Colombia

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

We returned late Tuesday night from a nearly two week trip to Colombia. It was interesting, and nothing like I had anticipated. We had by far the worst travel experience I've ever been party to on the way there - it's a long story I'm sure you'd rather not hear about, involving nearly 36 hours of travel, 3 countries, 4 flights, the cancelation of all our tickets (including the ones home), and the purchase of new tickets at 1 a.m. In comparison, everything else was extremely easy.

Cartegena

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

The best analogy for Cartegena I've been able to come up with is this: Venice + Cabo San Lucas. The architecture is lovely and ancient, and flowers spill from windows. The weather is balmy - even at 10 pm - and just a touch humid. The old city (smallish, a minute 15 walk from one side to the other) is surrounded by a (surprisingly low) wall to keep pirates and enemies out, with a bay and ocean on either side. Most of the time they allow cars on the narrow streets, which is a pity. On holidays they block traffic, making Cartegena an ideal city to stroll through.

Prostitutes are rampant, the city outside the walls unsafe and rundown, and harrassment from beggars a constant. The water is too polluted to swim in. It's really crowded, and expensive (prices comparable with those at home).

So...it's not perfect. But it's well worth a two day trip.

Here Comes the Bride

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Doesn't she look lovely? Vero and Ryan's wedding was the reason for this trip. It was a wonderful wedding, lots of dancing, a beautiful setting. It also wins the prize for best food I've ever had at a wedding. I'm working on tracking down a recipe for the coconut rice they served.

Islas del Rosario

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Traveling with a group (15 of us, at the peak) is interesting. I haven't done it since high school. We all went to the Islas del Rosario together - a national park and cluster of islands two hours of the coast of Cartegena. We stayed at the Cocoliso Resort, which I think is the second-most-classy place on Isla Grande (the bride and groom stayed at the nicer one). It's interesting - the ferry arrives around 11 am, tourists from Cartegena sunbathe and eat until 3:00, then return home. After that 3:00 ferry, the place is deserted. The first night, we + 5 or 6 staff members were the only people there. Adam and I took a bike tour of the island, which I'd definitely recommend. 850 people live there, in really poor circumstances. The hotels are walled off from the interior, so you'd never really guess what else is there.

A note on this picture: I've always been horrible at sports. Terrible. Volleyball - which I played for a year in high school - is no exception. I had laser eye surgery about 2 years ago, and I give it complete credit for my new found sports ability. I'm not good - but I can hit the ball most of the time! It's shocking.

Islas del Rosario

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

This gives you a good idea of what the beaches on the islands are like. In most areas the mangroves go right to the water's edge. We took a canoe ride and found this tiny little beach - there weren't many like it. The Cocoliso had a strip of beach that was man-made (and kept in place by a wall at the water's edge).

Islas del Rosario

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Islas del Rosario

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Botero

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia. This sculpture is in Cartegena, but it's hard to avoid seeing work by Botero in Colombia. He's everywhere. I loved the Botero Museum in Bogota. There are over 100 works - it's hard not to be charmed by them. I liked the National Museum in Bogota as well. We were really disappointed by the Gold Museum. Admittedly it's under construction, but I wasn't blown away by the collection. There's a lot of build up for the golden raft, which is at the very end of the museum. We were expecting, well, a golden raft. Which it is - a six inch long one. Not life size. In a huge, subtly lit space.

It's not a bad museum, it just didn't come to life - it was hard to visualize how people wore the stuff, made it, traded it, etc.

Bogota

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Bogota

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

This was taken from an overlook above Bogota. I've included it because it shows fairly accurately the air quality there - it's bad. Tons of cars, way too many people, inadequate environmental laws. Colombia is still in the "cars first" mode - pedestrians definitely don't have the right of way.

Andres Carne de Res

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Hands down the best restaurant/night club I've ever been to. Seemingly without end, it was packed with hundreds (thousands?) of people, all dancing, singing, and having a wonderful time.

Zipaquira

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Originally uploaded by aliciamalia.

Really? Are you sure?

Yes, this is a photograph of San Francisco. In March. Actually, that's not very surprising - the weather is only nice here when it's not supposed to be. I'd like the Bay a whole lot more if it looked like this more often.

February 2007 Book Reviews

I've officially overdone it - no more historical fiction or royal biographies for me. At least this month.

1. Forgetfulness, Ward Just, Rating: 4.4
I reserved this at the library after reading this in the Washington Post:
"Ward Just's thrillers are so subtle that they risk sounding dull, as though he's engaged in a battle against excess and bombast. The movement in his stories is slight, but the forces at work are tremendous. That muted power has never been more unsettling than in his new novel, a response to Sept. 11 that stretches the boundaries of an already voluminous genre."
Intriguing, right? It is an upsetting novel - it's about a man coming to terms with the murder of his wife - but it's beautifully crafted. Despite the inherant sadness of the work, it's a pleasure to read a book so skillfully written.
2. The Boleyn Inheritance, Philippa Gregory, Rating: 3.0
This book pales in comparison to the previous title. It's fine, nothing more. I found the author's postscript the most interesting thing about it. Gregory describes a character, and the qualities she worked hard to build in to her portrayal. I didn't get it at all. Did I just miss the obvious, or did the author mention the subject because she realized she hadn't succeeded?
3. Marie Antoinette: A Journey, Antonia Fraser, Rating: 4.0
It's a shame I didn't read this at the start of my French royalty phase. It's certainly the best I've found on the subject - well researched and scholarly, highly readable, deeply informative.
4. It's All Over But the Shoutin', Rick Bragg, Rating: 2.7
Billed as a memoir about (and for) his mother, Bragg writes about his upbringing in deep poverty and eventual success (he's a Pulitzer-winning journalist). I have two complaints about it. 1) Bragg continually says "You just can't understand why she [his mother] didn't stand up against her abusive husband, get a better job, try to get out of poverty, etc.]." And he's right - I don't understand. I don't have any insight into the woman at all after reading this book. 2) It's really a book about him, not her. You can almost see some editor leaning over his shoulder and saying "You haven't mentioned your mother for 10 pages. How can we work her in to this paragraph?" The end result is tiresome and forced.
5. King Dork, Frank Portman, Rating: 3.7
I liked this quite a bit. It's longer than it needs to be, and at times seems to lose sight of the plot, but it's really clever and occasionally hilarious. I can not for the life of me figure out why it's a YA novel. Is it because it's about a teenager? It's quite sophisticated and clearly well-suited to an adult audience. Maybe they thought it would get more press in the YA category? As an aside, can you see that this cover is supposed to reference Catcher in the Rye? It's pretty obvious to me when I see it on screen, but I didn't notice it on the physical version at all. It's odd - one of those times when a design just doesn't work in print form.