All posts by karenfranza

Minca: Chunu’u

Colombia, Travel, , , , ,

Feb 17 – This is the laid back part of our vacation, where we eat and swim and lie around. Lots of tropical bird calls. Big decisions like what to order for supper. If anything exciting happens, I’ll let you know.

Tasty arepas at breakfast!
Sitting by the pool
Swinging near the river
Is this Albert Einstein?

In the meantime, here are some pretty tropical flowers:

Feb 18 – Today is Sunday, and we awoke to hear many children. What? It seems that on Sundays, families come from Santa Marta or other nearby towns to use the pool and resort facilities just for the day. We sauntered down to breakfast to find a long line of hungry customers waiting to be fed. Our isolated jungle respite is over. Just as well, we are moving on today.

The mountains in the morning

We walked back up the dusty road into town, where the sound of bird call was replaced by the honks of taxis and the growls of motos (motorcycles) looking to give tourists a ride to the local attractions.

We are looking for El Refugio, a place that actually comes up on our Google Maps, but we can’t seem to find it.

Look up, Karen – the little sign is right overhead!

El Refugio is a very small hostal with everything we need: air con, a pool and strong wifi. We dropped off our packs and ventured back out to find some lunch.

This little town has something for every backpacker: German bratwurst, Japanese sushi, Italian pasta and pizza, Mexican tacos and…

Marhaba means Hello in Turkish

…Turkish schwarma! I love me some doner kebab on a hot Colombian day!

As we are now on top of a mountain, we had lovely views of the sunset and the evening lights.

Another long, hot day!

Minca

Colombia, Travel,

Feb 14 – This morning we packed our gear and took a taxi into the heart of the city to hop on a van headed north. The 15 passenger van was full of young backpackers looking forward to ecotours and other mountain grooviness. Our destination was the mountain town of Minca.

As we got out of the van, the kids got onto waiting motorbikes or piled into other vans heading for waterfalls. We got out our phones and started trudging up the dirt road to find our next accommodation.

Our hostess Margarita was waiting for us, and showed us the path to our new home. The Booking.com description was correct that it was a private house with a kitchen and bathroom. What it failed to mention was that it was a corrugated metal shack in full sun, with an internal temperature over 100 degrees. No air con. Uh oh…

We were booked here for four nights, and figured we’d be roasted to a crisp long before then. We decided to walk to the little town and get some provisions.

The only super mercado had mostly beer, chips and candy bars. What to do? We found some ramen noodles for supper and some eggs for breakfast.

We walked back home and started looking online for another accommodation. We had surprisingly good wifi! Jim found a place just five minutes down the road.

The sun was going down and it was starting to cool down a little, so we decided to stay the night and move in the morning. Jim texted our hostess, who apologized for the heat and gave us our money back.

Feb 15 – So this morning we packed up again and walked further down the road to the Chunuu resort.

Here we have a pool, a Jacuzzi, a lovely restaurant, a huge suite with air con and a shower with warm water! Of course we are the only people over 30, and we hear German, French, and Cockney as well as Español. What a difference a day makes…

Santa Marta

Colombia, Travel, , ,

Feb 12 – This morning we called an Uber to take us to the bus station, where we had tickets for the 10:00 van to Santa Marta. The van was semi air conditioned and played the Spanish version of the newer Avatar movie. Four hours later, we arrived in the beach town of Santa Marta.

We walked the few blocks to our apartment, but were faced with a locked lobby door. Unlike previous hosts, we realized that no one had reached out to us to tell us how to get into the building or who would have our key. We tried calling the number on our reservation and emailing Booking.com, but no bananas.

A man who lived in the building let us in, and walked with us to Apt. 302. One look in the window told us the sad truth – it was an empty apartment. Uh oh!

Others have shared their bad experiences with Booking.com, but out of hundreds of rentals over the years, this was the first time we were left high and dry. We got out our phones and sat down on the steps, and before too long, Jim had found us a nice hotel with air con and wifi, a block from the beach. Day saved!

A view from our hotel – can you see the water?

Santa Marta is a tourist town, with lots of trinkets, eateries and music playing in the streets. We found a seafood restaurant right on the beach, and watched the sunset over the water.

Fish, shrimp and plantain for dinner
A beautiful sunset

Not the day we planned, but still a good day!

Feb 13 – When you stay in a hotel, someone else makes your breakfast and washes the dishes! On a breezy terrace, we enjoyed our eggs, fruit and strong Colombian coffee. Birds stood on the ledge nearby to see if we would drop any crumbs.

Our breakfast nook
A patient bird

This is the beginning of the relaxing part of our vacation. We walked around the small town. There is a church here:

Iglesia de San Francisco de Assisi
An open-air confessional
He’s got the whole world in His hands

There is a museum:

A battle
The way it was… note the servant fanning the flies off the food
Funerary urn with a face
Little figures watching a bullfight
Caimans are important here
A caiman costume

There is wall art here:

A trolley rumbling down the beach street

And the beach:

A little island in the water
Commerce nearby
The marina where the big boats hang out
Another fine sunset

A relaxing day.

More from Cartagena

Colombia, Travel, , , ,

Feb 11 – This morning we walked down to the Catedral de Santa Catalina, which is open and airy.

A colorful dome
An ornate altar
Really old statues
A Virgin of Guadalupe

In the square, we found a bronze Botero. Note the discoloration of the boobs and butt due to repeated handling!

Gertrudis

There are lots of amusing little iron statues here:

See the puppy relaxing in the shade?
There is also a big statue of Cervantes

There is a small park, with lots of people looking up. Turns out there is a resident sloth named Juan, and a few little monkeys.

Hola Juan!
A monkey
Another monkey

As a bonus, we spied a friendly iguana who didn’t mind being photographed:

Hola, iguana!

It is Super Bowl Sunday, and Jim scoped out several restaurants with big screen TVs for our dinner. We thought lots of tourists would be interested in watching the game, but we seemed to be the only ones. Congratulations to Team Taylor!

Cartagena

Colombia, Travel, , , , , , ,

Feb 10 – Our plane landed around 9pm, and a twenty minute taxi ride got us to the walled city of Cartagena (Car ta HAY na). A last minute text informed us that the apartment we rented had plumbing issues, and offered us an alternate address on a different street. Our taxi driver got us pretty close, and we walked the rest of the way down the jam-packed narrow street, bustling with tourists and music. Once at the door, Jim negotiated the coded lock, then another lock inside the lobby and a third lock at our door. This place is secure! We dropped into bed, exhausted.

Blue skies and palm trees in the morning
Statue of La India Catalina, a chief’s daughter kidnapped and enslaved by the Spaniards in the early 1500s

Cartagena is the port that the Spaniards originally used to ship their gold back to Europe. They built a fortified wall around the city to protect it from pirates (most notably Sir Francis Drake).

An excursion to the wall was our goal for the morning. While the weather in Bogotá was temperate, here it is HOT. At 9am it was 91 degrees with a real-feel of 103. Off we go!

Plenty of cannon power
We strolled along the wide top of the wall
A bull ring! We were told bullfighting is no longer practiced here
We are right on the Caribbean Sea, but this is not an area known for its beaches
Statue El Alcatraz (the Gannet), the local bird
Some real gannets on the wall

After an arroz con pollo lunch (every area has their own version of chicken and rice), we retreated back to our air conditioned room to wait for the cooler temperatures of evening.

The name of our neighborhood is Getsemani, the area where the backpackers and groovy people hang out. It’s a tourist scene with lots of locals touting trinkets and offering tours.

Colorfully clad women are happy to pose with tourists…
…as long as they are adequately compensated. Their smiles are ONLY for the camera

At one point, a trio of young men with a boom box and a microphone followed gringos down the street while making up rap songs about them. Similar to mariachi bands in Mexican restaurants, they count on you to eventually pay them to leave you alone!

Umbrella street
Lots of wall art
No arepas

Since arriving in Colombia, I have been on a quest to taste an arepa – a delicious native cornflour griddle cake featured in Encanto (where Julietta’s arepas had healing powers). Every place we tried, even when the name of the restaurant had arepas in the title, we struck out. No arepas.

Today Jim spied a street vendor selling warm arepas filled with egg from a cart. We bought one, and pronounced it just okay. The search continues!

We were told to look at the door knockers in the old town, as the creatures depicted provided a clue as to who once lived inside.

Sea creatures adorned the doors of merchants who made their living from the sea…
Lizards depicted descendants of royalty…
Lions adorned the abodes of clergy or professors

An interesting day!

Bogotá: Street Art

Colombia, Travel,

Feb 9 – This is our last day in Bogotá, and we wanted to see some of the famous street art. There was graffiti everywhere, but some that was art worthy of a museum.

Candelaria is the name of our neighborhood, so I guess this is all Candelarte!
A prettily painted church
The only street performer we saw today…
He really liked Jim!
The painted houses are art too

Tonight we Uber back to the airport for a 90 minute flight north. Tomorrow… Cartagena!

Bogotá: Museo de Botero

Colombia, Travel, ,

Feb 8 – Today is a good day to check out more museums.

The military museum was free, so in we went. There was no English signage, so I can’t tell you any history, but there were lots of cannons and guns. Here are some interesting pix.

Death masks of some bad hombres
The plane seat once used by Pope John Paul II !

There were a group of art museums in one complex, and we wandered back and forth, so I didn’t capture names. Here are some of the most striking images:

Then it was time for the best museum of all – Museo Botero! Fernando Botero is considered the most iconic Colombian artist – his paintings and sculptures are prized around the world. I remember seeing one of his huge sculptures in Oviedo, Spain.

His works are distinctive – he sees figures with “volume” (do not say ‘fat’), and although his subjects never smile, we couldn’t help but grin as we walked from room to room.

Mona Lisa
Adam and Eve
Still life with violin
Jesus and Mary
Girl eating ice cream
Massacre on the Best corner
The Guerrillas
The Beach
Mother Superior
A Family
Even the bananas are a bit corpulent!

Art overload, I know, but what a fantastic day!

Bogotá: Plaza de Bolivar

Colombia, Travel, , , ,

Feb 7 – Jim found a tiny grocery right outside our modern apartment, so he cooked us eggs, toast and wonderful Colombian coffee for breakfast. The tap water is drinkable here, but the taps and the shower only ran cold. I was resigning myself to boiling a pot of water for washing dishes, when I found the water heater that had to be manually turned on. Success – clean dishes and hot showers in our future!

We walked to the historical center of the city, Plaza de Bolivar. Simon Bolivar is revered here for liberating Colombia (originally called New Granada) from the Spanish empire around 1820.

Tourists just love pigeons!
Just a happy guy

The plaza was full of little shops selling trinkets, produce, and good things to eat.

Can you name these fruits?
Jim couldn’t resist a warm empanada

One of the must-see places in Bogotá is the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum). Lots of gold inside.

Golden masks
The chieftain covered himself in gold to acquire the power of the Sun
We recently saw a very similar serpent in Belgium!
I always like the faces on the little carvings

Back to the plaza for lunch and a virtual shopping tour.

For our mask collection
Interesting hats
So many choices!
Every plaza should have a llama…
…or two!

Our day wouldn’t be complete without a church, so here is Iglesia de la Nuestra Señora de Candelaria.

A golden altar
One of the frescoes on the ceiling
Our Lady

Jim found a well stocked supermercado on the way home, so we will enjoy homemade chicken and rice soup for supper, with fresh tropical fruit for dessert. A lovely day.

Colombia

Colombia, Travel,

February 6, 2024 – It’s been an unusually cold winter in Virginia, so it feels like a good time to escape to someplace warm. How does Colombia sound?

Ever since watching Encanto with the grands (at least a dozen times), Colombia has been on our list of places to visit. We plan to stay in Bogotá up in the mountains, Cartagena on the Caribbean, and Santa Marta, further north. Here’s a map:

Bogotá is a 4.5 hour flight south from Atlanta, still in the eastern time zone, so no jet lag – yay! The city is 8600 feet above sea level, so we may need a day to acclimate to the thinner atmosphere. The weather this week is ideal, high about 70 every day.

One US dollar is worth approximately 4000 Colombian pesos (fluctuates daily), so conversion should be fun. The official Colombian dance is cumbia, which I do in Zumba, so I will fit right in!

Our plane landed at about 7:30pm, and we used an airport ATM to get money for a taxi to our apartment. We were advised to only use a metered yellow taxi at the airport, although there were plenty of drivers at the exit wanting to take us for a ride. Luckily, our taxi driver knew right where our apartment was, as Google was off by about half a mile.

Although we did nothing but sit in airport seats and plane seats all day, we were exhausted and went right to bed. Tomorrow we will explore!

Bruges: the Gruuthuse Museum and the Church of Our Lady

Belgium, Travel, , , , ,

Oct 17 – This is our last full day in Bruges. Every morning we see something new.

We visited the Gruuthuse Museum, which shows what an upper class home from the 15th century looked like, and houses a diverse collection of this and that.

A famous bust of Charles V
Some of the illustrated manuscripts were quite gruesome
A piano from 1591
Belgian lace was incorporated into ladies bonnets
In one room, you could look through a window to see the inside of the church next door – it looked beautiful!

So, we went next door to visit the Church of Our Lady.

This church had Gregorian chants playing throughout, which made it sound like monks were working hard nearby, and made everything feel peaceful and holy.

The sanctuary looks much like it did in the 1500s
Here is the window we saw in the museum, that enabled the rich family to observe what was going on in the church

There were some things we hadn’t seen before.

Ornately decorated confessionals
Tombs with decorations on the inside – images of heaven to help the deceased get where they were going
A painting of the Last Supper where they served bread, wine and… chicken?

Now, you know I’ve saved the best for last. This church holds the Madonna of Bruges, the only statue by Michelangelo that left Italy during his lifetime. It depicts Jesus not as an infant, but a toddler standing on his own, and Mary looking down sadly.

The piece is not life size, and small enough to transport. It was taken by Napoleon to Paris, returned after his defeat, then taken by Hitler‘s men to Germany, where it was recovered and returned by the Monuments Men.

The Madonna of Bruges just above the altar, with larger statues on either side

Our trip to Bruges would not be complete without one final thing – a Belgian waffle dripping with chocolate. It was messy, but we enjoyed every bite!

Oct 18 – Got up early for the five hour bus ride back to Amsterdam via Ghent, Brussels and Rotterdam.

We got to see the sunrise through the bus window
We caught a glimpse of the Norte Dame Cathedral in Brussels when the bus stopped at a light.

One night at an airport hotel, then it was back to Schiphol Airport for the flight to JFK and then home.

Thanks for the memories, Holland and Belgium – we will miss you!