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September - December 2024
Colombia and a roadtrip through the US after graduating from university Read more
  • 114footprints
  • 106days
  • 1.1kphotos
  • 1likes
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  • United States
  • Colombia
  • Spain
  • Italy
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Around the world, City trip, Friendship, Nature, Sightseeing
  • 45.7kkilometers traveled
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  • Bus2,757kilometers
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  • Hiking207kilometers
  • Walking150kilometers
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  • 114footprints
  • 106days
  • 1.1kphotos
  • 1likes
  • 45.7kkilometers
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Newest first
  • TravelerAmericas
    Day 2

    Torino

    September 12, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    While I was waiting for my bus to leave to Barcelona, I visited the Musei Reali and walked around the city. The museum has a huge collection of paintings and archeological findings and it also shows some rooms of the royal palace.
    The city was preparing for a car show on the weekend, so many streets were closed and I saw some fancy expensive cars, that were pushed around on red carpets.
    Although the king had ordered to build long arcades from his place to the Po river, so that he didn't get wet when it rained, I didn't manage to stay dry in the rain under the 18 km of arcades, so I treated myself with pasta for dinner before getting back to the bus station.    Read more

  • TravelerAmericas
    Day 3

    Barcelona

    September 13, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    I had a few hours in Barcelona so I decided to visit Palau del Baró de Quadras, a beautiful modernist building on Avenida Diagonal. On the way to the train station I went to Mercadona to buy some gazpacho, which I missed so much.
    Even though it was super chaotic at the train station because of a derailed train, I was very lucky to and my train was on time and I even made it to the news probably.    Read more

  • TravelerAmericas
    Day 3–5

    Madrid

    September 13, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Before taking the plane to Bogotá, I spent two days with Sara in Madrid. We discovered Madrid by foot, visited the Prado Museum and the Thyssen-Bornemissa Museum. I also got smuggled in to some Erasmus activities, we went to an escape room and watched the sunset from the Temple of Debez, which was gifted to Spain by Egypt.
    We couldn't leave out a compulsory tinto de verano from the must-do list in Spain.    Read more

  • TravelerAmericas
    Day 5–6

    Bogotá Day 1-2

    September 15, 2024 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    As I landed in Bogotá, Oliver was already waiting for me, and he got us a SIM card and some pesos. (The maximum amount at the ATM to withdraw were 300000 pesos, which are about 68€). We got to our hostel which was in the city center, but as we were advised not to really walk around at night, we stayed at the hostel and drank a beer in the garden.

    The next day we did a free walking tour where we learned about the history of Bogotá, saw the most important corners of the city. One of the most interesting scenes were a square, where many elderly man were standing around and talking the whole day, and though it seemed that they were doing nothing, they were actually trading with emerald from they pockets, making thus the square the biggest informal emerald market. Besides the emerald, people are selling a great variety of things such as fruits, sweets, jewelry, drinks, origami and paintings made from Venezuelan bolivar (as it worth so little), and they offer to repair bikes, clean shoes and many other stuff.

    During the tour we also got some recommendations on local food, of what we tried some for lunch. We ate tamal, which is made from corn, chickpeas, and chicken, cooked in banana leaves, and we also tried changua, which is a soup made of milk and eggs.
    We were also told to try the local hot chocolate, which is served with cheese and bread. Though it sounded very weird, the melted cheese was super tasty in the chocolate.

    We also visited the Botero Museum, which is a free museum, as Botero donated several paintings from his private collection to the government, with the condition to make it free and keep them in the museum forever. In the afternoon we went up to Monserrate hill by a cable car to check out the city from above. It got pretty late (and cold) and we were a bit concerned about walking back to the hostel in the dark, as we had an ATM with a higher limit, and got a huge bundle of money. It is crazy to walk around with millions of pesos, which still do not worth more than a few hundred Euros.    Read more

  • TravelerAmericas
    Day 7–8

    Bogotá Day 3-4

    September 17, 2024 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    On the third day we did another walking tour about all the different conflicts of Colombia. It was very interesting to learn about the different aspects of the history of the country and what events led to all these military, political and drug conflicts that determined the last decades of Colombia and that led to a former guerilla member to be the president today.

    After the tour we had a coca icecream, and tried the traditional indigenous drink chicha, which is made of fermented corn. Though the government made massive propaganda against it in the last century, it is now beginning to be normal again to drink it, and a lot of people are offering it on the streets to taste it. For lunch we had patacones (fried cooking banana) with vegetables. As dessert, we had obleas, filled with caramel (arequipe) and papaya jam. Several stands sell obleas, and advertise them with a huge pic of Mick Jagger, as he really liked it once he visited Bogotá. As basically everything here, it was also very sweet, but tasty.

    We visited the Museum of Gold, which holds thousands of pieces of gold which were find all over the country. It was amazing to see all the tiny details in the jewelry and small artifacts.

    On our last day we walked around and visited the military museum, and tried some weird fruit salad (or juice, we were not really sure) and then we headed to the airport to go to our next stop, Cartagena.

    Bogotá was a nice place to start our trip, to learn about the history of the country and to experience a bit less touristic city. Though the city is in a very nice area right in the middle of the Andes, and there are some nice buildings, it is full of controversy. A lot of beggars, and no-go zones, an on the other hand expensive cars, modern universities, all surrounded by private guards and police.    Read more

  • TravelerAmericas
    Day 8–10

    Cartagena

    September 18, 2024 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    When we arrived to Cartagena, stepping out of the plane was like entering a sauna, especially coming from Bogotá, also called the fridge of Colombia. It is super humid here, so all your clothes instantly stick to your body. After getting to our hostel, we went to look something for dinner. We found a little restaurant with a lot of locals, and had fried fish with cooking bananas. After dinner we walked around the old town, on the city walls and in the more artsy quarter, Getsemaní.

    The city is full of colonial buildings and churches, it looks cleaner than Bogotá, there are many more tourists and also some fancy shops. It definitely looks richer than Bogotá, and we had no concerns walking around at night. Next to the main square old buses transformed to party buses were waiting for tourists to take them for a sightseeing tour.
    On the next day we did a free walking tour to learn about the history of Cartagena and the Getsemaní quarter, where local residents put chairs and tables on the street or in the entrance of their home and offer drinks. A highlight of the tour was a park where we saw sloths, iguanas and monkeys.
    Then we visited the San Felipe de Barajas Fort, an impressive fortress from the middle ages with a crazy tunnel system and nice views on the city.

    After that, we wanted to go to the beach, but it started raining, so chilled at the hostel and went to the city walls to drink a beer once the rain stopped.    Read more

  • TravelerAmericas
    1
    Day 10

    Santa Marta

    September 20, 2024 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    From Cartagena we took a bus to Santa Marta. The road lead through a natural reserve at the coast and we also crossed River Magdalena at Barranquilla, which was amazingly huge. At the riverbank we also saw the statue of Rihanna. We drove past some very poor settlements, which was very heart breaking to see especially after seeing the contrast in the relatively rich Cartagena. After a five hour ride, we finally arrived in Santa Marta. We walked around the town, went to the ocean and to the market, which was still full in the afternoon. You could find hundreds of exotic fruits and vegetables, sweets, toys and everything you can imagine. You could even get your nails and eyebrows done on the streets.
    Afterwards, we had dinner in a small restaurant. Tipical restaurants normally serve a daily menu, which consists of chicken or fish, with cooking bananas and rice, sometimes with a soup as well, all for around 5 €, all very tasty. We also ordered a beer, but as the restaurant didn't have any, the waiter just went to the shop across the street and brought us some.
    After dinner we had another walk in the city. Though Santa Marta is the oldest city in Colombia, there are not many sights, besides the cathedral and the obligatory Bolivar square, but the nightlife is quite lively, with many pubs and restaurants. Also several people approached us on the street offering beer and cocaine.    Read more

  • TravelerAmericas
    Day 11

    Tayrona National Park

    September 21, 2024 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Before leaving to the national park, we had breakfast at the hostel and got some very tasty coffee, as we are pretty close to a coffee region. We also tried some fruits which we had bought at the market yesterday, but none of them met our expectations, and we were kind of suffering to finish them, but now we know, we are better off with bananas.
    The weather is still crazy, we were already soaked by sweat on the bus.
    We decided to take the longer route, which led over a mountain through the jungle. We both looked like we had taken a shower with clothes on, but we had beautiful views on the forest and mountains, saw some crazy trees and animals. Finally we arrived to the coast with a beautiful beach, where we cooled down a bit. We took the coastal trail back to the bus, which led us along some more beaches and beautiful views with the ocean, rocks and palm trees. We saw some monkeys and a sign warning about caymans. From the end of the trail we had to take a shuttle bus to the bus taking us back to Santa Marta, which was quite a wild ride, as 15 people were on the bus, which had a size of a van for 9. And people drive here crazily, loads of motorbikes, sometimes 3 or 4 people sitting on it, with babies, and luggage, trying to get through the traffic, everyone honking at each other.
    The city was really packed, as today is the day of friendship and love, Valentine's Day of Colombia, with everyone selling flowers, balloons and gifts, and everything is decorated with heart-shaped stuff. Shops are open longer, this day is considered the fourth most important commercial day in Colombia.
    After taking a shower we had dinner and went for a few drinks to discover the nightlife of Santa Marta. People were dancing on the streets, pubs and restaurants were full. We found a shady karaoke bar, where we were the youngest ones, and where almost everyone sang Spanish songs only.    Read more

  • TravelerAmericas
    Day 12

    Santa Marta Day 3

    September 22, 2024 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    On our third day in Santa Marta we planned to do a walking tour, but as the guide never showed up, we were just walking around alone in the city. On the long promenade at the beach, a big group of policemen were patrolling and talking to people, others were driving quads in the sand and getting people out of the water because a storm was coming. I asked them, if there was any particular reason for the strong presence of police on a seemingly calm Sunday, they said that there were a lot of crime in the city, and they are warning people about it, though we never felt unsafe walking around.

    As it started raining, we went to a juice bar next to our hostel and had a very tasty juice, with some tropical fruits that we had never heard of. The owner, a very cute lady also gave us some some snack that I would compare to a corndog.
    In the afternoon we went to the house where Simon Bolivar died, which has been turned into a museum with a botanical garden, a huge memorial for him, and contemporary paintings. We could feel, that it was a very important place for Colombia, as it was very well preserved and a lot of information was provided, even in English. The other museums we had visited before had very little and not so informative explanations, and mostly in Spanish only.

    The museum was right next to a huge shopping mall, so we decided to check it out. There were a lot of clothing stores, that looked quite expensive, a lot of stores offering unnecessary stuff, pure capitalism. A lot of people were hanging out in the food court, a family even celebrated a birthday there. Our highlight was the Uno Colombia edition and the Colombian version of Monopoly. We also tried McDonald's Postres, which is a McDonald's store, only selling sweets, and the city is full of them, KFC also has it's own postres shop.    Read more

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