to try so I went for it. The entire place had colorful little lights hanging from the ceiling, similar to a string of Christmas lights. It was such a wonderful atmosphere. Brittney opted for a fish dish and Lina got the Ajiaco like me. We found a table upstairs and indulged in our food over great conversation. All in Spanish by the way! I loved that Brittney was around because she could understand everything Lina said, while I only caught the majority of it. The Ajiaco was delicious! I struggled with the corn that floated in it, but eventually gave up and just used my hands. Then we all tried each others dishes which was fun. I asked Lina about the futbol stadium that was about 30 minutes south from our apartment and she said she would ask her friend about it. She texted him right away and he joked that it would be the worst match of the year. He then said that there was a match in the other stadium that is closer to us for a Santa Fe match. Say what?! My App didn’t show any other matches this week for Bogota. Apparently, it was like Brazil where they are having a separate tournament going on at the same time as the league. Yippee! We confirmed it online and I told Lina it would be great to go to the match and asked if she would be interested in joining us. Lina said she would be interested and we all got excited! I’m so happy we have another option to watch a match because I was feeling hesitant about the other location. Plus the stadium is only 10 minutes drive from our apartment! We bought tickets for the match in that moment. SO PUMPED!
At this time I connected to the Wifi and read my emails. I unfortunately discovered that I had some issues with my debit card. I called the number and it listed a few transactions. One was approved today in Brazil. Yep, that’s not me! I told my bank about the issue and they immediately cancelled my card. I can’t believe my information got stolen in Brazil! Well, I guess I kind of can, but I almost made it through my entire trip without any fraudulent activity! Anyway, we then left and walked to a nearby brewery. It was called Bogota Beer Company and their beer selection was awesome. I really liked 2 of them. After we finished our beers around 5:30pm (we spent 4+ hours together! And the entire time we spoke Spanish. I broke down a little bit at times because my Spanish brain was tired haha), it was pouring rain outside. We prepared for rain battle by wearing our raincoats. The streets were almost flooding it was that bad. Thankfully we only needed to walk a couple blocks to the parking garage. Lina dropped us off around 5:45pm and it was marvelous to meet her! And if I haven’t mentioned 3 times already, I’m so excited for the futbol match Wednesday! Especially going with a local.
April 22, 2019
Happy Earth Day! My body woke up at 7:20am, which was better than yesterday. Improvement! Britt and I left at 9:15am as planned, we arrived at Museo de Oro, and then walked to a nearby café to order pastries. The tour began at 10:10am. We walked a decent amount during the tour and it rained for the second half of it. It was kind of a bummer, but we were prepared with our raincoats. This tour also included a stop for free Chicha and a Totuma shell that we used as a cup for the Chicha and then got to keep. We also went into the Bortero Museum which was on my list so I was so happy to check that box as well! He also gave up wristbands with discounts to places nearby. Overall the tour had more perks than the others I have done! Here are some things that we learned:
• Europeans followed river from Santa Marta down to Bogota. They searched for El Dorado (The City of Gold) in the Amazon, but it didn’t actually exist. The rumors started with a ritual called Dorado by the indigenous people near Lake Guatavita. They threw gold into the lake to “feed” the god. Much of the gold was retrieved from the bottom of the lake and is in Museo de Oro today.
• Santander Square was where non-Catholics were executed
• Bolivar and Santander were the leaders of independence. Bolivar was first president and Santander was second
• 1810 Napoleon put King of Spain in prison and Spaniards were busy fighting against him so that’s how Colombia started its independence movement
• Then Napoleon was overthrown and Spaniards came back to Colombia to fight for control
• In 1819 during the Battle of Boyaca Colombia defeated the Spaniards and created the country of Gran Colombia: Size of Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador.
• After 11 years Bolivar died and Ecuador and Venezuela split peacefully
• Panama area wanted a canal but needed investors. US invested under the condition that Panama split from Gran Colombia. So they did. The US was the first country to recognize the independence of Panama
• Bogota is 480 years old
• 71 years ago president Jorge Gaitan was shot. He was loved by the people and so all hell broke loose. Everyone destroyed all the colonial buildings during the riots. This period was called La Violencia. There were rumors that the conservative party assassinated Jorge to take over the presidency.
• In 1950 conservative president Laureano Gomez was elected (Liberals refused to participate in election). He had similar views to Hitler. The government then massacred thousands and there was lots of violence. That’s when the guerrilla problem arose. Two major groups: FARC and ELN. FARC and the Colombia government signed a peace agreement three years ago in 2016. However, ELN is still at large and just two months ago bombed the police academy.
• At Plazoleta Del Rosario is where the Emerald Black Market is. Many men just stand around because they sell emeralds brought from a location 4 hours away. When you approach them they hold out a white cloth to reveal it to you before they sell it.
• Mountain of Monserrate was named after one in Barcelona
• Since chicha could be fermented and enjoyed in homes/backyards, the government couldn’t tax it. Therefore they created propaganda against it. Chicha was illegal for 42 years (1949-1991). It created segregation for the indigenous people who were mainly the ones who made chicha. Beer was being pushed instead. First bottle of beer created was called No Mas Chicha haha
• Fernando Botero donated the money for Botero Museum, but he had one condition before he donated – that it had to be free to the public and charge no admission fee. He felt people should not be restricted to access art because of money problems. In Botero Museum there is a line in the ceiling with sensors about a foot away from all paintings - if you cross it, a buzzer will sound.
• In 1985 the Palace of Justice was taken over by M-19 guerrilla group. They dressed as staff and snuck in to take all the people hostage. They did it to get the president’s attention because they were working on a peace agreement and they felt the president and government weren’t following through. President didn’t comply and sent an army in to kill everyone, including hostages. There were 11 survivors but they were tortured and murdered because the government couldn’t tell if they were guerrilla rebels. Still an open wound to this day. Since the major M-19 group leaders were killed in this massacre, M-19 was weakened and 5 years later in 1990 they signed a peace agreement.
• Pablo Escobar (drug lord) offered to pay the entire Colombia nation’s US $10 billion national debt to avoid being extradited to the US and prosecuted for all his crimes. The government denied working with terrorists/drug lords and Pablo retaliated. Once extradition was outlawed, Pablo was happy to go to a prison that he created. He continued running his business from there.
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| Got Guanabana? |
Tomorrow we are waking up early (7am) to take a bus tour to the salt mines! It should be fun. It’s a 9 hour deal and so we are anticipating a long day. Today was great despite the rain! Hopefully the weather gets better these next two days.
April 23, 2019
We had a jam packed day today! We kicked of our morning by drinking the Guayaba juice that we bought from the grocery store which was delicious! We met the tour company outside our apartment at 8:15am and we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was only Brittney and I in the group! It was essentially a private tour. We had a driver named Vanessa who was dressed in a professional pantsuit, and a guide named Miguel. Miguel immediately started chatting away which I wasn’t ready for at first because I was still waking up. He told us many interesting facts about the city and below are some things he told us:
• Women don’t typically drive cars, especially pretty ones. Miguel said many guys see Vanessa driving and stare and look shocked.
• The police keep you “safe” but not really. They are normally just looking out for themselves, not for the safety of the people. They don’t have the community’s best interest at heart. Sometimes it’s hard to trust them. High schoolers have the option after they graduate to participate in a police officer program and that’s why there are a lot of young guys walking the streets with neon vests. It’s usually their only hope for a bright future which is why so many of them choose to do it. Most citizens don’t respect them because they can’t enforce the law the same way a regular officer can.
• Graffiti is important because it is a way for the people to speak their minds and reveal struggles/opinions without getting punished. The Colombian government is oppressive even though it’s supposed to be a free country with freedom of speech. The problem is that the main news channels are owned by a few wealthy families and if they find out you are against something they support or if you speak about something controversial, they will silence you (sometimes with violence).
• Calle 26 has graffiti all over it because it is protected now. Backstory is that a young teenage guy did graffiti and then was arrested and thrown in jail with gang members and bad people. He tried to escape by running away, but the prison guards shot him. It was a big deal for Bogota. Then, Justin Bieber performed a concert and wanted to add graffiti. They allowed Bieber to do this and while he did, a security guard stood next to him to protect him. It was the total opposite response. People had riots and eventually the government decided they would respect/protect a certain area of the city for graffiti.
We were on our way to Mina de Sal de Nemocón but the access road that Google told us to use was really poor. It was a dirt road and there were holes in the road with construction cones on top of them. At one point a cone was in the middle of the road and we all discussed what the best tactic was to drive around it. We were all a little skeptical, but Vanessa went for it. Go Vanessa, go! We successfully made it passed the cone and erupted with cheers. Well the celebration didn’t last long, because then there was a large piles of rocks that took up about ¾ of the road. We claimed defeat at this point and wondered what we should do. Thankfully the mine was only a short walk away so Miguel asked if it was ok for us to walk. We said it was no problem and said our goodbyes to Vanessa. I was extremely concerned for her because it was hard enough to get passed the cone driving forward, let alone backwards. I was nervous for her and it came to the point where I brought it up with Miguel. He said he was worried too and asked us if it was ok if he went back to help her. We said “of course!” He said thanks because “I said goodbye to her, but I looked at her in a way to say ‘good luck.’” Aw. I’m glad he was thinking he wanted to help her because from our perspective it seemed like he was leaving her out to dry. It probably was because he was obligated to stay with us according to tour company standards/rules. Brittney and I then joined a tour group from 10:30am-12:15pm to explore the mines (we thought Miguel was our tour guide but apparently he would have been there only as a translator if we needed it). The group consisted of a large family from LA and me and Brittney. Britt and I were given fashionable hairnets and helmets and took fun selfies. As we descended into the mine the darkness enveloped us and the lights lining the stone walls shone through. It was really cool! The guide kept telling us to hold on tight to the handrails because it was slippery. We then saw the salt hanging from the walls and ceiling. It looked like snow! It was the most unique thing I had seen in a while. The salt even formed some stalactites at times. I really enjoyed it. It was different than most other caves I had seen so it made it more interesting. There was one point where a pool of water was stationed next to a bunch of light poles (with not light bulbs) and it created the illusion from the mirror effect that there was a crater below it. Before the guide told us that is was just a reflection, many people couldn’t tell and freaked out, making sure not to get too close to the “edge.” It was funny. We explored the mines which seemed to go on forever (in a good way). It was such a neat experience! We climbed out of the mine around 12:15pm and met up with Miguel for the next part of our adventure.
After lunch we entered the salt cathedral and walked through a really neat tunnel that was lit up with red. It was dark and cool which gave it an eerie vibe. We used our audio guides for each “stop” which told the different series of rock formations for the phases of Christ’s life. It was neat to see that crosses were formed from the salt mines and how each “nook” highlighted a phase. It was interesting at first, but it go boring rather quickly. We were curious if it would be like this the entire time. We turned a corner about 15 minutes later and a breathtaking view appeared. There was an angel statue blowing a trumpet and then far below us was a giant cross hanging from the ceiling. The angel was close to us, on the balcony, but the cross was far in the distance. The area below us had a few people walking around and the enormity of the salty rock walls was unfathomable. It was like a huge arch had been carved in the rock and then tunneled back 100 yards. The ceiling had signs of salt on it which was a neat effect. At this time, hymnal type music was echoing throughout the area which made it even more incredible. It sent shivers down my spine. We turned another corner and came to an area with many different paths. In that moment, the audio guide said “Now choose the path you feel best cleanses your soul.” DANG. That got deep real quick. And also that’s a lot of pressure. What if I choose the second best one by accident? Will my soul still be cleansed and can I still be allowed to access the large cross? Britt and I chose the same path and we felt our souls were pretty clean afterward. The path led us to a large tunnel that had beautiful blue and silver chandeliers dangling from the ceiling. We eventually found the large cross and it was so immense that it took my breathe away. I couldn’t believe this whole area was carved out by human hands! We let the enormity of the situation sink in for a bit and then continued exploring the many tunnels and narrow passageways. We took some fun photos along the way too. After we had our fill, we searched for a bathroom which was on the complete opposite side of the large cross. It took us forever to walk there! However, it did have a legit ceiling made of salt so we were ok with the long trek in the end. We walked out of the cathedral by retracing our steps and met up with Miguel once again.
April 24, 2019
We woke up around 8am prepared to go to Monserrate and then Quebrada Las Delicias (hike). Our only restriction was that we needed to complete the hike for Las Delicias before 1pm because that’s when the police stopped monitoring it. So we figured if we left the apartment at 8:45am for Monserrate we would have enough time to complete both before 1pm However, we saw that Monserrate was covered in clouds even though the sun was out in our area. We decided to switch things up and do Las Delicias first, hoping Monserrate would clear up later.
At 10:30am we called an Uber to reach Quebrada Las Delicias. We had some concerns after being dropped off because the trail started underneath a sketchy overpass and we didn’t see any police monitoring the area like we had read online. We walked to a nearby building and asked a security guard if the trail was safe and he responded that is was very safe and not to worry. We returned to the trailhead and for the first 5 minutes I was very nervous. It seemed very dirty and there was a lot of trash laying around. It had many nooks where homeless people could live and I kept my head on a constant swivel. After a while the trail paralleled a main road and it felt safer. I then started enjoying the hike. It was crazy that nature and the city were existing side by side. The trail was extremely beautiful because it followed a small stream and there were many different types of flowers with different colors. It was very peaceful. The flow of the water created the perfect sounds of tranquility. I climbed up some slick stairs and all of a sudden my foot slipped. I started falling down but then stopped myself with the palm of my left hand against the ground. OW! My palm had hit the sharpest point of the rock and extreme pain traveled through it. It hurt for a very long time and I was worried I did some major damage. I even got a little light headed right after it happened and my hand started swelling. We took a break for about 5 minutes until it felt better. After 5 minutes it felt ok/numb. I’m sure it’s going to look gross tomorrow. We continued on and when we reached a small road we didn’t know which direction to go. Two guys walking down the street cat-called us and told us where to go. We decided to go that direction even though we didn’t feel comfortable trusting them. Especially after they laughed somewhat maniacally. Then a gentleman was walking down and assured us it was the correct direction. Phew! The path took us up and between several run-down houses with barking dogs. It felt sketchy as well but we continued on. We finally reached the top of the house stairs and turned toward the right where we saw the falls. Thank God!! We survived! Well, one way at least. There were more stairs to the right of the falls, but two policemen were standing there with guns saying it was closed. No problem, we will listen to whatever you say! We figured it was closed because of flooding or dangerous people. We took in the beauty of the falls and the butterflies that floated around them. It was such a marvelous piece of nature and we appreciated it even more after going through a somewhat stressful hike! I mentioned to Brittney that it was the sketchiest hike I had ever done. We returned to the path and as we walked down the part between the houses two dogs ran up to us, barking ferociously. I got super scared and thought they were going to attack us. Thankfully the owner called them back. My heart! Thankfully after that we didn’t encounter any more scary moments. The flowers were all so pretty!! It was a great hike despite all the scares. It took is about an hour to complete and it didn’t rain!
April 25, 2019
We had heard that there may be protests around Bogota today so we wanted to give ourselves extra time to get to the airport. We didn’t leave the apartment until 11:30am which really put us in a time crunch because we wanted to be at the airport 2 hours early at 11:40pm. We were set to arrive at noon which wasn’t too bad. However, we ran into the predicted protests just as we approached the airport. Uh oh. Traffic was slowly crawling at that point. Eventually we reached the airport and it was 12:30pm. We cut it a little close but everything went smoothly and we got to the gate with 50 minutes before takeoff. Sweet! I bought a snack and noticed that almost all the TVs next to the gates were playing the Atletico Madrid match from yesterday! I like this airport! They know what is important in life ;) We departed with no issues and landed in Medellin only after an hour’s time. It was such a quick flight!
We arrived in Medellin at 2:45pm and it was a longgg drive to the Airbnb. The drive was beautiful though! There were lush green mountains throughout the beginning portion of the drive and then we entered a forest with winding roads. It was so refreshing to see this scenery after being in the city of Bogota for 5 days. At one point we could see all of Medellin from above and all the mountains surrounding it. It was truly gorgeous! And it was mostly sunny! Brittney and I both were in better spirits after seeing the landscape. We arrived at the Airbnb at 4:15pm and then tried to figure out a game plan for our next 5 days. It was a little overwhelming because the front desk lady gave us so many booklets and information. Our room was EXTREMELY small. We could barely fit all our stuff in it. Once we laid our suitcases on the floor, we had maybe a 2’x2’ square’s worth of space. It was time for Brittney and I to say goodbye to personal space! We were about to get real close real fast haha. There was one small end table so I used that for my backpack and Brittney used the narrow windowsill for some of her stuff. It was disappointing. We both thought it was bigger. The Airbnb was more like a hostel and it felt crowded. We then went to Pizzeria Olivia for dinner and the food there was INSANE. So so delicious! And so many options. It was awesome.
April 26, 2019
I spent my morning in a lovely café nearby our hostel. I caught up with some things on my tablet and enjoyed a delicious breakfast. At 12:40pm I left, met up with Brittney at the hostel, and then we called an Uber. We had a difficult time finding the coffee farm. The Uber driver took us all the way up the mountain and stopped in front of a blue house. He assured us it was the correct place but I was very hesitant because it had two big gates that were locked with a metal chain. I told Britt there was no way that was the right place and he continued driving up. He reached a small pull off and said we could continue walking up from there. Again, I saw a flaw in this plan. There was a sign in the distance that showed a pedestrian with a line through it. He then drove up a veryyy narrow and steep road. He even scratched the bottom of his front bumper which made a loud screech. I felt bad for his car. He reached another house and at this point I was getting really nervous because there was a dropoff similar to a cliff next to the road. The guy asked if this was the correct place and I said no again. Britt then suggested we get out and just walk around until we found it. I immediately replied that it wasn’t a good idea because trying to hail an Uber from up here would be near impossible and we would be stranded. The driver then started reversing down the narrow path with the dropoff of death. I couldn’t handle it. I told him I had to get out of the car and walk instead. I just pictured us tumbling over the edge into the valley below. I was stubborn about it because he wanted me to stay in the car, but there are some things that I just can’t put up with due to past experiences. I spotted a car driving up the mountain and flagged them down to ask for directions. The guy told us we needed to drive back down. As we searched for the mystery coffee farm, we continued to ask people how to get there. We FINALLY arrived at 2:15pm and Britt was worried they may not be there anymore because she read the group leaves to head somewhere else during the tour. We kept asking people at the farm where to go and they kept pointing us in certain directions. We were losing hope that the group was still around until finally, we asked a gardener and he pointed around the corner. We turned the corner and the group was literally sitting right there. SUCCESS!! There were only 3 people and we quickly sat down next to them. Below are the neat/interesting steps of the coffee making process!
Step 1: pick cherries from the plant. They should be red (the seeds inside are the coffee beans)
Step 2: weigh the cherries in order to determine how much you get paid. Heavier = more money
Step 3: insert into de-pulping machine which removes skin from the cherry. Skins go behind the machine, beans come forward.
Step 4: place them in water. The ones that float are bad due to their density
Step 5: leave them in the water for as long or as short as you’d like to reach the type of acidity you want.
Step 6: they travel through washing bins that separate the pulp/slime from the seed
Step 7: leave out to dry
Step 8: remove the husks from the seeds to get the beans
Step 9: use machine to sort by grain size. Bigger grains are best
Step 10: remove moisture from beans using machine to heat them. Once they reach 185 degrees Celsius, the carbon dioxide starts releasing from the bean. It makes a cracking noise. The roaster decides how long to allow it to release. More time equals a darker roast
Tip: the best way to buy coffee is in bean form because as soon as it’s grounded it starts losing its quality after 15 minutes. When they say Colombian or Ethiopian coffee, they aren’t really telling you anything because there are so many varieties of the beans in each country. Up to 1.5 months after being roasted is the best.
April 27, 2019
I woke up at 9am to head to the walking tour that started at 10:24am (odd time, I know). I arrived a little early after taking the metro there. The metro system was really nice and clean. I was impressed. The weather was perfect today! This free walking tour was a little different because you had to sign up ahead of time and then check in. It seemed pretty well organized but it started late around 10:45am. The website told us to prepare for a 4 hour tour which is so long! Thankfully the hours flew by so it didn’t feel that long. We had a lot of sitting time and small breaks. Here are some tour facts:
• Pablo Escobar popularity: Like him, Hate him, Don’t know what to think. Our guide couldn’t mentioned his name during the tour because most people on the streets don’t know English so they wouldn’t know the context of what she was saying about Escobar and it could create violence. She called him Voldemort instead haha.
• They do not teach history/Escobar in schools so people found out a lot about him from tv shows and movies. That’s how some people see him in a good light.
• Medellin had so much violence and killings in the streets during Escobar’s reign. The guide said she grew up during that time and it was very common to see people get shot in the streets.
• “Little arepas served with a dish are crap. They taste like cardboard” haha. Britt and I were just talking about how awful they were last night.
• 4 groups during war: Guerillas (illegal), Self-protection group (illegal), Cartel, Army
• President Alvaro Uribe Velez reigned 2002-2010. Kidnappings decreased by 90%. Civilians were illegally killed by the army.
• 2010 new president Santos and then started peace talks with guerrilla groups. Colombian people voted no to peace agreement with FARC but Congress did it anyway. It was celebrated worldwide but the president’s approval level inside Colombia was 15%. Some people are against it because it allows FARC to be an official political party which means they can help shape the law. Also, the criminals don’t go to jail, they go to farms where they do community service
• Palacio de Justice is now a shopping mall. Shop fronts used to be offices
• Always bargain with the sellers in the streets. They are not offended, it is more like a social interaction
• 22,000 people died due to a volcano eruption near Medellin in a city called Armero just after the M-19 abduction in Bogota. One bad thing after another.
• In the metro there is no trash, vandalism/scratches. It has a cultural meaning because it was being constructed during a very rough period in their history. It was seen as a bright star that would give hope to the people. People respect it. It’s the only metro in Colombia.
• Every time we stopped in a crowded area, many locals came around trying to listen. They were just curious and it was funny.
• The retired men just sit around and watch people. Some of them trade things for social interaction. Most of them sit on the same bench/spot everyday. Some have little, old man hats. So cute!
• There is a church called Iglesia De La Veracruz where men stand outside and wait for prostitutes to approach them. They offer a deal to the woman for sex and then they go to a nearby hotel where they don’t pay per night, but per hour. Then after they finished their “business” they return back to the church to pray and ask for forgiveness to “clean their hands.” Then they repeat the same sequence in the future. So crazy!
• Comuna 13 is dangerous to visit by yourself because there is currently unrest about which gang owns it. Shootings are common and can happen randomly. If you go, be warned and stick to the main tourist street. The neighborhood is designed like a labyrinth so it’s hard to escape when you get to the side streets.
• In 1995 there was a bombing in Parque San Antonio during a concert. Someone left a backpack in the park and when it detonated, it killed 23 people and injured dozens more. Many terrorist groups claimed responsibility, but to this day they still don’t know who was truly responsible. The bomb destroyed most of Botero’s sculptures within the park and the mayor wanted to remove them all so that the tragedy could be erased from the minds of the people. Once Botero heard about this proposal, he immediately called the mayor and criticized him. He eventually convinced the mayor not to remove it because he said the people needed to remember the tragedy because if they forget it, they may not be as prone to fight against it in the future. Botero created an identical sculpture of one of the sculptures that was damaged (large bird) and placed it right next to the damaged one. It was a symbol to show that the past had sadness and horror, but that there is hope for a brighter future. It was a very powerful message. Showing the two side by side was mind blowing because the damaged bird was falling apart and had a hole through its body - it was barely upright. And then the new one was proud and immaculate.
The match ended around 8pm and the masses of people flooded out of the stadium. Britt and I opted to stay in our seats until the stadium emptied to avoid all the crazies. We then grabbed a bite to eat at one of the local stalls within the stadium boundary. It was neat that they had all these places available right after the match. It reminded me of Brazilian culture. We tried to grab an Uber from the stadium but it took too long, so we gave up and used the metro instead. We got back to the hostel around 9:30pm and then we set out for SkyBar at 11pm. I guided us through the streets and as we approached SkyBar, there were hundreds of people out and about! SkyBar was located in a very party central part of the neighborhood and there was tangible energy everywhere. Britt was very excited and I was too. Bars and discotecas as far as the eye could see. We walked into SkyBar (no cover!) and ordered drinks at the bar. There weren’t many people when we first arrived, but that changed after about 30 minutes. The DJ played a great mix of reggaeton, bachata, and salsa. We then stumbled upon a couple other places that looked dead from the outside, but were crazy packed on the inside! It was neat. After our fill, we left the bars around 1:15am. It was a fun night bouncing around the different bars! Tomorrow our only plan is to go to Parque Arvi based on a recommendation from Lina. We’re excited to sleep in!
April 28, 2019
Brittney and I woke up at 10:30am to catch up on sleep from staying out late last night. We then walked to a breakfast place called Pergamino Café that Brittney stumbled upon the other day. I also had it on my list of recommendations. It was fun/strange because Brittney led us there, but I’m so used to being the one in charge of the directions (I actually didn’t like it much – I like knowing where I am going!) She said she felt a little stressed with the pressure of leading so we agreed to assign me as the direction leader from now on haha. The café had a neat setup and the menu for coffee was especially detailed. There were 3 options for the coffee blends and 3 options for the type of brewing method (aeropress, chemex, or french press). I opted for the aeropress method with the Lomaverde blend. I also ordered a avocado toast. Brittney and I sat down at a nice table upstairs that overlooked the street. The barista came up to the table and asked me to smell the coffee grinds before he brewed the coffee. It was so fancy! I had no idea what I was smelling for – it smelled like coffee! It was a question/experience I definitely wasn’t used to.
We then called an Uber at 12:30pm to get to the Acevedo metro station. It would have taken us double the time to walk to the metro and then ride it there. We had a lovely conversation with the driver and then we took the cable car (Line K) to Santo Domingo. From there, we had to transfer to a different cable car (Line L) to Parque Arvi. It was annoying because we had to buy a separate ticket for the Parque Arvi cable car. We thought we could continue to use our metro cards. The ride overtop the houses below was astounding. There were so many people running through the streets or hanging out their windows or balconies. There were also kids playing soccer in the streets. It would be the perfect setting for a movie that required an “impoverished, but lively town.” The views around the city were also amazing. The mountains encircled the city and it reminded me of La Paz on a smaller scale. La Paz had a lot more vertical gain with homes still climbing up the mountains, while Medellin was a little more condensed in the large flat area at the bottom of the mountains.
Tomorrow we are heading to the marvelous Guatape! We are excited. Fingers crossed for good weather and lots of fun :)
April 29, 2019
We woke up this morning at 8:30am to get ready for our Guatape adventure! The weather forecast was looking good so we were excited. We left the apartment around 9:10am and rode the metro to Caribe station. We then bought bus tickets and rode 2 hours to the famous rock near Guatape. The bus ride wasn’t too bad and it only cost $5! The bus dropped us off at the bottom of Piedra Del Penol and we walked up a long series of stairs to get to the base. There were tons of restaurants around which made it easy for me to stay and just hang out while Brittney climbed the 740 stairs to the top of the rock. I knew if I tried to climb it I would freeze up and then not finish. Maybe if it had an elevator or cable car instead I would have done it. The view from the restaurant was insane! The lake created finger-like shapes within the islands and mountains and the land surrounding the area was so lush and so green! I could have stared at it all day. The restaurant really knew what they were doing because they had a bar-like shelf along the back of the building that overlooked the entire area. It was like a dream. It reminded me a lot of the time when my family and I were in Barcelona overlooking Barcelona while eating and drinking cava. I felt much better about my decision to stay behind due to the marvelous view. There were a few solo female travelers sitting at the shelf, enjoying a beer. It was so picturesque and tranquil. Brittney returned after an hour and we ate lunch while admiring the view and taking some cool photos.
After this we walked to a hostel that had a great bar setup. It was based on a recommendation from the tour guy we talked to earlier. It turned out to be a great recommendation! When we walked in we saw a guy sitting on the couch and it turned out to be the tour guy! He must think we are stalking him now haha. We split a blue cocktail that was served in a fish bowl. It was so strong! And it was only $5 total, so $2.50 each! So crazy. It had a light underneath it which made it glow and a few people asked us about it which was fun. We finished the drink around 9:45pm and then giggled really hard as we walked home. What a wonderful day! We can’t wait for our outdoor adventures tomorrow.
April 30, 2019
Goodness was this a full day! I woke up around 8am while Brittney slept in until 9:15am. We checked out and then went on a search for a café that I found on Google Maps. We happily wandered through the colorful streets once again and the café ended up being in a gorgeous plaza with rainbow steps. It was a pleasant surprise. What was not a pleasant surprise was that the café was closed. Drats. We went to my backup choice and enjoyed lattes and pastries there. It was such a cute little alley with colors bursting off the walls. I love this city a lot. Afterwards, we walked to the lake and just enjoyed the view. Our tour for the hiking/biking didn’t start until 11:30am. A guy approached us asking if we were interested in a boat tour. We told him we may be interested if he would do it later in the day, after our tour. He said he could do that and so we took his information. We walked to the Getaway tour building at 11:15am but there was a lot of disorganization among the staff so we didn’t start until 12:20pm. We had a total of 7 people in our group not including the two tour guides. It was a large group. We biked through the city streets and took up the entire width which was comical because that could never happen in Denver. We only needed to worry about a car every now and then and motorcycles and tuk-tuks. The guide stopped us twice to tell us some information about the city. We then rode up a monster hill to get to a bridge. The roads throughout the city had many speed bumps and my seat was not comfortable so it was not very fun for me. But the building colors helped lift my spirits. We then stopped at a viewpoint that was very pretty.
Some exciting news: H and I determined that we can possibly meet again in Quito while I’m waiting for my flight to Mexico City! I fly into Quito after Galapagos Islands May 14 at 5pm and then leave at May 15 at 8:15am, and he may be visiting his mom in Quito for a week to surprise her for her birthday! How amazing would that be if it works out??
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