Don't Blame the Pope

Thank the government for these....

In case you want a Pope-themed map, just drop by Bogotá Bike Tours - or, most likely, dozens of other central Bogotá businesses, which, like us, received boxes of unsolicited maps showing central Bogotá's Catholic churches.

With the Pope departed, we've still got a box-full of these maps, printed using our tax pesos, which the faithful failed to carry away.

Want one? How about a hundred? Sad to think of the trees sacrificed for these.

It's yet another example of the government's efforts to tell you what you want, rather than letting you decide for yourself.

Pope soup, anyone?

Meanwhile, Oliver, the kiwi who runs the SPQR restaurant on the corner of Carrera 3 and Calle 12B, beside Bogotá Bike Tours, and who presumably is not a devout Catholic, offered 'Pope soup' in honor of the Holy Father's visit. Hopefully, the soup included only the Pope's name.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

The Parks Which Might Have Been

Prohibido entrar: Pedestrians walk past an off-limits green space.

A few years ago, when the city built the TransMilenio line to the airport along Calle 26, they demolished houses and businesses on both sides along the blocks west of the Central Cemetery.

Since then, the areas have remained vacant, unused, abandoned, in a neighborhood in dire need of green space to walk dogs, play football or throw frisbees.

Now, to add insult to injury, the city has walled off the lots with barbed wire and hired security guards with vicious dogs to keep neighbors out of green space which they should be welcomed into. More than one passerby has observed the resemblance to a prison camp.

A dog doing his duty.

The barbed wire adds an ugly element to the colorful city-sponsored murals.

Nearby, during its last months, the Petro administration made a poorly-thought out effort to turn parts of the land into a seating area, by building wooden floors. But the few tables and chairs the city supplied quickly disappeared, apparently stolen. Today, skateboarders make use of the city investment, whose only other beneficiaries were likely Petro's business acquaintances.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours