markets Archives - Page 11 of 12

Colombia South America

Rainy Afternoon in Bogota

This afternoon, after my trip to El Mercado del Paloquemao i set out from the hostel and walked up to the Museum of Modern Art. On my way i stopped for lunch at cute and charming little restaurant filled with plants and bric-a-brac.

I managed to explain the vegetarian situation and received bean & barley soup, rice, beans, plantains, salad, potatoes, and lemonade for $3. The Modern Art Museum was small and the art was mostly only ok, but there were a few good photographs and paintings. It wouldn’t call it a ‘must see’ but it was decent and admission was only $1. (Generally, of all of the churches and museums i have visited, all of the churches were free and this was the only museum that charged.) I then walked farther north to the Museo Nationales, which had a good selection of Colombian prehistoric artifacts right up to 20thC paintings. None of the descriptions were in English, so it made for a quick walk through, but it was a good museum.

When i left it had started to rain and i was about 30 blocks from the hostel so i sat at the only cafe with outdoor seating that i found and sat under an umbrella and smoked a cigar until the rain stopped. Of course once i left it started to pour and i got soaked and have been cold and wet ever since. The first two days here were very warm and sunny but the second two days have had intermittent showers and rain.

On the way back to the hostel i was passed by a group of about three dozen soldiers in full combat camouflage, helmets and boots, and carrying machine guns. I don’t know what it was all about but the people on the street did not pay any attention, so i guess it is a usual occurrence.

After resting back at the hotel with yet another cup of hot coca tea in the kitchen by the wood burning stove, i went out for dinner. I think I’ll stay in for the rest of the evening, as it is warm here and i have an earlyish flight to Cartagena.

Bogota has been great. Four days was perfect. If i had any more time i would have done more day trips out of the city but i feel quite satisfied.
Buenos Noches.

Colombia South America

Mercado de Paloquemao

This morning i set out immediately after breakfast to the Mercado de Palequemao, a giant market selling fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, flowers, and other random food items. I walked from my hotel which was a fairly long walk. I stuck to the main streets so i would not get lost, which meant that the streets i walked down were busy, loud, crowded, and not particularly attractive. That being said, i really enjoyed the walk as it provided a good view of non-touristy Bogota.

Finally reaching the market i was overwhelmed by the selection of produce.

This might be the best market ever in that regard. They had everything i could imagine and things i could not have dreamed of. It was so colorful and loud and everything looked so delicious. As i had already eaten about 6 different fruits for breakfast, i ate only one thing: mangosteens. I have been wanting to try them for a wile and bought one. It is, and i am not exaggerating, the best fruit i have ever tasted. It defies description, but it is a hard purple shell with sweet white cloves of heaven inside. I went back and bought a bag and sat on the curb with some vendors and ate my through half the bag. Whatever you are doing right now, stop, find a mangosteen and eat it. You can thank me later.

I then walked through the flower stalls and the butcher area where whole cows and emormous pigs were being freshly carved up for sale. After wandering aimlessly in delight (attracting quite a bit of attention), i sat at one of the curb side cafes on a plastic chair on the sidewalk and drank some great coffee and smoked some cigarillos with the butchers who were on their breaks, eating and drinking in their bloody smocks. It was great.

I then walked back to the hotel with my remaining mangosteen and one other unidentifiable monstrous, green fruit that i will try tomorrow. (Once i figure out what all these exotic, tropical fruits are – and have the ability to upload photos – i will probably devote a post just to them.)

I would definitely recommend a visit to this market. It looks like it is in a sketchy area of town, but it seemed safe and offered a great look at daily life in Bogota.

Colombia South America

Hungry Vegetarian seeks Sustenance on Mountaintop

My first full day in Bogota started by a walk up Calle 7 to a Sunday flea market that i had read about. The walk was great, as the sun was shining, i had a cup of fresh mango and papaya slices and everyone was out on their bikes. On every Sunday, the main streets in Candelaria are closed to vehicular traffic and are taken over by cyclists, joggers and roller bladers. Every Sunday! (Take that, Portland.)

I stopped in to a couple of churches on the way, both of which were mid-mass. It is a bit like Portugal here in that every time i go into a cathedral there seems to be a mass underway. Seldom are they dormant.

The flea market was full of things that were not quite antiques, but junk that was fun to browse through. Lots of military accoutrements, old telephones, books, and toys. A man had a bucket of giant snails and was selling their snail slime as a skin care remedy. There i had a glass of lulo juice – lulo being a fruit native to the area. It is quite tart, but refreshing.

After the flea market i went to the Museo del Oro (free on sundays) and strolled through the impressive collection of gold artifacts and objects from Colombia history. It is a small museum, but impressive and worth a visit.

After the museum i walked for a ways up hill past vendors of grilled meats, blood sausage, corn and religious artifacts to the cable car station to go up to the top of the mountain to visit Monserrat, mountain with a white church perched atop. The church is visible from everywhere in the city and accessible by cable car, funicular, or a steep hike. The church, although very sacred is not that special, and quite plain. What was great was the view of the city and mountains and the stroll through the market, which was selling various crafts and souvenirs. (Nothing that i wanted to buy, mind you.) At that point it started to rain, so i ducked into a hall of food sellers, all cooking up the same dishes, rice and potatos or soup with chicken, blood sausage, pig intestines, and other identifiable meat bits. I was looking to see if there was anything vegetarian i could have when i was approached by the waitress who said something incomprehensible to me in Spanish. I do not know what she said but i blurted out two phrases i know, liked together: I am a vegetarian and i am hungry. She understood and made me a plate of rice, fired plantains, avocado slices, potatoes, beans, and hot peppers. It was huge and delicious and about $3.

After descending from Monserrat i continued to wander, through squares, and down a street of vendors aggressively selling (almost exclusively) pinata fillings, past particularly run down streets where the amount of garbage, dog feces and dilapidated buildings increased, to an area called the Macarena. It is a quasi-bohemian, trendy neighborhood, about 25 blocks or so north, with lots of international eateries and pubs. More upscale by far than Candalaria. I had a cigar on a patio and then hailed a taxi to take me another 50 or so blocks north to the area called Zona Rosa.

Zona Rosa is a fancy neighborhood. The streets are lined with large trees, it is clean and the sidewalks are not filled with dangerous holes. Here i found stores like Zara, Ferrigamo, and Hugo Boss, a movie theatre, a mall, a Hard Rock Cafe, and many fancy looking restaurants, bars and hotels. It feels a hundred years away from Caldelaria. It was pleasant to stroll around and has a couple of streets (Zona T) that are pedestrian and only lined with eateries. It was a little upsacle for my liking, but i sat down on the patio of a middle eastern restaurant and smoked a hookah and had hummus and Turkish coffee until it got too cold to sit outside at which point i hailed a taxi and went back to my hostel, where the kitchen was filled with guests cooking dinner. I was fairly tired after all my walking, so after a good lie down in the hammock i went to bed.

And let me take this opportunity too dispel another stupid warning i received from people and books before coming here. I was told to only take taxis after dark (which i have established as nonsense, as walking is fine), AND i was told never to hail them on the street but only to call for them. This posed a problem as i do not have a phone. But as it turns out everyone hails taxis on the street. They are yellow and licensed and use meters and have GPS and are quite safe. So there, fear mongerers!

Ok, i am off for another day of exploring. Thanks for checking on me.
d

Europe Italy

Parma & Modena

After a few rather full days, including yesterday’s unexpected excursion to San Marino, we were pretty tired today and i woke up feeling a bit under the weather. That said, we couldn’t just lay about, so today we took the train west to Parma, which is about an hour away. Parma is known for its ham and cheese and there was certainly a lot of both. We walked the streets and through markets selling fruits and vegetables, meats and fish, and clothing and housewares. There were many more piazzas and churches to visit and they were lovely, although today I think we both felt a bit saturated with Italian splendor. It is not that we didn’t appreciate what we saw, but it didn’t feel like the first time we had seen it.

After Parma, we took the train to Modena (half way between Bologna and Parma), which is another gastronomic town, famous for its balsamic vinegar. It was quite attractive and was very quiet when we arrived – during lunch when the shops are closed. We settled in for a nice lunch on the piazza and waited out an afternoon thundershower before visiting Modena’s most famous site, its impressive 11th century cathedral, which we spent some time in before heading back to Bologna for a bit of a rest.

People in this part of Italy certainly speak less English than they did in the other areas we have visited.
In the other cities, we would attempt to communicate in Italian, but at the first error or pause, the other party would jump in with excellent English. Up here however we have had several encounters where we relied on our awkward Italian and sign language.

We are headed out now for a bit to eat or something. Tomorrow morning we catch a train to Venice – our final destination. We are pretty excited about this last leg of the journey, as it should be spectacular.

We will blog again when we are able.
d&b

Europe Italy

Hams and Arches

Today we arrived in Bologna, a mere 40 minute train ride from Florence. We are staying at a lovely little pensione on the 5th floor of a non-descript building. We have a beautiful view of the red rooftops of the city – particularly picturesque at sunset we discovered.

Bologna is (not surprisingly) another attractive smallish city with cobbled streets lined with inviting cafes and shops and dotted with churches and piazzas. What sets Bologna apart is that most of the sidewalks are covered by arched porticos, apparently about 40 kilometers of them. This makes them particularly nice for walking in the hot sun. The other notable thing about Bologna is the hams, which are everywhere. Every second store seems to be a deli of sorts and the ceilings, stair rails and windows are all hung with enormous hams – the sort that an Italian Tiny Tim would have stared at hungrily through the window (had A Christmas Carol been Italian, that is). There are fewer vegetarian items on the menus and decidedly less pizza than in the other towns we have visited, but i think we will get by.

We arrived and did the requisite walk about to get our bearings. Betty-Lou encountered a group of jazz buskers with which she was particularly taken and we had lunch in one of the streets of the Quadriletero district.

Betty-Lou then took the afternoon to rest in the room while i pounded the pavement seeing what there was to see. I visited a few churches, including several simple, medieval ones and walked through the lively university districts which was crawling with students and lined with bookstores and noisy cafes. The walls of the buildings around the university were covered in graffiti, mostly of a political or economic nature (a lot of ‘occupy’ themed stuff). I picked up a book at an international book store and settled in the Piazza Maggiore with a glass of wine and a cigar and watched the street scene and began reading my new book.

reading ‘ham on rye’ while looking at arches, bologna

Just now we have returned from an excellent dinner of salad, risotto and pasta and are going to call it a relatively early night. The weather here is beautiful, as it has been all through our travels (except for that one night in Gubbio). With one exception all of our meals have been al fresco.

We are in Bologna for three nights, which is remarkable, because in slightly less than one day I have seen nearly everything i wanted to see. We will likely do some day trips in our remaining time here.

That’s all for now.

Europe Italy

Pisa & Lucca

Yesterday we ventured outside of Florence for a day trip to Pisa, which was about an hour and half away by train. Pisa was a pretty little town and had some lovely streets for wandering but the main focus of course was to see the famous tilting tower.

The leaning tower was surprisingly small and surprisingly beautiful. I did not think it would be so white. Set against the particularly blue sky yesterday it was striking. The tower does indeed lean at a very noticeable angle and we, like the countless other visitors captured numerous photos of it from every angle. (What we did not do was take photos of ourselves ‘holding up’ the tower, which many others seemed to be doing.) The queues were far too long to wait around in the hot sun to climb to the top so we visited the neighboring duomo and baptistry, which were splendid. (Also splendid was the fact that while walking through the tourist crowds Betty-Lou found a fifty euro note on the ground!) After the architectural sites, Betty-Lou spent her newly gained money on a relaxing lunch. Betty-Lou had mussels, which she assured me were delicious.

From Pisa we took a half hour train ride to Lucca, which is a lovely medieval walled city filled with beautiful churches and winding alley ways, each more perfect than the last. There are not any major sites in Lucca, but the town itself was wonderful to spend a few hours exploring.

It was also filled with tourists, mostly filling the shops, which lined the streets. We had planned to eat dinner in Lucca, but we were caught in the old problem of the restaurants in Europe not opening for dinner until late (i never will get used to that), so we took the train back to Florence where we had a wonderful meal out doors (as all of our meals have been so far). Betty-Lou ate wild boar sausage, artisanal cheese, and osso bucco, which she said was as good as hers. I had porcini risotto and asparagus and more than one glass of limoncello, which the waiter brought me in an admitted attempt to get me drunk. Limoncello isn’t bad, but two glasses is definitely enough.

It was a very long day and we ended it quite exhausted, but it was wonderful and we went to bed reflecting on the day and looking forward to the next adventure.

Asia Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan Photos

Some pictures I omitted from earlier Uzbekistan posts.

Asia Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan: The Final Day

As it turns out, my crumby day yesterday did not last even one full day.

After my post, I returned to my hotel, the Gulnara Guesthouse. It is on the edge of the old town near the bustling Chorsu market. I cannot comment on the rooms, because, as I mentioned, my reservation was screwed up and the only room they had for me wasn’t really a room, just a cot and electric fan, but I must say that I am quite happy with the accommodations. The owners are friendly and the rooms are all located around a pleasant courtyard with a huge apple tree and laundry strung up everywhere.

It is definitely a backpackers’ place, with everyone there being young and traveling with large backpacks or by bicycle. Almost everyone there seems to be French, although the Japanese girl i met in Samarkand (and saw again in Bukhara) is staying there as well.

Anyway, after my post, I went to my room and spent about 4 hours napping and listening to repeats of Bill Maher and Ricky Gervais podcasts on my ipod, which cheered me up immensely. After that, I went for an evening walk and had tea and a cigar on a busy corner, where I was joined by some Uzbek construction worker with some basic English skills. He said he had only seen cigars “in films”. He asked to buy one from me but I had only one left, so i didn’t sell.

All in all, it was a pleasant end to what started out as a crumby day.

This morning, after breakfast, I walked up to the Khast Imom, which is the holiest part of Tashkent. It is a collections of newish mosques and mausoleums and a small museum that houses a massive and old copy of the Koran. Surrounding the buildings were some very well manicured park areas, which were also home to many large stork-like birds (like storks, but bigger and with more intimidating beaks).

I then walked past many large and largely unattractive apartment blocks to Navoi Park, which is a big park containing some odd Soviet structures and a man made lake with beach areas, little paddle boats and small fair area with rides. I wandered there for a while and had some ice-cream-like frozen substance. I have on this trip mastered the pronunciation of the Russian word for ice cream, which had previously eluded me.

Now I am just sort of pleasantly killing time. My flight is at 9:00pm, but i plan to get there nice and early, as I could not check in on-line. I plan to stroll through the market again, see if i can spend my remaining Sum and then I will probably just hang around in the courtyard of my hotel and smoke my final cigar.

I may post again either from Tashkent or Seoul, internet access permitting.
d

Asia Uzbekistan

Registan

Samarkand is amazing. It is a bit like Luxor, in the sense that it is just bursting with impossibly large, old and jaw droppingly beautiful monuments and mausoleums.
Obviously, the first place I had to go was the Registan. This is really the whole reason i am here, to see this collection of mosques and medrassas. It did not disappoint.

It is really hot here. It feels much hotter than Tashkent. The landscape is very deserty. On the train ride here, I watched as the land went from green and fertile to dusty and brown, with the odd, irrigated plot of land growing corn or green…something. It is definitely much more rural out here. People riding donkeys and tending to flocks of goats.

On my first evening here, I spent it handing out with Furkat at the hotel. We drank tea and ate bread and tomatos and cucumbers. I smoked a cigar. He told me does not smoke or drink, but then, minutes later he offered me cognac from a black bottle with cyrillic writing. “It is from Moldova,” he told me with what seemed like pride. We each had a glass of the vile liquor and i went to bed.

I have only met a couple of other travelers here. I met a couple from Colorado who have been on the road for one year. Staying at my hotel are two Japanese girls, each traveling solo, with whom I shared breakfast and as many stories as were possible given their limited English and my non-existent Japanese. It is nice to see other, solo female travelers.

It is so hot here that during the late afternoon, i retire to my room to enjoy the AC and have a nap, leaving me free for night time wanderings.

Asia Uzbekistan

Tashkent: day 2

hello again.

After breakfast I went to the train station and bought my ticket to Samarkand for tomorrow morning. I took the metro (a few times today actually). The subways here are very similar to those in Moscow. They are quite elaborately decorated (not as much as the nicest of those in Moscow, but lovely nevertheless). I wanted to take photos, but it is forbidden, and there are police everywhere here. They haven’t given me any trouble but i have seen them stop random people and look in their bags.

I went to the Chorsu bazaar today. It is mostly food items: produce and bread, spices and nuts, eggs, meats, etc., but there are also stall selling woven items, pottery, musical instruments, at whatnot. The Uzbekistan bread is very sacred to them. They incorporate it into ceremonies and pictures of it seems to be on all of their tourist advertising. Basically, the bread is this round, flat but with high edges, golden brown bread with sesame seeds. Sometimes they have intricate designs on them. The thing is, as i discovered today, it isn’t that great. I mean, it would be great with some hummus or a hearty mutton stew, but on its own, it left much to be desired.

Also while walking around the market, I had fruit, pistachios, and various types of honey. I watched a goat (or sheep) get hacked apart with a small axe in the butcher’ section. I also help collect fluffy yellow chicks that escaped from a structurally challenged cardboard box and were running away. My good deed for the day.

After the market I walked around the old city, which is entirely unlike the more modern parts of the city. It is rather decrepit and tangled, but charming. I visited a few mosques and a medrassa, but basically I walked…all day.

It was about 37 degrees today. I don’t know if this is the heat I was warned about; the heat that was supposed to crush me and force me inside in the midday with it oppressive hotness. I don’t know, but I thought it was beautiful out today. Hot and sunny and dry. Perfect.

Late afternoon I stopped for a coffee, smoke, and ice cream at some cafe. I read the menu, perusing the assortment of tongue and organ meats, when I read the last page of the menu, it said: “Payment for dish brakes”. And below that was a list of breakable dishes and prices. Apparently, if I had broken a plate it would have cost $5, but if I break a table it would be $75. This raises the obvious question: does this mean that I am allowed to break the table as long as I pay for it? Or, more importantly, how often does this sort of behavior go on?

Very strange and amusing.

Anyway, I walked some more, went to some parks and Independence Square and then to dinner at a Russian restaurant, which was delicious.

I think that’s it for today. My train is early in the morning and I want to be well-rested for the first day of the focus of my trip: Samarkand.

I’m sure I have more anecdotes, but they escape me at the moment.

Later. d

Wandering North

Tag: markets

Rainy Afternoon in Bogota

Mercado de Paloquemao

Hungry Vegetarian seeks Sustenance on Mountaintop

Parma & Modena

Hams and Arches

Pisa & Lucca

Uzbekistan Photos

Uzbekistan: The Final Day

Registan

Tashkent: day 2