I wish I had a name to give you for the glass factory, since it was such a fun part of my city tour of Bogota, but I don’t. I don’t even have the name of the store we visited after, where the products are sold and where I bought three small animal figurines. But this was such a cool part of my city tour and I have so many photos from it that I have to share anyway.
After we left Monserrate, Nestor asked if I’d be interested in visiting a glass factory. I absolutely love glass blowing and have visited places like this in the US, so I was excited to see a glass factory in action again. As soon as we arrived and parked at the side of the street in front of a nondescript building, a man stepped out. Nestor greeted him warmly and introduced me to a long-time friend of his, the owner of the factory. I ducked through the doorway to avoid bumping my head on the top of the low doorframe and was greeted by a man standing next to a cart, breaking apart pieces it glass. This factory buys recycled glass, breaks it down and then puts it into the fire to get the glass that they use and turn into glassware and the cute little figurines that I bought.
This factory does its work without the use of machines, so the owner employs a lot of people and they have an incredibly efficient system. It was so much fun to walk around and see the tools they used to create the different objects, like the piece of wood that was used to shape this glass, as well as the piece of the wood used to determine that this glass was the correct size.
As I walked around the factory, the men were so accommodating to the visitor in their midst. They paused so that I could snap a photo and even pulled me over and suggested that I take a video of someone putting the base on a piece they worked on. (I’ll share that soon. I don’t have a lot of video footage from Colombia—I’m still not used to recording video and it doesn’t always come to mind!—but I do have some, so I’m going to put what I have together into a Colombia video.)
It was so cool to see how they worked together. They each have a job to do, which allows them to create a lot of product in a short amount of time.
Glassblowing is always mesmerizing to me, but to watch this group move around and work together was even more so. I would have been happy to sit off to the side and watch the glassblowing, but we had more to see. Once we left, we stopped at the store that sells the products and then we were off to La Candelaria, the old city. This part of Bogota really spoke to me and I’m looking forward to telling you all about it!
Design by NXNW.
![“When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing - just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park?” [Ralph Marston]
I used to see my dad just sit and think, “How can he do that?” I always wanted to be doing something.
And now I try to remember—and often forget—to find pockets of time to be still.](http://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/009daf7a2c4e890d8f45e88c9da19f7e/5D732606/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/s640x640/57094653_1357214081070469_8843512423712889536_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com "“When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing - just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park?” [Ralph Marston]
I used to see my dad just sit and think, “How can he do that?” I always wanted to be doing something.
And now I try to remember—and often forget—to find pockets of time to be still.")
!["Everything you can imagine is real." [Pablo Picasso]
MoMA was a dream. And inspiring. Do something that inspires you this week.](http://scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com/vp/048969695427becb45c124e8afa94899/5D52492E/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/s640x640/54204242_705399393228105_4317314845970727381_n.jpg?_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.cdninstagram.com "\"Everything you can imagine is real.\" [Pablo Picasso]
MoMA was a dream. And inspiring. Do something that inspires you this week.")
Trish
July 18, 2016 at 10:09 amWhat a neat place to visit! I loved being an armchair traveler, thanks to your great photos. It sounds like an amazing experience. (I like the figurines you picked, too!)
Crystal // Dreams, etc.
July 19, 2016 at 9:04 amThank you for your kind words! That means a lot. 🙂 It was an amazing experience!
Mia
July 18, 2016 at 12:11 pmThat is so cool! I love that they don’t use machines to create everything. And I love the figurines you got, so cute! 🙂
Crystal // Dreams, etc.
July 19, 2016 at 9:03 amI know! I thought that was so cool! I fell in love with those figurines as soon as I saw them! 🙂
Leslie
July 18, 2016 at 1:26 pmI would love this. Finding little gems like this when I’m visiting somewhere is my favorite part of the trip. There is such an artful skill there, wow.
Crystal // Dreams, etc.
July 19, 2016 at 9:02 amIsn’t it amazing? I was really impressed by everything that I saw them too. I love finding these types of places too. 🙂
Ashley LaMar
July 18, 2016 at 7:47 pmOMG this looks amazing!!! That would be the coolest thing to see.
Crystal // Dreams, etc.
July 19, 2016 at 9:01 amIt was so amazing to see how things worked there. So much fun! 🙂
Susannah
July 18, 2016 at 11:37 pmWow! What an amazing place to visit!!!! I love finding out how things are made!!!
Crystal // Dreams, etc.
July 19, 2016 at 9:00 amI do too! It’s always fun to go behind the scenes and see all the work that goes into something. 🙂
Crazy shenanigans
July 19, 2016 at 7:07 amI have always wanted to go to Columbia!! Those glass animals are darling!
Crystal // Dreams, etc.
July 19, 2016 at 9:00 amI loved it so much that I’m planning to head back soon to do some things I wasn’t able to fit into this trip. 🙂 Aren’t they? I fell in love with them immediately!
Justine Y @ Little Dove
July 19, 2016 at 2:14 pmThat looks amazing I also have always loved glass blowing, I always thought that would be such an incredible skill to have!
Crystal // Dreams, etc.
August 10, 2016 at 1:10 amMe too! A friend of mine actually asked me to take glass blowing classes with her once, but I was totally wrapped up in photography classes at the time. It would have been so cool, though!