10/02/08 - 10/04/08

Good morning everyone!

Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful fall weather in MN. Since Johnny and I are missing the turning of the leaves, we would love to see some pictures of the fall scenes!  You can email them to our msn email account: dulcieandjohnny@msn.com

We sure have been busy here.  Wednesday, we were scheduled to go to Monserrate, which is a mountain that is 10,341 ft above the sea level. We were going to take the aerial tramway to the summit. We left Manny with a babysitter, since we weren't sure how he would do up that high in elevation. I have to admit I was pretty freaked out as we were driving up into the higher elevation. Well, the weather did not cooperate and you really need to have a nice clear day to be able to see the view from the top. So, we decided we would reschedule for a clear day.  We changed our plans at the last minute and decided to go to La Candelaria which is a historic neighborhood in downtown Bogotá, Colombia that dates back to the 15th Century!

The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings is mostly Spanish Colonial. There are also several universities, libraries and museums. We visited The Bolívar Square (Spanish: Plaza de Bolívar) which is located in the heart of the historical area of Bogotá. In the center of the square is a statue of Simón Bolívar sculpted in 1846 by the Italian Pietro Tenerani, which was the first ever public monument in the city.  There are vendors that sell bird food, so you can imagine the amount of pigeons!  They would actually perch on peoples arms and eat out of their hands!  I wasn't brave enough to try that, but we did get a picture of it.  

On the northern side of the square is the Palace of Justice, a big modern building where the Supreme Court works.  On the southern side of the square, is the National Capitol, which is the seat of the Colombian Congress. We were only able to spend a few hours there, but Johnny and I would love to go back and really explore! Here are some pics from our outing.

We spent Thursday walking to the Uni-Centro (A mall).  We had lunch at Crepes and Waffles.  Johnny and I both agreed, we like the desserts there, better than the food.  We spent a couple hours walking around the mall, and then headed back to the hotel were we had a little R&R.  

On Friday we traveled to the Coloma Coffee Plantation with The Haydens and our wonderful tour guide, Freddy! It's a two hour drive from Bogota. We first drove up into the mountains, until we reached 10,000 ft. We then descended into the valley where there is a small town called Fusagasuga. The coffee plantation is located on the outskirts of this small town.

What a beautiful place! The entire plantation is filled with exotic flowers like orchids, and many we've never seen before. When we started to tour the gardens, a small puppy decided he would be our tour guide! He was so cute! He followed Ellie everywhere and let Manny pet him. We walked through the greenhouse, which is where they grow the seedlings. They can not be planted until they've matured. We then walked through the grove of coffee plants that had just been picked. They have two major seasons. (February/March and August/September) So we had just missed the major season and most of the ripe beans had been picked. All of the beans are picked by hand. Each year, they prune the trees so they stay at the ideal height for picking. We tasted a ripe bean, which is very sweet and didn't taste like coffee at all.

We then learned how they shell, rinse, dry and roast the coffee beans. They have two different processing sections. One is the old fashioned way of making coffee beans and the other is the modern way, which includes machinery. After our tour, we were able to sample the coffee as well as a tasty coffee liquor. Both were delicious! (Especially together) Johnny and I bought a sample of both to take home with us.

After our tour, we went back to Fusagasuga to eat lunch. The view was spectacular from our table! There are several open air huts where people dine. Salsa music played in the background. We had our choice of a traditional Colombian meal of meat, chicken or fish with fried plantanes, yucca and rice. We arrived back at the hotel about 8 hours after we left. It was a long day, but well worth the trip! I've posted two slide shows below. One contains only pictures of the flowers and vegetation at the coffee plantation. The other contains pictures of us on our tour and at lunch. Hope you enjoy!

Lots of Love,
Dulcie, Johnny and Manny