Having successfully navigated by alcohol intake, I woke up relatively refreshed and ready for the last hurrah. Because there was football to watch later, it was time to do one final big meal and a Sunday brunch fit the bill. Fortunately, what seemed like a very promising spot – brown bakery and cafe (yes all lowercase) – was a stone’s throw away.

I grabbed a table in this small outdoor patio and was soon presented with a menu full of delicious brunch items. I wanted to start with my usual mimosa, but my friendly server explained that their Prosecco order didn’t come through. “No Prosecco, no mimosas!” He instead recommended their sangria with “red fruits.” It was a good choice and damn fine sangria which I had use great restraint not to chug.

Of all of the items, the one that immediately stopped me in my tracks was the carrot pancakes with sweet cream and candied nuts. I was first surprised by the lack of syrup, but after I dug in, I understood why. It was basically like eating a carrot cake in pancake form. Amazing.

In what turned out to be a miscommunication, what I though I had ordered as a side of German sausage turned out to be well a bit more. The hot plate contained not only the sausage but also a mount of crispy potatoes and a poached egg. The sausage had a nice snap and very flavorful, and the perfectly poached egg mixed together beautifully with the roasted potatoes. Brunch perfection and $15 all in.

It had started to rain so I made my way back home and got ready to watch the first of two NFL playoff games on my great TV. It was a nice way to wind down my stay here. The first game didn’t turn out to be much of a contest – congrats Iggles – so I mostly worked on prepping for my next blog post. Suddenly, I started getting news alerts and texts from friends about a potential major trade war about to start between the US and Colombia.

I’ll spare the particulars as it turned out to be short-lived. However, it served as a reminder that while it was nice to escape the news onslaught of our new president was generating, the consequences of his actions will affect the entire world. We can try to avoid it and seek shelter, but there will be no safe spaces in reality.

I joked with some friends that it was a good thing I had decided to come back tomorrow before possibly not at all. As noted, while the issue was resolved relatively quickly, I imagined what would have happened if this had occurred a week ago. How many uncomfortable conversations would I have had with friendly locals why my country was trashing the one of the most important trade relations in South America?

I had been lucky to not have many of the “Trump WTF?” discussions I had dreaded. “Yo soy de California” usually took care of that. Yet if this had been exacerbated and earlier during my trip, I guess I would have had to break out my German accent. OK, off my soap box.

The second game was, unfortunately, smack dab in the middle of dinner time. This, of course, was part of the reason I had eaten such a huge brunch. My options were already limited given it was Sunday night, but I had been curious about a local chain called El Corral which had many different types of burgers. I walked a few blocks to the nearest location only to discover the restaurant door closed with a group of motorcyclists/food delivery milling around a patio.

Suddenly, a worker came out to the patio with a large stack of to go orders. After she called out the orders, I flagged her to try to order as well. She first told me that I needed to use their food delivery app to do so but relented after I asked if I could order from her since I was already here.

I decided to keep it simple and eschew the various monster burger concoctions that dominated the menu in favor of a chicken sandwich combo. About 10 minute later, she returned with my order and I booked it back to my place to catch the second half of the game. The combo consisted of the sandwich, which had mozzarella, lettuce and honey mustard on a potato bun alongside some fries and a bottle of sparkling water. While not the most aesthetically pleasing meal, it was very tasty, especially the nicely grilled chicken with the tangy honey mustard.

After the game, I took my final jacuzzi in the cool, damp air. Soon enough it would be time to pack up and get ready to depart this great city. My body and stomach were definitely excited to get a break for a bit – salads would be in my future fosho.

I was very glad I had decided that 2.5 days wasn’t nearly enough to experience Bogota. This is vast and diverse place full of great people and superb food. While I’ll probably never be back, I’ll never forget the sights, sounds and tastes of this “Athens of South America.” Hasta próxima vez.