Colombia Journey Part 2

On Friday morning we flew over to Manizales. It was a short 40 minute flight due west from Bogota. Manizales is also located in the mountains at only 7,000 feet. They have a small airport, you can see that the runway is sloped upward.

The city has approximately five hundred thousand residents and is located along a mountain ridge. The main street is on top of the ridge, when you get off of the main street you will go down hill.
The picture below was taken from inside the state government building. It is a national historical monument and represents 19th century architecture. In front of the building is the plaza, Simon Bolivar, which includes a statue of the man-condor. Beyond that is the central cathedral in town.
We had heard that the 'Feria of Manizales' (Manizales Fair) would be going on that weekend. What we did not realize was that it would dominate everything going on over the weekend. While getting around we saw four different concert venues. There were parades, bull fights, beauty contests and streets set aside for street peddlers and crowds everywhere!
This picture was taken outside our hotel. Every afternoon the street was turned into a pedestrian mall. The crowds started picking up around 5 PM each night and continued until after midnight.
Manizales is home to six different universities. Pictured above is the National University. Located nearby is the University of Caldas. About five minutes away is the Catholic University.
The church with the floating cross and the red brick stair stepped apartment building seemed to be primary landmarks for me as we traveled around town.
The University of Manizales has several classroom buildings with a courtyard in the middle. It looked welcoming. We learned that there are fifty thousand students attending six different universities in town. Regrettably, it was vacation time so we were not able to meet many students.

Manizales is a nice city. In spite of its size, five hundred thousand, it feels much smaller. The mountain setting was also very attractive. It is in the heart of Colombia's coffee triangle so there is always a good and inexpensive cup of coffee available. The people are known for being among the friendliest in Colombia and we found they lived up to their reputation.

We met the Pastor of the Manizales Baptist Church (subject of tomorrow's blog) and he said that the city is known for being religious. But, he believes there are a lot of churches and superficial spirituality and yet most of the people are lost and without hope.

"When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things." Mark 6:34