3rd Jul, I had mixed
feelings, I was super excited to see Diana after almost 2 months, worried
about my impression to her family, since this was first time I was going to
meet them, scared about new country, different people, different
language ( mainly because of reviews on internet ), curious about her friend circle, stressed
about US immigration when I will be back after 5 days. So over-all I was
confused and you can easily figure out that from my face ;)
As happens always, my flight from
LGA, NY to Atlanta was delayed by 1:30 hrs. I would have had to missed my connecting
flight to Bogota, but thanks to support staff of Delta, they squeezed me in
earlier flight to Atlanta, and I was on time landed in Bogota. When I landed I
was wondering if my international roaming being activated or not, since if
Diana couldn’t find me, I should be able to inform her my location, but she always been
so divine, waiting for me on time. When I was with her, I couldn’t believe myself
that I am in Bogota, her city, with her, uff the best feeling ever.
When we entered into the hotel, this
is what was waiting for us on our bed. Diana has a habit for giving cute
surprises. She amazes me at the time when I don’t expect anything. I love this
part about her a lot, I hope it will be forever: P
The next morning, we were supposed
to go to her house to visit her parents. We stopped by in one mall to get some
gifts for her mom/dad and pollito (her niece). After this quick shopping, we
started for her house. My body temperature started falling down, my heartbeats
started making noise. I was practicing “nice to meet you” statement in Spanish
all our way. And as expected, I forgot it when I actually met her parents ;)
Her mother is very nice and friendly, so I was a bit comfortable after meeting
her. Whatever I have had heard about her Dad in our conversation, I was very
concerned about what I was doing, how was I doing in front of him. But after few
hours, he was relaxed, so do I :) . I loved “tinto” (Colombian Coffee)
prepared by mother, and later I learned that her mother loves tinto like
anything. Please see tinto below..that made our bond more stronger.
Lunch table discussion was interesting.
Her mom/dad used to say something in Spanish, Diana used to translate that to
me. And then translate my response from English to Spanish too. She is really very fast
translator we had ;) ..but in this conversation, whenever someone makes jokes,
one party used to laugh later (off course after translation :D)
Her mom is very nice cook, she had prepared very nice lunch. The dish called ajiaco. I really liked it. I don't have photos of this dish but if you looked up in the internet you would easily find one. Its really famous tradition dish of Bogota.
Her sister Lili was very nice to me. I couldn't believe that she had prepared very delicious and beautiful cake for me. (Since my birthday was gone few days back, they decided to celebrate it in Bogota). The best birthday ever. And pollo helped Lili to put some balloons too. I felt so special cutting that cake. Have a look at beautiful delicious cake -
Andres DC, Bogota (with Lili and her friend William)
We had a great time with Lili ( Diana’s sister) and her friend William. Very
nice club, Andres DC. I loved it, music, food, environment, crowd all. We had
very famous Colombian liquor called “Aguardiente”. Lilli, Williams and myself
finished almost 2 bottles of it. As per Colombian people, it’s very heavy
drink, but frankly speaking, it didn’t work on me :D Please see some photos
from Andress below –
Lunch and Dessert with Diana’s
Family
On 5th Jul morning, Diana’s dad picked us from
hotel at 11:30 am. We all (Diana, her dad, mom, sister, Pollo and me) were going for a
lunch on some high hills. The way to this place was so romantic, all green trees, nice weather and clean roads. What an amazing feeling, I wished our destination
should be very long. In the car, we were talking (off course with the help of
Miss translator ;) ). We all played various games with Pollo at the back seat
of the car. The place where we had a lunch was so beautiful, in the heart of
hills, cold place will greenery around. I loved it. And the food was delicious. You can see in the below pics –
After our lunch, we started for the place where we are supposed
to have our deserts. This place was wonderful, because it had very large ground
where people can have their desert, sleep in the sun or play with kids. I
enjoyed all three, had a competition with Pollo, and enjoyed desert with Diana and her family.
Weather
in Bogota
Weather is really awesome in Bogota. It never become very
hot or cold. You just need to carry one light sweater all the time. That’s the
reason, Bogota homes do not have fans, AC or heater. It such a pleasant
weather. I love it. Fortunately, there was no rain for 5 days so it was perfect
for my trip ;)
Meeting
with Diana’s Friends (From SAP)
On 5th evening, I have met 4 of Diana’s friends from SAP, Yofi,
Patcy, Alvaro & Karim. Everyone was so nice, had a lot laugh, discussion
over the Italian food. Karim flown from Madeline only to meet us. We have
decided to party again in New York very soon J After the dinner, we went to one small club, local music and some more Aguardiente ;) Please see
some pics below -
Salt
Cathedral of Zipaquirá
Next
day, we had very nice family outing, to visit very famous place near Bogota,
called Salt Cathedral. Beautiful salt mine, its similar to some caves, I didn’t
understand much of the things told by guild, since it was in Spanish but I
enjoyed the wonderful places in this caves. Please have a look in below pics -
BBC
(Bogota Beer Company) & Susana (University friend)
One of the best places in Bogota to
have beer and talk to your friends. I loved this place, very nice beer, food,
soft music. Some people enjoys music, some enjoys game, some enjoys talk with
friends and some strange people enjoys OTHER’s talk ;).
I met Susana here. Diana’s university friend. Very soft nature, very young
looking (compared to her age). Please see her photo below and guess what could
be her age J We had long and intense discussion. But frankly speaking,
we had very nice time. I wish I could have BBC in New York area ;)
Meeting with father, yofi and her sister
For me, this was the toughest part of our agenda. Diana said, we are going to meet one
father, so I was expecting very serious guy who will talk about god and his
power etc etc. Father must be old and I have to say yes/no to all.
Surprisingly, when I saw him first time, he was not at all old. He is very
normal and young guys like us. And when I got to know that he has a wife and a
daughter, I felt so relaxed. Yofi, her sister & her brother (father) really
very nice guys. We all went to his home, talked about Diana and me, India, US
etc. They treated me like celebrity. Everyone wanted to have photo with me ;)
It felt so nice J His daughter Sofy was so cute, she never play
with new person unless she knows him/her very well, but surprisingly she was
very friendly with me and playing all time with me, may be because I love kids
;) This family was really great at heart. They want well for everyone and help
everyone. Thanks Diana for introducing me to such a nice people..JPG)
Fun
with Pollito
Pollito is her sister’s daughter.
She is so cute and beautiful. Surprisingly she was excited for my visit too. We
had a great fun together. Played in the park, I taught some games in the car,
some tricks while riding bi-cycle. She was so kind to prepared welcome notes
for me J I felt so special when I saw this drawing (pics below)
Over all, my first Bogota trip was amazing. The best
experience ever. Bogota is really one of my favorite vacation places. I would
love to see Bogota again and spent many more days J Thank you so much Diana for
such a wonderful treat. Love you, your family and friends. :)
