Andy got a Spiderman on his arm. It is pretty cool.

The "dog" show.

AJ and Dana enjoyed the "Dogs" and kid play area.

Chef Andy. The cooks in Colombia have to wear gloves, hat, and facemask.

Andy is a perfectionist with his pizza sauce. He made a cheese, ham, bacon, and corn pizza. Yum. There was about 20 things to pick from, including fruit (peaches, cherries, raisins), meats (ham, bacon, chicken, beef, sausage), and other things (nuts, corn, olives, pickles). Some pretty interesting combinations!

A freaky dog with Corey.

Another dog for Kelly and Nathan.

Andy and I in the Salt Cathederal.

The Nativity scene in the Salt Cathederal.

One of the stations in the Salt Cathederal above. Waiting for our English tour guide below.

Hi everyone,

We had a fun day yesterday (Saturday). We arranged with Mauricio to do the City Tour and he came and picked us up at 9:30 a.m. There was another family from Phoenix from Hotel Paris along as well, so it was great to have some American company. Their names are Corey, Kelly and Nathan, and Nathan's Grandma Alice. It was great to hang out with them for the day.

The first part of our tour was driving some scenic roads overlooking Bogota. We also stopped at an Emerald shop and couldn't resist getting a little something for Dana when she grows up. It was tempting to go wild in there as there was a lot of beautiful jewelry, but we kept it in check. We saw a beautiful high quality Emerald that was $40,000. Yikes. The store was very non-descript, and when you go in you are taken to the back of the shop and let in through a locked door. Once you enter the door you are in a luxurious setting, unlike the front of the shop that is just a typical souvenier shop. I guess it is necessary for security.

After that we traveled to the Salt (Sal) Mine and Cathederal which was about 1.5 hour away from where we were in Bogota. The drive was a nice one and we got to see some of the countryside that we haven't seen yet. We traveled through a few towns and saw their main square. Everything is built around a Catholic cathederal and square here. Usually the town's government office is on the square as well.

When we arrived at the Salt Mine it was located on a mountain, and we took a tunnel into the depths. At one point we were about 425 meters (I think about 1200 feet) below the peak of the mountain. In the mine the miners constructed a Cathederal and stations of the cross. The pictures can't show all of the details that went into it as it was pretty dark in there, but it is amazing at what they erected in there. In addition to the stations of the cross there is a full Cathederal in there. The cross at the front of it is about 65 feet tall and 40 wide. The ceiling is probably 75 feet tall. There are baptismal fonts, and many statues in there as well made from the salt marble. So after having a guided tour for about an hour we were ready to come back up to the sunshine.

After the tour we were pretty hungry as it was about 2 by then. Mauricio took us to Chia to "Andre's Carne de Res" (Andre's beef restaurant). It was by far the most funky place I have eaten at in my life. The best way to describe it is a Chuck E. Cheese and TGI Fridays combined and on steroids! The outside of the restaurant was decorated by the owner who is an artist, and had some cool sculptures. Once we went in it was sensory overload! There was his artistry everywhere. It is very beautiful, scary, and contemporary. For instance, we got a milk for Andy and it came in an old fashioned glass milk jug, with a spoon twisted around the top as a handle. Each table had a handmade sign showing it's name (we were at table Ursula 57). Jodie found a table with the name of Valentina and took a picture to scrapbook.

The coolest/freakiest thing there was the dogs (actors in dalmation costumes). From what we could gather it was based on 101 Dalmations as there were about 20+ dalmations running around, sniffing you, pretending to urinate on your leg, and doing dog things to make the kids laugh. There was a Cruella DeVille as well as her bad servants who were trying to capture the dogs for Cruella's fur coat. Later on there was a "Dog" show outside in the kids area.

Andy got to make his own pizza in the kids area. He made a cheese, bacon, ham, and corn pizza. It tasted pretty good! He loved to get dressed up as a chef and roll out the dough, spread the pizza sauce, and put the topings on. He is a very serious pizza maker. After lunch he also wanted to get his face painted, but opted for a Spiderman on his arm. In the kids area there were puppet shows, a swing set area, dance and costume room, face painting, painting t-shirts, and shows from the actors. Overall it was a great experience.

The best part of the lunch/dinner was the food for us. They have awesome steaks. I had a steak that was stuffed with bacon and cheese and folded up/toothpicked and grilled. It was by far the best meal that we have had here to date. Jodie had a steak as well and hers was great too. Jodie had a tear running down her cheek as she ate it (just kidding)!

After that we had our trip back to the hotel and got home about 6:15 so a very busy day. Dana did well the whole time, as she napped and ate as usual, just in the baby carrier. Andy ended up falling asleep standing up while he was in my arms in the back seat of the van. That has never happened before! ;)

Today is Sunday and that means Santa Barbara. This is what Andy and I did last week, and we are going to walk up there and take Jodie and Dana this week now that we are traveling around more. It is about a 2 mile walk, and on Sundays they close one lane of the street for pedestrians/bikers. I'm sure Jodie won't come back empty handed. ;)

Have a great weekend!