Sunday, December 2, 2007

Saturday's Happenings...

Well...I had written a great long post about Saturday's events...with history and more...but when I tried to format the paragraph, the post disappeared! Argh. It is late now, so I'll just do the pictures and give a little info with them that will give you an idea of our day on Saturday!



This is the church at the top of Monserrate. It was built in 1640 and originally house a monastery as well. Pilgrims still trek up the hill on Sunday's to make a pilgrimage for mass. The church is a monument to 'El Senor Caido'; "The Fallen Lord" People leave plaques giving thanks to prayers that have been answered.



The Dressel Familia on top of Monserrate. You may notice that Laura looks a bit distracted and concerned...she had a bee buzzing around her at the time of the photo...Angie seemed to notice too! :)


This is the view of Bogota from the top of Monserrate. It is a huge city! Can you find one of the most important locations in the Bogota in this picture?
The 'Futbol' Stadium?!
The children (ours plus Jamie & Diana, daughters of our friends Sarah & John from NY) in front of the 1st of the 14 Stations of the Cross that were depicted in monuments along the walk from the train that we took up to the top of the mountain. (no, we did not walk up...it would have taken over 2 hours! The train only took 5 minutes...but it seemed a bit death defying...we'll have to upload the video one day!)


The children plus our guide Jorge Rico at the restaurant we went to for lunch in La Candelaria - the oldest region of Bogota!

The mountain behind this roof is Monserrate...and the white dot on top is the church we visited earlier in the day (when the sun was out and there were no clouds!). The roof in this pic is the roof of the restaurant we ate at!


We went on a walking tour of La Candelaria - the oldest neighborhood in Bogota. This neighborhood was originally settled by the Spanish and is known for it's colonial style homes, cobblestone streets, museums and rich history. It was a very quaint area. This church is one of the oldest, and most ornate, in all of Bogota. It was designed after classic Italian church architecture.


This building is the House of Congress and is just outside the Plaza de Bolivar. It is on the edge of the Candelaria region and is just down the street from the President's mansion. The street the President's home is on is closed to cars, but we walked down it. People cannot walk on the sidewalks nor take any pictures! There is a guard stationed every 10 feet to make sure none of the above (or any other problems) occur. The current President of Colombia, Rafael Uribe, is said to be the best President that Colombia has ever had.


This is how we all felt by the end of the day - though Angie was the only one able to take advantage of the opportunity to sleep!
More on what we did Sunday tomorrow. PS - Juancho will be leaving bright and early tomorrow (Monday) morning to go get his passport now that his corrected birth certificate has arrived! All three children will be at the US Embassy doctor tomorrow afternoon to be seen...and by Tuesday morning we should be ready to apply for their visas! Yippee! The countdown is on! T-minus 4 days til Homecoming!!!
Love,
The Dressel Familia!






1 comment:

LaDonna said...

Yeah!! it has been so fun and sureal reading your blogs daily!! We are so excited for your return in 3.5 days:) have safe travels!! love ya all!!