Thanksgiving in Bogotá: My Dinner with Andrés

Andrés D.C., the local branch of the Andrés Carne de Res family of restaurants

It's Thanksgiving.  I'm in Bogotá.  By choice.  Any thoughts of a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner were nixed when this trip was planned.  But holidays require something special and "special" doesn't have to be limited to turkey and cranberries and stuffing.

So I chose for my Thanksgiving dinner:  Andrés, a very famous (locally) steak house that I've been meaning try on my previous trips to Bogotá but did not.

But the day started at the lovely Casa Terra, the small hotel (actually a cross between a hotel and a B&B) in Villa De Leyva.

I took walk into town, which required walking about four cobblestone blocks.  I was on a morning mission.  To find either an currency exchange or an ATM.  By the way, the Spanish word for ATM is "cajero," which is not to be confused with "cajueiro," or "cashew tree."

The above picture is a group of students posing for a group photo in front of the church on the Plaza Mayor.  Let's have a look inside the church before we continue searching for cash:

Close up of the altar piece:

And the side chapel:

I think this might be the Infant of Prague:

The Infant of Prague is a superstar in Catholic Latin America.

Back to my mission.

Where are you ATM?

One last shot of one of the stray puppies of Villa De Leyva.

Then it's off to the bus station for the trip to Bogotá.

This time I road in a full-size coach.  My Spanish vocabulary being very very small, I asked for the "bus gigante," since I didn't know how else to describe a full-size bus, rather than one of those 16-passenger minivans.

I arrived at Bogotá at a decent hour.  Took a cab to my hotel from the shopping mall my host at my VDL told me to get off the bus at.  And soon it was time for my dinner with Andrés.

Not sure if this cow is part of Andrés or the shopping mall, but I believe it warranted a photo snap:

The place was packed.  I was seated "at the bar," which basically meant a long table with other guests.

For dinner I had the Pinchos Andrés:

Three skewers.  One beef tenderloin.  One chicken (closest I could get to turkey).  One shrimp.  With a side order of "salty potatoes," which I figured would be like a roasted potato, and they were.  In my family, at all the holidays, we had roasted potatoes, not mashed.  So I actually was being more traditional here with this selection.

And of course there was pie:

This is a maracuyá y merengue pie -- Passion Fruit Meringue Pie.  So much better than pumpkin.  Oh, and just like a regular traditional Thanksgiving, I got to watch football while I ate.  Well, futbol.  Flamengo of Brasil beating Junior of Colombia 2-1 in the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamerica.  A thanksgiving just like the pilgrims planned it.

Happy Thanksgiving.