Bogota Trip report, Part 2

[JR n Atl]

P. and I had agreed to meet at 8:00 AM for a workout in the hotel gym. As an aside, the gym at the Fontana plaza is pretty good as far as hotel gyms go. They have a sauna, aerobics room, several exercise bikes, treadmills, and plenty of weight machines and racks. However, I soon realized that the suitcase that the airline had misplaced contained all my underwear, socks, tennis shoes and workout clothes. Bummer. So when P. showed up I told her we’d have to skip the workout this morning and instead go shopping for some replacement clothing. Fortunately, the supermarket (LEY I think is the name) across the street at Unicentro was open at that time on Sunday and P. said they sold clothes as well. So we decided to catch breakfast down in the hotel restaurant and then head over to the mall afterwards. The restaurant at the hotel, Los Arcos I think is the name, is excellent and the breakfast buffet superb. One thing to keep in mind for those of you who might chose to use Odee is that since the apartments are considered a separate entity from the hotel, you aren’t allowed to charge your meals to your room. You’ll want to make sure you have a credit card with you or pesos. Also, you are provided free breakfast M-F in your room but you’ll need to tell the front desk at the apartments when you want it delivered. I wasn’t aware of this when I arrived, I knew breakfast was included M-F but thought you went to the restaurant in the hotel to eat.

Breakfast was great, then P. and I walked on over to the mall. I bought a few things and then she gave me a tour of the place. I also grabbed some more cash from an ATM. For you guys who have never been, there are ATM’s everywhere and getting cash is usually not a problem. Anyway, not much was open but we had a nice stroll through the mall, did some window shopping then sat for while and talked. I had a lunch date with another lady and I needed to make sure I was back at the hotel in time to change and freshen up. At this point I think that P. was not aware of this. She seemed to think that we would be spending most if not all of my time in Bogotá with her. I say this because she would bring up things for us to do later in the day or the next day or something like that. I had to explain to her that I had other meetings over the course of the next couple of days and that we would not be able to spend an entire day together until maybe Wednesday or Thursday. Angela had set up meetings typically for around 12:00 or 1:00 PM and then another around 7:00 PM each day for the first three days I was there. The idea was to spend a little time initially with each lady, then if we decided we’d like to spend a bit more time together, I had all of Wednesday and Thursday free. On Friday I was set to leave for Cartagena for the weekend. More on that later. Anyway, she P. seemed to understand and we agreed that we’d meet up later that evening.

My first meeting with another lady was with L.M. for lunch that afternoon at 12:00 PM. We had emailed a bit but I had not spoken with her on the phone. All the emails were in Spanish and she had mentioned that she didn’t do English very well so I knew I’d have to use what little Spanish I knew to it’s fullest extent that afternoon. L.M. is a dentist, seemed attractive from her photos, and we shared a common like for exercise. She arrived at the hotel a little after 12:00. The security at the hotel is pretty tight so no one is allowed in unless they belong there so they will ring your room when you have a guest. I went down to the lobby of the Plenitude to meet her and once again I was not disappointed. L.M is dark, sleek and slim, and is more attractive in person than her photo reveals. Speaking in Spanish, I tell her if she will speak slowly and have patience we can probably communicate just fine. She agrees with a smile and we head over to the mall to grab some cash from the ATM. My Spanish is a bit fractured but we manage to communicate fairly well. After I get the cash, we take a taxi to a restaurant she has chosen for lunch. Turns out it is a super nice place, Pescaderia Jaramillo. Here’s a web link: http://www.pesquerajaramillo.com/nuevo/html/restaurantes.html We went to the one at Parque de la 93. Killer food and atmosphere, just across the street from, you guessed it, Parque 93. We had a table on the deck by the street and on Sunday afternoon, when the weather is nice, you can’t beat it. The park is filled with families and children playing and in many ways it resembles a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting. Anyway, we ate and had a decent conversation and then took off back to the hotel where they have a flea market/craft fair type thing on Sunday afternoons. They were setting things up that morning and I wanted to browse and maybe grab a souvenir or two. If you stay at the Fontana this is a must see on Sunday. The afternoon was still young, I think it was around 3 or so, and I wanted to talk a little more so I asked L.M. if she’d like to have a coffee in the hotel restaurant. She agreed and sat for the next couple of hours and talked. L.M. is very bright and we had a nice conversation. I asked about her thoughts on marriage, children, etc. I was especially interested in her views on work if she moved to the US because she had told me that she likes very much what she does. The point of all this is that I found that L.M. and subsequently all of the ladies I met were more than willing to talk about this sort of thing. So don’t be afraid to ask tough questions. If the woman is mature and serious, she will be happy to discuss these things. You may not receive an answer you like, but that’s a good thing. You’ll know you aren’t a match early on and won’t waste a lot of time pursuing a woman whose goals and views don’t jive with your own. Around 5:30 or so we decided to call it a day. I walked her up to the lobby and made sure she had a taxi, I offered to pay but she wouldn’t have it. Even though communication was tough, I had a very good impression of L.M. and I wanted to meet again before I left for Cartagena on Friday. At this point I still hadn’t met with William and Angela from Odee and I wasn’t sure exactly what they had up their sleeve for me that week. I thought I’d have time on Wednesday so we agreed that I would contact her sometime in the next day or so and arrange to meet for dinner. She works from 1-7 M-S so a dinner date was the only possibility. She left and went up to my room to freshen up. I was meeting P. again that evening around 6-6:30. She wanted to take me up to the Zona Rosa for dinner and dancing. She shows up, we catch taxi and stop first at the Crepes and Waffles close to Andino. It’s her favorite and also seems to be popular throughout Bogotá. The restaurant is fine so far as it goes, but I have this thing about traveling thousands of miles to eat at a franchise! I prefer the unique, one-of-a-kind places. Not important though, she likes it and the food is just fine. After we finish we walk around to find a place to dance and then she realizes that on Sunday all the bars are closed??? Or are closed early or something like this. I don’t recall exactly what the deal was but in any event we couldn’t find a place to dance. We decided to walk over to Andino and look around for a bit. For those who don’t know, Andino is a shopping mall. The Zona Rosa is a very nice area in the north of Bogotá and the mall reflects this. It rivals anything I’ve seen in America as far as appearance, cleanliness, ritzy ness, etc. Very nice. The night is clear and cool and once again, here I am strolling along with a lovely young woman, sharing small talk. Just get on the plane.

Next: Day Three.  

[Pescador]

... in response to Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by JR n Atl on Mar 18, 2003

Hey I ate at that same waffles and crepes place 2 weeks ago. It wasnt bad, I really like the Carne called lomito de res...its the best. Most carne in bogota is great too.  I was in bogota for 40 days and I miss it already. Tell your lady friends you want to try lomito de res or traditional colombian food like bendeja paisa it has avacado with egg on rice, beans and fried pork its good and you wont get it anywhere else. Tell her you want to try brevas too. Bogota has some real nice places, but stay out of the south and you will be ok. I walked all around northern bogota without any problems and I look pretty gringo. Thats what I thought was cool about Bogota hardly any tourists. Oh if you see something you like say es chevere...its slang for cool in colombia. Buena suerte en tu viaje, nos vemos, tengas feliz dia.

Heres a tip for guys going south, bring cash not travelers checks. I had a harder time doing travelers checks and with so many casa de cambios around cash is easier.

[lswote]

... in response to Re: Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by Pescador on Mar 18, 2003

I am surprised after spending 40 days there you would recommend bringing cash.  I bring neither cash nor travelers check.  I hit the ATM once I get there and use my bank card and get the best exchange rate, a lot better than the money houses give you.

[JR n Atl]

... in response to Re: Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by Pescador on Mar 18, 2003

Crepes and Waffles was very good and very popular with Colombians. I can't remember what I had to eat, I think something like pollo y queso. My comment about traveling thousands of miles to eat at a franchise was a little tongue in cheek. P. liked it, it's her favorite and that was fine with me. In my next report I'll tell about eating at Casa Vieja down close to El Centro on Carrera 11. ¡Comida colombiano excelente! I had the sopa con pollo y papas. As for safety, I walked all over El Centro, la Plaza de Bolivar y la Candalaria, no problemo. I did have a pretty savvy escort, though.  More in later reports. Ditto the traveler's checks. You don't need them, they are a hassle to cash and there are ATM's and currency exchanges literally every eff'ing where, including most any hotel where you'd stay. But use the ATM's. It's the cheapest and easiest way to get cash. The hotels jam you, in Cartagena for example they would only give 2500 pesos per dollar when the exchange rate was around 2950.

JR

[wizard]

... in response to Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by JR n Atl on Mar 18, 2003

The restaurants around Parque 93 are great, especially Pescaderia Jaramillo... There are even a few clubs up the street, to the east of the parque... Your right about the "Norman Rockwell" feeling around the parque... We've spent many an afternoon doing just as you did... Great place to grab a bite to eat, enjoy the afternoon and get to know your girl...

Your observations mirror mine on Andino and to a lesser degree the Atlantis mall... For those wanting to "free lance", Andino is THE PLACE!!! Of course, this is just my opinion...

Bogota is far nicer than many give it credit... Sure it has it's seedy side and places you should not go, as with any city of 8 million people... But overall, the north side of town kicks butt...

Keep it coming, great trip report...

wizard

[JR n Atl]

... in response to Re: Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by wizard on Mar 18, 2003

I went to Atlantis on Wednesday of that week. It is also very nice and looks much newer than Andino. Reminds me a little of Lenox Square here in Atlanta. When we were in Andino about the only other people there were cleaning crews and security. It was late on Sunday night so I didn't have the opportunity to look at the "scenery". I'm sure it's lovely! Come to think of it, I don't know why it wouldn't be because everywhere else I went while I was in Bogota was outstanding from the standpoint of lovely scenery. Beats the heck out of what I typically see here. Get on that plane, guys.

JR

[lswote]

... in response to Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by JR n Atl on Mar 18, 2003

I am curious what rate you got at the Plentitude.  I visited my wife every 2nd weekend until we got married and always stayed at La Fontana. I paid between 120.000 to 160.000 pesos per day depending on whether I had a room or an apartment.

[JR n Atl]

... in response to Re: Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by lswote on Mar 18, 2003

My rate was 133.200 pesos per day. That was for a 1 bedroom with w/2 baths, living room, dining room and small kitchen. Also free b'fast M-F. Odee has some sort of deal with the Plenitude and that's where they stash all their clients, unless the client books a hotel somewhere else. In retrospect, for a first trip I think I would prefer a hotel room at La Fontana. I really didn't have much use while I was there for kitchen, etc. The hotel seemed a bit nicer, as well. How are the rooms?

JR

[lswote]

... in response to Re: Re: Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by JR n Atl on Mar 18, 2003

Actually I had the 1 or 2 bedroom apartments more than I had a room.  The rooms are okay, but I prefer the apartments.  My wife liked the rooms because they had bathtubs, while the apartments only had showers.  However once I was put in one of the premium apartments because it was all that was available and it had a bathtub as well as all the ameneties of the apartment.  I also stayed in one of the rooms right above the Plenitude lobby and the apartment was just like the rest at Fontana other than the premium one I mentioned.

[JR n Atl]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by lswote on Mar 18, 2003

Becasue my reserved room was not cleaned, I was given what I think was a premium room my last night in Bogota. It was a 2 bedroom on the sixth floor directly above the restaurant and overlooked the main courtyard. I'm not sure whether it had a bathtub in the second bath, though. Overall, it was nicer than the one I had before I left for Cartagena. I really liked the view. You probably know this, but on the sixth floor there are several observation decks that you can access with your room key.

JR

[markxport]

... in response to Bogota Trip report, Part 2, posted by JR n Atl on Mar 18, 2003

Thanks JR.  Keep it coming when you have the time.

Mark