The sunny weather I had blessed with the first few days was now cooler and cloudier. This made me want to stick closer to home base and get something simple. As it turned out, a mere 2 blocks away was a very popular street taco spot – La Pantera Taqueria.

At first, as there were no tables available, I was going to just order to go but right before they put mine in, they found a spot for me. The place was filled with a diverse group of patrons, from office types with the universal tie flip to avoid stains, to what I assumed were students from the nearby college.

I ended up getting a trio of tacos – chicken tinga (which was actually served as a tostada, shrimp with chipotle cream and birria. All 3 were classic street tacos although the standout was the chicken tinga, which worked really well as a tostada and held together even after a couple of bites.

After working a bit more and my usual siesta, I hopped in an Uber towards where I had originally stayed during my first visit. My original plan was to hit up a recommend spot known for its sopa de gallina (hen soup.) However, when I got there, it turned out their card machine was down. Que lástima!

The area I was in, known as “Hippies Park”, was the first time since being in Bogota I had to pay attention to my Spidey senses. I didn’t want to linger too long so ducked into a small shop that featured stuffed arepas.

There were about 20 different options but the friendly owner suggested I try their “mega mix” which was basically just about every option combined. Sure why not? As indicated by the picture above, there was simply no way to eat this as a typical arepa. So, I pulled apart the various meats and veggies until I got it to a manageable size. I was glad I did try it that way though as the chicharrones mixed with the corn, chicken and mushrooms was a tasty combo.

I briskly walked past the various characters at the park and headed over 2 blocks where I was greeted with the familiar sight of my hotel from my first trip here. Up the hill from it was my final destination, Momentino Wine Bar.

It was a very lively spot and had a classic wine bar look/feel. My server came over and after initially speaking to me in Spanish once he asked where I was from, switched into a British accent. It turned out he used to a reporter at The Hollywood Reporter before giving that up a few years ago. He and two buddies from Argentina had joined forces to open the bar.

While there was an extensive wine list, he pointed me to the nearby board which had their special Argentine wines that they had priced 2 for 1. Sold. The cab franc from Mendoza was excellent, bold and rich per usual from the region. The first pour was very generous and the second one even more so as it was the end of the bottle.

I took in the surroundings and just observed the hip crowd enjoying their wines of choice. I got so caught up in the moment, I neglected to have my usual water with my wine. That would come back to haunt me… in my next blog post which shall we say will be a wee bit shorter than usual.