Road Trip Through Boyaca

Colombia is a country of wide variety and to best understand that you must travel to different departments (similar to the states in the U.S) within the country. Bogota, where most of our travels have been so far, is located in the central Andean department of Cuindinamarca. Next door to the north lies the occasionally overlooked by foreigners department of Boyaca.

Our day trip began by leaving Bogota in the early morning to avoid the inconvenient "pico y placa", a system where drivers are alternatively prohibited from driving during certain times on odd or even numbered days depending on the last number of the license plate. It is an effort to decrease traffic which I have never seen work successfully in 23 years. Once out of the city, we were in the beautiful mountainous countryside. Passing through the small towns of Chia, Cajica, and others is a treat as you encounter idyllic farms, colonial haciendas, and historic houses.

The sixteenth century painting of La Virgen de Chiquinquira.

Our first stop was the small town of Chiquinquira, located in the south border region of Boyca. Considered the religious capitol of Colombia, the main attraction in this otherwise sleepy town in the basilica in the heart of town. The Basilica of Chiquinquira draws Colombians from around the country because it is the location of the 1586 apparition of La Virgen de Chiquinquira, now considered the patron saint of the nation. Within the basilica is sixteenth century painting representing the patron saint that is considered a holy relic. Interestingly, this painting was created using native spun cloth and located sources paints, giving the painting a connection to the local people of Colombia. Today, pilgrims come to the basilica asking the relic for favors and in return offer prayers and devotion.

The current basilica was build in the 1920's after the Virgen de Chiquinquira, and her painting, were officially ordained as the patron saint of Colombia in 1919. The basilica, built a couple miles away from the original apparition site, was constructed with the intent and purpose of housing the sacred painting. Next to the basilica is the University of Saint Thomas that houses a large collection of religious artifacts from Chinquiquira in their museum. Well worth the 2 thousand peso entry fee (roughly 75 cents in USD), the museum explains the history of the church and the apparition as well as allowing you to view the room in which Pope John Paul II stayed during his visit to the small town.

Raquira is a town of colors and creativity.

After lunch and pictures in the plaza, we were off to our main destination, Raquira. A little village famous for its artisans and crafts, yet the town is easy to miss. The artisan and commercial district is no more than three blocks including the main plaza. Despite its size, we were mesmerized by the variety of crafts that are so typical of Colombia and this region. The hardest decision was deciding what to buy and which store to buy it from. Remembering our luggage weight limit, I decided to stick with simple and small. However, the most curious thing about this town and the thing that still remains a mystery to me and my family is the amount of naked and phallic statues around town. They were everywhere and no one could answer me why. A cousin of mine, who visit the town at least once a year, attributed it to a fertile environment.

My favorite stop from the entire trip. A town that is so well preserved that it deceives visitors and keeps history alive.

After shopping and miraculously fitting everything we bought in the car, we took off to our final destination, Villa de Leyva. If you've never been to Cartagena, then at least come here. When you think of a romantic historical colonial town, this is what you imagine. A town in which all houses (all built before the 1700's) are painting white with colorful trims, where colorful flowers grow and hang off the walls and roofs, and where even the flowers are famous for emitting a "romantic" smell called "la noche del caballero." Park where you can and then get lost in the town. We began in the famous plaza, which by the time we got there at night, was lit up and coming to life with music, street performers, and horse drawn carriages. This colonial town was founded in 1572 and with the way the buildings and original streets are preserved it is easy to forget what time period you are really in. There is a reason this city is now popular with engaged and honeymooning couples. Our time there was too brief. We had planned to get back to Bogota by 10pm but we found ourselves wandering the streets, talking about the history of different buildings, and enjoying the sights that were all new to me late into the night. We would arrive in Bogota closer to midnight. In the future, Villa de Leyva will have to be revisited and the stay will be much longer than several hours.

History Highlight: Pineapples in Colonial America

     When one thinks of the Pineapple for many Dole and Hawaii are the first things that come to mind.  Well in America, long before Hawaii was a territory or Dole was thought into existence, the Pineapple has played a large part in social settings in America.  This historical highlight will be on the Pineapple as it was used in the American Colonies and how it is still represented today.

     Until the first time that I saw a pineapple as a carving in a facade in Thomas Jefferson's formal dining area I had no idea that it was a symbol for anything besides food.  This was the first stop of a 13 day trip around Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C.  Our first day of our trip placed us in Charlottesville, Virginia in the home town of Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson was by his own admittance a farmer and often liked to entertain at home.  He had a formal dining room area where he would bring his guests.  Around the ceiling as I stared I kept seeing the reoccurring symbol of the pineapple.  Well having been from California and having visited Hawaii when I was 6, I could not understand why every where connected to Colonial America there were Pineapples.  So being one never afraid to ask questions, I asked our tour guide about it.  She told us that in the 1700's pineapples were rare, that you couldn't exactly go down to the local grocer and pick one up. They were often an item that was requested and went for high prices as they had to be shipped (by an actual ship) to cities in the American colonies.  Jefferson, like so many others would honor guests that they highly respected by presenting them with a pineapple.  The group would get to cut up this unusual fruit and it was easy to share.  

     From this point on I was obsessed with finding all of the pineapples.  Well on this particular trip, our next stop was that of Williamsburg, Virginia.  This was the first capital of Virginia and was also the seat where many decision was made that are still in affect today.  As we wandered around town, the pineapple was every where.  I became more and more interested in this small item.  Not only was it a gift given to honor a highly respected person, but it was also carved into or sculpted to mean Hospitality and Welcome.  At this point in our trip I decided that I loved everything about the pineapple.  I began to collect pineapples and bring them home with me any where that I saw them.

     So a little more history and less of my story.  The pineapple became a symbol of the American colonies.  Since towns were often small and news in a way travelled slow, visiting and socializing was one of the main forms of connectedness.  This was a main factor in the idea of hospitality.  The concept of hospitality--the warmth, charm and style with which guests were taken into ones home.

     A way that the host and hostess could entertain was through the setting of a table.  For women of the time this showcased her personality and also her families status.  Like society today, often women would try to out do one another with fanciful displays.  Often times at these feasts, small mountain ranges of tiered, pyramided and pedestaled foodstuffs often drizzled and webbed in sugar, studded with china figurines, festooned with flowers and interwoven with garlands of pine and laurel. Dinners were extravaganzas of visual delights, novel tastes, new discoveries and congenial conversation that went on for hours often late into the night.

     A hostesses's ability to have a pineapple for an important dining event said as much about her rank as it did about her resourcefulness, given that the street trade in available fresh pineapples could be as brisk as difficult.  So sought after were the prickly fruits that colonial confectioners sometimes rented them to households by the day. Later, the same fruit was sold to other, more affluent clients who actually ate it. As you might imagine, hostesses would have gone to great lengths to conceal the fact that the pineapple that was the visual apogee of their table display and a central topic of their guests' conversation was only rented.

     In larger, well-to-do homes, the dining room doors were kept closed to heighten visitors' suspense about the table being readied on the other side. At the appointed moment, and with the maximum amount of pomp and drama, the doors were flung open to reveal the evening's main event. Visitors confronted with pineapple-topped food displays felt particularly honored by a hostess who obviously spared no expense to ensure her guests' dining pleasure

     In this manner, the fruit which was the visual keystone of the feast naturally came to symbolize the high spirits of the social events themselves; the image of the pineapple coming to express the sense of welcome, good cheer, human warmth and family affection inherent to such gracious home gatherings.