I’ve been in Bogota, Colombia a few days now. I’m enjoying this colorful city and especially the people. There’s a different vibe here. Everywhere I’ve been in South America, the people have been lovely, kind and helpful, yet a bit closed off (to foreigners, anyway). But I didn’t realize that until I got here where there’s a more openly friendly atmosphere. Walking down the street, people look you in the eye, smile and say hello. Unique, in my experience in South America.

I think most people would say the top thing to do here in Bogota is ride the cable car up to Monserrate. I haven’t done that yet, but plan to. Also, there’s the San Alejo flea market, which is tomorrow. But being Christmas Eve, I’m not sure if it’ll be happening. Hope so. In the meantime, I’ve been walking around, taking pictures of the beautifully colored houses and going to museums. There are many more museums to see, but I’m not sure how many more I’ll visit.

The day after Christmas, I’m going to Medellin for a few days, then coming back here. At that point, I’ll write more about Bogota. For now, the museum exhibits.

The Gold Museum
This museum was packed. Very crowded. So I didn’t take a lot of time to learn about each piece. It got to a point where I just wanted to get out of there. Plus, I suppose I should have taken into account the fact that I’m not a big fan of gold. Brilliant. I prefer silver. But the history, I’m sure, would have been interesting if I’d had the gumption to hang around and learn more about it.

There were primarily exhibits of gold, of course, but there were other items, ceramics being one.

 

Since I like to work with block-printing, I particularly liked the ink rollers (below)

 

I wonder how heavy this would be hanging around your neck.

 

The design around the eyes seems to be something that’s carried on today in a lot of the graffiti I see. I’m not sure it’s directly related, but it does look quite similar.

 

I found myself especially drawn to the pottery in the exhibit.

 

These are spindles for spinning wool.

 

Such pretty design on the back of this, er….Pushmi-Pullyu.
Next was el Museo de Botero. I’d been told that Fernando Botero was a world renowned artist, but I couldn’t place him ….until I saw his paintings.
Ooooh, that guy!
Something I found interesting was the mirror in the background….there’s no reflection of dancers in it. It seems like the mirror is big enough to have something reflected in it. I don’t know, maybe it’s just my perspective.

Speaking of reflection – I love the mirror image of the trees in the river.

This one is called “Caminando cerca al Rio” (Walking near the River).

 

There was more than Botero and here is a Dali.“Busto Retrospectivo de Mujer” (Retrospective Bust of a Woman).

 

Toulouse Lautrec – “Bebedora de Ajenjo en Grenelle” (Wormwood Drinker in Grenelle).

 

 

Paul Delvaux – “Mujeres de Vida Galante” (Women of Gallant Life). I am so intrigued by that street leading off to the left….. what is down that street?!
Joan Miró – “El Disco Rojo Persiguiendo a la Alondra” (The Red Disc Punishing the Lark). I love his “Celestial” period.
Pablo Picasso – “Cráneo de Cabra” (Goat Skull).
Gustav Klimt – “Estudio para el Retrato de la Señora Wittgenstein” (Study for the Portrait of Mrs. Wittgenstein).
Botero – “Guitarra.”

 

At first every Botero face seemed almost the same (I’m honestly not a huge fan of his style). But, after a while I did notice subtle differences and expressions in the faces.

 

 

 

I really do like the following picture. It’s just gleeful.

 

 

 

 

Calder
Adam & Eve
Eve, of course, holding the apple. That silly apple.

 

I want this.

 

I loved this. In all of this jumble, I couldn’t find the name of the artist!
Incredibly well executed.

 

From the room next door.

 

 

These next two cracked me up.

 

 

This is titled, “No es Che, es Simon”…

 

 

 

….and this is titled,
“No es Che, es Felicia.”

 

 

I really like this. It’s by Eduardo Ramirez Villamizar. It’s titled, “Horizontal Verde-Azul.”
This was sort of fun to play with. It’s by Yutaka Toyota and it’s titled, “Espacio Infinito.”
Here are a few of my favorites from this selection.

It’s a little difficult to tell from this photo, but the woman really looked as though part of the wave. Ethereal. It’s by Francisco Antonio Cano and it’s titled “La Voluptiosidad del Mar” (The Voluptuosity of the Sea – not too sure about the spelling there).

Lastly, I went to the Emerald Museum. But you can’t take pictures there. It was nice, but very small. I took this pic at the Gold Museum.

Columbia is the top exporter of emeralds in the world. Emeralds of this dark green color are the most rare and are more highly prized. The one on the right is about two inches in height.

So, I think that’s it for me regarding museums for now. Like I said, I will be going to Medellin right after Christmas. My next post will most likely be about that. Once I return to Bogota, I’ll report more from here.

Speaking of Christmas, I guess fireworks are popular this time of year and I tried to take pictures of them. I’ve learned that, at least in part, my lousy nighttime photography ability is not entirely my fault. It’s my new camera. When I sold my old Canon for a smaller, more compact camera, I also sold better quality.
Here are my current pics of fireworks and the moon.

Very fuzzy.
If you’ll look at the end of this post, you’ll see pics of fireworks I took with the old camera. Much clearer!
So, besides this just being a gripe, I’d like to ask any photographers out there if you know of a good, compact, non-cumbersome (for travel) camera with an eye-viewfinder….. that won’t break the bank. I’m open to any and all suggestions. Thanks!