Eat Like A Colombian

Today I got to move out of that terrible hostel. The music was playing again, this time until 3 in the morning. Who are these people? I also booked my flight to Barranquilla. From there I will go to a beach town called Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast of Colombia where the average daily temperature is 27.2 Celcius. I might do some scuba diving there as there is loads of coral reef and lots of dive schools competing for business.

I went down the street to a new place called Chocolate Hostel. But not before calling into the corner Arepa y Rellena shop. I ordered an arepa con queso y Milo for breakfast. Arepas are a Colombian flatbread first made on a flat-top then put on a grill. Queso is cheese. Milo is a chocolate flavoured drink. Delicious.

Back to Chocolate...this hostel is amazing. They upgraded the room for free, have more people, seem more professional and actually care about keeping the place clean. After dropping off my stuff, I went on yet another unsuccessful search for post cards. Another 3 hours walk around downtown Bogota (the centro). I knew how to ask for post cards in Spanish now (tarjeta postales) but still couldn't find any. There is a souvenir shop that is selling them for $1800 pesos, which is about $1 Canadian, but that's highway robbery! It's five for a dollar at home, and ten for a dollar in NYC. I may just print some pictures and mail them back home.

There is a street food here called an oblea. For the uninitiated, this is a snack food which consists of two circular wafer cookies about 8 inches in diameter. On one cookie, the vendor spreads a thick caramel sauce called Arequipa sauce (at least that's what I think it's called). Then she sprinkles on cheese and nuts. I know it sounds a little strange, but the taste is amazing. The cheese has a mild flavour  which goes well with the sweet Arequipa sauce and the crunch from the nuts contrasts with the crunch you get from the cookies. It's a perfect mid-afternoon snack. By the time I remembered to take a photo, it was already gone. Sorry.

There is a restaurant here called 2 Gatos y Simone. There was always a line-up outside for it and I didn't want to queue up for it. Today there was no line so I decided to see what the hype was about. It was a Mexican restaurant with a wide variety of selection. I ordered burritos and had a quesadilla. Even though it was a burrito, it didn't feel right, because there were no beans. I don't know which way I like better. The green drink is Limonada. It's lime juice, with sugar, cilantro and mint. It's really good.

Now the blog loses some momentum, because those are the only two pictures I took all day. However, I did watch Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" and went out for coffee and dessert, then dinner. In that order. At Cafe del Sol, I had an espresso with Chantilly whipped cream, chocolate sauce and a sprinkling of cinnamon as well as a warm brownie with cold, delicious vanilla ice cream. I forgot to bring my camera, so no picture. There was a girl there playing the same fruit-slicing game on her phone that my sisters play. Technology eh?

It was getting late and I didn't want to stray too far from my hostel (apparently this area, La Candelaria, has a bit of a reputation after dark). So I went one block down to a place called ChoriDeli where they make and sell chorizo. I ordered a chorizo con arepa. You may think you've had chorizo before, but this tasted like nothing in Canada. It was a pork sausage which tasted salty and savoury with fennel seeds, onions, various spices with just the right amount of heat. It was so good, I ordered two. My mouth is watering writing about it. Maybe tomorrow I'll get another one so I can take a picture. Hopefully they're open!