Three Days in Bogotá – Día Tres

April 18, 2014May 10, 2016 | Verónica

It seemed fitting to share photos of our visit to La Catedral de Sal on a holy weekend. We visited on our third day in Bogotá. The cathedral is an old salt mine that has been converted into a Catholic Church 200 meters below ground. Mass is held on Sundays at noon.

Inside the mines, long vacuous tunnels show the routes miners took when the mine was active. At different points, you can look over the edges of seemingly bottomless cliffs. As you enter the mines, the tunnels have been converted into the Stations of the Cross depicting the path that Jesus took to his crucifixion. Regardless of one’s belief system, I think it’s a beautiful representation of a spiritual journey. Each station is hand carved out of the halite and incorporates symbolic properties of the salt and the mines into each stop.

You can even pay a small additional fee and be a miner for the day. They provide hard hats and pick axes and you spend 30-45 minutes experiencing the mine through the eyes of a miner. We passed on this part. The thought of crawling through narrow, low caves made me catch my breath!

We did not get to spend any time in the city of Zipaquira which looked like a vibrant but quaint colonial town. On the way back to the city, we enjoyed the gorgeous views of the mountains and the lush countryside. We passed green fields dotted with grazing cattle and greenhouses nurturing the flora and fauna of Colombia. What a wonderful way to cap off our three days.

The best way to view these is by clicking on the first photo (twice). This will enlarge them and allow you to read the commentary. Hint: You may have to scroll down a bit to see the comments.

Catedral de Sal de Zipaquira

Carved mural at mine entrance

Leaving the light as we entered the tunnel.

Salt crystals along the tunnel walls

Estación VI – Verónica limpia el rostro de Jesús. Las ondulaciones de la pared representan el paño. Station VI – Veronica wipes the face of Jesus. The rolling curvature of the wall symbolizes the cloth.

It was not very comforting to see stretchers as we walked through the tunnels! ¡No servía de consuelo ver estas camillas en el camino!

View of the main chapel from above. The cross is over 45 feet tall. How much do you think it weighs?

A closer view of the cross in the main sanctuary. Did you guess how much it weighs? The cross is carved entirely out of the salt. Answer: it does not weight anything. The cross is a carved hollow in the wall of salt. If you look at the photo, it tricks the eye, sometimes appearing solid, sometimes hollow.

Coffee at 180 meters below ground.

The figure of a woman makes an offering under a canopy of trees.

Do you see the spider?

Estación IX: Jesús cae por tercera vez. Station IX: Jesus falls for the third time.

The camera flash makes it look lighter than it really is. A little scary.

A tall sculpture in honor of the miners who picked at the halite.

Frijolada con arroz, aguacate, arepa y chicharrón. Mmmmm.

Detour to Beijing

April 28, 2013May 10, 2016 | Verónica

I just returned from a business trip to Beijing, China. Most of the sights and sounds took place in conference rooms and hotel lobbies. It had been six years since I was last there, and then only for a couple of days. The city keeps growing, now at a population of approximately 20 million, although locals will tell you it is much higher.

My meetings were centered in the Chaoyang District, which houses most of the city’s foreign embassies and corporations. The facilities built for the 2008 Summer Olympics are located in the Chaoyang District. This view is through a window, hence the dirty spots.

Air quality was decent the week I was there. My colleagues mentioned that it was poor a few days earlier. Every now and then, you could spot pedestrians wearing masks. Despite that, I was able to capture a few blooms challenging the hazy air with their show of pinks and reds.

Most of my views of the city were through the windows of taxis. Getting from one location to another took time. Traffic congestion was intense. My hotel room became a respite from the noise and traffic of the day.

There has been little time for knitting. I thought I would make progress, perhaps even finish my current project on the plane, but only got in a few rows. This is what the formerly tangled string is looking like.

There is no access to Facebook in China, or to Twitter, Tumblr, or WordPress. But there was Peking duck, beef with spicy noodles, sesame seed bun, shrimp dumplings, and jasmine and oolong tea.

I had one wish fulfilled, which was to return to China. I hope to go back again.

My very own Scandinavian yarn crawl

January 10, 2013May 10, 2016 | Verónica

Before our trip to Copenhagen, I dreamt of yarn stores on every corner. I compiled a list of stores to visit determined to find yarn that was “Made in Denmark.” Here is a recap of my very own Scandinavian yarn crawl.

Ulstedet, Vendersgade 3: The website for this yarn store beckoned with knit and crochet shawl kits, yarn and notions. When we showed up at the address, it simply wasn’t there. Strike 1.

Strikkeboden, Krystalgade 16: We found this yarn store on a pretty corner very close to the Round Tower, a 17th century astronomical observatory. It’s quite tiny but full of yarn in cubbies on the wall, in baskets and in window displays. Unfortunately, I was greeted by a very surly woman who seemed disturbed that a customer would actually enter the store. She practically barked, “can I help you.” I scanned the store, turned around and left. Strike 2.

Sommerfuglen, Vandkunsten 3: Sommerfuglen is located close to city hall and is bursting with yarn from floor to ceiling. It was a busy morning with many customers coming and going. The sales ladies were busy but very helpful. One sales lady explained that most of the fibers are imported since Denmark does not itself have many fiber-producing animals but some yarns are either spun or dyed or both in Denmark. I picked up this nice wool/silk blend. I thought it fitting to take a photo of it in Denmark. Home run!

Bette Design, Klosterstræde 20: I read about this yarn store on several blogs and set out to find it. It was very close to the Church of the Holy Spirit off Strøget, a wide pedestrian shopping street. We found the location, it even had a pretty sign hanging over the entrance, but the store was empty. By the ladder and bare walls, it may have been unoccupied recently. Strike 3.

Our next yarn forage took us to Malmö, Sweden. We rode a train over the 10 mile Øresund bridge connecting Copenhagen to Sweden’s third largest city.

Garn David Hall, Jörgen Ankersgatan 12: We found this store tucked away on a side street near the center of Malmö. Alas, it was closed. All I could do was stare at the fluffy yarn through the window. Strike 1.

Princess Garn, Lundbergsgatan 4: We walked a long way in search of Princess Yarn but it was not to be. We found the address but there was no yarn and no store. Strike 2.

Irmas Hus, Kalendegatan 21: Third time’s the charm. Irmas Hus is not a yarn store. It seems that it used to be and also carried fine fabrics. They had a wall full of little boxes filled with buttons. They now specialize in clothes but in the middle of a sale table, sitting in a couple of bins, I spotted yarn. These giant hanks are hand-dyed by a woman who lives outside of Malmö. And to make it even sweeter, the sale was a two for one! I picked up these two hanks of hand-dyed merino wool. Another home run!

Here’s a street band in Malmö celebrating my yarn find.

Do you know of any Scandinavian yarn stores we should have tried?

Of Handmade Quilts

November 10, 2012 | Verónica

These are the last two quilts from the International Quilt Festival last weekend. Undoubtedly, they both represent superior craftsmanship but what appealed to me most was the theme. If you read My First Post, you will understand why I love these quilts showing a woman’s hands at work.

This first quilt, “The Mending,” captures a woman’s hands mending fractured lives. In the quilter’s words:

Women find themselves continually mending the fabric of their lives, trying to restore beauty and function in the aftermath of war, greed and lust. This quilt began as a collage of photos collected over a decade of living, working and traveling overseas. The quilt top was then torn, cut, burned and shot – literally, tearing families apart. Finally, the woman’s hands are shown working to stop the destruction, mend the damage, and repair the vision.

Upon seeing this quilt, I couldn’t help but think about atrocities committed against women. Just the other day, there was an article on CNN about how women and girls in Haiti continue to be raped in the makeshift tent cities that serve as their not so temporary homes. A BBC report recounts details of sexual violence against prisoners in Syria. There are many more stories every day.

I did not mean to lead you down an unhappy path. But my heart goes out to these women and I am ever more grateful for so many blessings in my own life.

On the other end of the spectrum, this next quilt represents the power of friendship and community-building. The artist made this quilt to commemorate her ten years as a quilter. Her design inspiration was “the people who gather at a quilting bee.”

It is heartwarming to see so many hands at work. Each person contributes busily cutting, sewing and ironing and each leaves his or her mark on the quilt. This quilt fills me with joy and leaves me feeling hopeful about what people can do when they come together, each contributing their own unique gifts.