Museum Day in Bogota

Friday, Sept. 1, 2017--Bogota, Colombia

After cleaning up and taking care of a few matters needing attention, I headed downtown this morning around 9:45. I didn't have anything to use for making breakfast, so I stopped at a street stall and bought a nice breakfast sandwich to eat while I walked.  It was an arepa about 5 inches (10 cm) in diameter which had an egg patty the same width and about 3/8 of an inch (1 cm) thick and slices of ham and cheese.  What made it taste especially good was that it had been toasted over charcoal and had a nice smokey flavor.

Just south of where I am living is North Bogota--the "new" downtown where the tall office buildings have been built--which has replaced the Candelaria, the old downtown, as the business center of the city.  What that means is that much of the old downtown has become abandoned and some of it is rather decrepit.  I went through parts today that reminded me of walking into Harlem 25-30 years ago.  Although little of it is really nice, there are better parts near the museums and Bolivar Plaza, the main square of the city.

My first stop was the Museo de Oro (the Gold Museum).  It is absolutely wonderful.  It probably has the best collection of pre-Colombian gold articles in the world.  Fortunately, the native people must not have let the Spaniards know that they buried their dead with these great pieces, because almost all of them come from graves.  But seeing makes one wonder what beautiful things the Spaniards took from the local people and melted down to send back to Europe.

From there, I first stopped to see the nearby Iglesia San Francisco which has a beautiful golden altar, a nice moorish-style ceiling, and a pretty blue "women's chapel" among other features.  Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed, but some are on the Internet, so go to the link above to see it.

Then I tried to go to Bolivar Plaza, but it and much of downtown was closed off today for some event.  At first, I thought it was the Pope's visit, but that doesn't start until Wednesday.  But many blocks near the plaza were blocked off and guarded by armed police and military, so I couldn't see it.  I am hoping it will be open tomorrow or Sunday so I can return.

Therefore, I went to other museums away from that area:

Botero Museum--He's probably the most famous artist from Colombia (though I later saw such nice pieces by others from here).  Everyone seems to love his chubby figures--men, women, cats, horses, etc.  I wasn't aware of his series about natural death showing cut flowers, ice cream, fruits, etc., but I found it interesting.  This is the museum he established to show his work in Colombia.  It also includes a collection of art, including sculptures, by almost all major artists from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s.  I don't know if these were Botero's personal collection of works or if the museum has just acquired them somehow.

Casa de Moneda--Next door to the Botero Museum and actually tied together by open passages is this museum about money.  Most interesting about it was all the coin stamping machines they have collected from all over the world.  But the main reason for going there was that also tied to this museum with exhibits behind it and upstairs above it is the Museo de Arte Banco de la Republica which has very good collections of works by Colombian artists from various periods up to the present.

It was a good day of exploring.  There's more to see, though, so I will be out again tomorrow.