Bogota The Golden City
(Literally the Golden Retriever City)
Colombia was home for about 9 months. Although we knew deep inside this was not going to be permanent, we never anticipated such a brief stay. We would need years to truly explore this amazing city, but we know the timing is right to move on and see the rest of the world.
Bogota is very peculiar, the traffic is insane which is the main complaint of any resident or citizen. Every family has more than 2 cars to avoid the vehicle restriction "pico y placa" which basically means the traffic is always the same. However, Bogota has the most extensive network of bike lanes and paths you can imagine connecting all parts of the city, so you always have a choice to avoid traffic by hopping on a bike. Just be careful to avoid the golden retrievers (as Riggs learned the hard way).
The weather is perfect. It´s a constant spring and autumn temperature mixed together. You can wear layers and be perfectly warm or peel them off to enjoy the occasional sunshine.
Security-wise it is just like any other big city: you have to be careful, but don´t be psycho about it. The country is still shaking off the foreign reputation of the eighties and nineties of violence and crimes related to drug cartels. Overall, it is actually a very safe city to live in as long as you don't make it too easy for someone to take advantage of a lax attitude.
Riggs found himself enjoying long hikes into the Andean mountains right next to our house. He found waterfalls lakes, and even a man with a donkey called Fósforo selling overpriced firewood, which of course he bought. He was always safe, challenged, and the altitude didn't seem to be a problem.
Drink, Laugh and Eat
We found amazing friends and family here that were more than welcoming and very eager to help us in any way, even if it meant helping us finish off the occasional bottle of bourbon. We had fun here, we had our share of drunk stories (including bathing the entire garden floor in Blue Label), and we ate like kings!
Oh The food! This city really knows it's cuisine, whatever you crave. We would like to acknowledge: The Taj Mahal for the best Indian food, Madam Tusan for the most delicious Pekin Duck, The Pub for their locally brew beer. La Tarta for the amazing Dark chocolate truffle and blackberry and the amazing delivery service of Di Lucca, ufff the list is long!
The thing we will miss most of Bogota will be our nights in front the fire, just hanging out with Netflix and bowls of Doris' soups. I will also miss the hummingbirds that came every day to drink sugar water from our window.
Logistics of a Move
So, you might wonder, What do you do with a house full of furniture before heading on a homeless tour around the world? Well, not much! You just pack it and hope it holds for a year!
Moving a house is not easy. The weird part is that every time we purge and shed all the excess "unnecessary" things we still manage to fill up a truck-full of stuff... We were very pleased to find an amazing moving company to help us through the process and quickly left us with an empty home. Special thanks to Doris! What an amazing woman. She was on top of everything and gave us spare us time to do our last minute errands.
The Golden City was our home for 9 months, now it's time to say goodbye and start a new adventure. Thanks Gino, Mónica, Doris, Santiago, Silvia, Kristen, Dani, Laura, Manu, Leonardo, Juan Pablo, the entire Decameron, P&G, Mediacom and Google teams, as well as everyone else that made our stay here memorable and happy, you know who you are!
(Literally the Golden Retriever City)
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| Mamá at the Gold Museum, Nov. 2015 |
Bogota is very peculiar, the traffic is insane which is the main complaint of any resident or citizen. Every family has more than 2 cars to avoid the vehicle restriction "pico y placa" which basically means the traffic is always the same. However, Bogota has the most extensive network of bike lanes and paths you can imagine connecting all parts of the city, so you always have a choice to avoid traffic by hopping on a bike. Just be careful to avoid the golden retrievers (as Riggs learned the hard way).
The weather is perfect. It´s a constant spring and autumn temperature mixed together. You can wear layers and be perfectly warm or peel them off to enjoy the occasional sunshine.
Security-wise it is just like any other big city: you have to be careful, but don´t be psycho about it. The country is still shaking off the foreign reputation of the eighties and nineties of violence and crimes related to drug cartels. Overall, it is actually a very safe city to live in as long as you don't make it too easy for someone to take advantage of a lax attitude.
 |
| Riggs on top of the Andes |
Drink, Laugh and Eat
 |
| Too much rum or wine... or was it Bourbon? |
Oh The food! This city really knows it's cuisine, whatever you crave. We would like to acknowledge: The Taj Mahal for the best Indian food, Madam Tusan for the most delicious Pekin Duck, The Pub for their locally brew beer. La Tarta for the amazing Dark chocolate truffle and blackberry and the amazing delivery service of Di Lucca, ufff the list is long!
 |
| Lili with marshmallows and the fire-pit |
Logistics of a Move
 |
| Bye Bye Furniture! |
Moving a house is not easy. The weird part is that every time we purge and shed all the excess "unnecessary" things we still manage to fill up a truck-full of stuff... We were very pleased to find an amazing moving company to help us through the process and quickly left us with an empty home. Special thanks to Doris! What an amazing woman. She was on top of everything and gave us spare us time to do our last minute errands.
The Golden City was our home for 9 months, now it's time to say goodbye and start a new adventure. Thanks Gino, Mónica, Doris, Santiago, Silvia, Kristen, Dani, Laura, Manu, Leonardo, Juan Pablo, the entire Decameron, P&G, Mediacom and Google teams, as well as everyone else that made our stay here memorable and happy, you know who you are!
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