Day 2 -- Bogota

This morning after breakfast we took a cab to Universidad de Rosario in downtown Bogota where my friend had an appointment with international relations people. We drove through very pretty hilly parts of the city into the historical center la Candelaria. The university occupies a whole square right in the center, a couple of block from Plaza Bolivar where the cathedral, the parliament and the presidential palace are located. Juan, the international relations person, gave us a tour of the university and a quick tour of the historical center as well. Rosario is one of the oldest (350 years) and most prestigious Colombian universities – with 3 campuses and about 12,000 students. The main campus is in a gorgeous colonial building. While my friend was talking business with Juan, I went to Centro Cultural Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Museo Botero, Casa de Moneda and another art museum. All of them are on the same street and almost connected and all are free. Then I walked back to the university and joined the meeting. It turned out that Juan’s boss is very involved in many grant-funded projects and very interested in grants and additional projects. Definitely there’s potential… Late afternoon I went to have something to eat in our quaint neighborhood of Usaquen. On the way back, I saw a stand with very thin round wafers (very similar to Czech oplatky) and several colorful fillings that they spread on one wafer and then cover it with another one. The stand was very popular so I decided to try it. I stood and looked for a while to see which filling was the most popular and then went for it. It was delicious. A great desert for less than a dollar.