Morning in Bogotá.. afternoon in Santa Marta!

My friend Mayerlin recommended that I visit the Biblioteca del Banco de la Republica but I couldn't find it, I was using Google Maps on my phone and the scale kept on changing.
So,on my last day, I looked it up on my laptop and made a note of the street. I am very glad I went. On one side of the street is the biblioteca (library) and on the other side is a museum and art gallery with many rooms. The whole area is full of life: artists, musicians, arts and crafts.

There were several rooms dedicated to pictures by Botero, so I don't need to go back to the museum in Medellin! And there were rooms full of sculptures by him. I wish I had had more time but I had to go back to my hotel to check out which I had calculated at 12.30 in order to get to the airport on time. Here are some more photos.

If you know anything about Botero, you will recognise his style immediately!

 I forgot to make a note of the artist but this reminded me of the style of Picasso.

 This was a rather quirky restaurant near to my hotel in Bogotá. The food was great but what I didn't notice was a couple of candles dripping wax onto my jacket. The restaurant managed to remove the wax!

This is the cloister in the Museo Nacional de Colombia

 I then walked back down Caraterra 7 to my hotel, checked out, collected my boarding pass which they had printed out for me and took the number 86 bus to the airport. It is a huge 3-section articulated bus and in fact only goes as far as the Terminus del Transporte El Dorado which is near to the airport. There is then a small "feeder" bus with the same number but different prefix which goes on to the airport. I had left plenty of time, I had a sandwich and the inevitable mango juice - my favourite!
I was due to fly with Viva Colombia for the first time, I chose them in favour of Avianca because it was cheaper! About 30 minutes before boarding, we were summoned to the desk to had our cabin bags checked for size (but not weight). Then a label was attached to show that we had passed the test. I was annoyed because my small mochada bag in which I had put a few things for the flight was not allowed and I had to stuff it inside my main bag. But women were allowed a small bag. Hey! This is discrimination. When I got onto the plane, I took the mochada back out of my main bag, filled it with my Kindle and my music and took my seat. The main bag went in the overhead locker. On my return flght, I will insist that I take my mochada in the cabin, or maybe I will say that I am a trans woman!
As we boarded, the flight attendant was for ever urging us to take our seats, take the one allocated etc.. etc. I was getting the impression of a fussy airline!
Then, on the flight, even before the seat-belt symbol went out, the guy in the seat in front of me went into full recline mode. Suddenly, the back of his seat was inches from my face and, worse, the back of his head was far too close to me. I complained to the flight attendant and, of course, the guy heard me. The girl suggested that I also recline my seat which I thought was daft, imagine it! But I have heard stories of it happening. My neighbour was quite happy to return to vertical - there was no middle setting and we ended up very amicably. I said that it was not his fault, it was the design of the seating - a small seat pitch but full recline.
Then I got chatting to the flight attendant and mentioned Ryanair in Europe. "Same group," she replied. The chairman is Declan Ryan and it was set up by Irelandia Aviation, as was Ryanair. Ah, that explains a lot. But now that I understand, I am happy. I am a fan of Ryanair because it is so cheap, even with "hidden" extras which in my opinion are actually visible options.
The flight passed very pleasantly, I listened to my forbidden music and we were soon approaching Santa Marta. It was funny, because from the left of the plane it seemed that we were landing on water, the runway being very close to the sea. I took a taxi to the hotel, 30 minutes. I made a note of that because my return flight on Wednesday (tomorrow as I write this) is early at 7.50. But I normally wake up with the sun at 6am so it is not a problem.
In my next post I will write about my three days in Santa Marta!