Out and about Bogotá

Here are a few more things that come to mind when I think of Bogotá.

Soldiers. It always remained odd to me to see soldiers standing around carrying automatic weapons. To be truthful though, often they were texting.One thing I learned from Leo is that these men pictured above are not soldiers, they are guerillas. You can tell by their boots. Colombian soldiers wear military-styled boots. Guerillas wear gum boots. The U.S. embassy. I spent so much time there the last couple of weeks, and even while I was there it felt surreal, even more so now. The gate to go in is just out of sight to the left of this photo. They weren't much help really, but somewhat comforting anyway. The complex where the embassy is located is huge by the way. You can see it from almost anywhere in Bogotá, however, there are almost no pictures of it on the web. I can understand why, I didn't dare try to take photo outside or inside of there. The secret agent chickens that were across the street running around are forever etched in my memory too. Hee. Hee.
Emeralds.
I never knew emeralds were so beautiful. At several of the touristy places we were at, there were shops all over. I've yet to see any jewelry to compare in the U.S.
The temple. I love this photo I found, because it shows the temple in context of its surroundings. The church photos never show that. But this is what I remember riding the bus to and feeling extremely out of place in my nice dress and high heels, crisscrossing that field to save time.
Ruanas. I grinned every time I saw people dressed like this. And there ARE people dressed like this. I felt I was living in a National Geographic picture.
Shopping at the Hacienda de Santa Barbara. I've never seen a shopping mall (and despite this picture it is a HUGE shopping mall) as picturesque and lovely.Shopping at Santafé with all their Christmas decorations up.I felt like I'd never left the United States inside of that mall.Shopping on the street corners, where I had most definitely left the United States. I wish I could find pictures of the streets that sell particular items. The one long street full of fresh funeral flowers, another street all electronics, another all music, another ophthalmologists, and on and on, like a giant Walmart with each aisle being a street. I'm glad I could find these photos anyway.