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11.23.2016

2 days in Bogota

La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

Back in cold & gray Paris from warm & colorful Brazil... such a change of scenery ahah! ;)

I obviously didn't even begin to go through all the pics from Brazil, but I finished with the ones from Colombia in May. And to live again our Colombia trip should be a good antidote to the winter weather ;)

Colombia wasn’t one of the first destinations on our bucket list, but we have friends living in Bogota so we took the chance to visit them & explore the country.

It was a wonderful discovery as there are some really stunning natural places & people are really kind and open to tourists; if you speak a bit of Spanish, almost everyone will be happy to talk with you, tell you about his country & know about your.

We started our trip with a couple of days in Bogota.


Bogota, view from Cerro de Monserrate

Honestly, Bogota isn't exactly a nice city: it's built incoherently, with ugly, modern buildings touching old, cute houses; the weather is quite disappointing too as the city being quite high on the mountains, the sky is often grey & rainy and it's never very hot, nor too cold neither;  & it's quite dangerous too. About that :
  • Taxi can really be an issue: don’t ever grab a taxi in the street; always book a taxi from the official app or ask your hotel or restaurant to book one for you;
  • Book in advance a taxi for you arrival at the airport too;
  • Don’t’ ever walk in empty streets, even during the day. Basically don’t go by foot outside the city center;
  • Avoid to wear any signs of wealth: jewelry, watches...
  • Use common sense ;)
But enough with the downsides! We actually had a very good time in Bogota, as we were with our friends who live there. And if you know the city & where to go, there are really some cool places to go out in Bogota!


Central Cevicheria restaurant in Bogota

The day we arrived, we had dinner in one of the restaurants I liked the most in all Colombia: Central Cevicheria.
All the ceviches we shared were incredibly yummy & fresh (we had others during our trip, but couldn’t find any as good as the ones at Central Cevicheria).

Unfortunately, I was feeling quite bad (note to myself: never drinking that much again before a long flight, ever. To my excuse, the night before the flight was one of my best friends' birthday!). So I don't have any picture of the place or the food... You'll just have to trust me and pay Central Cevicheria a visit!

By the morning after, I was feeling super good & after a yummy breakfast - we tasted pan de yuca (manioca bread), which I really liked - we started our visit of Bogota with the Gold Museum. 


Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia

The museum displays a collection of gold & stone objects from the pre-Columbian civilizations.


Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia

Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia

Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia

Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia

And there's a funny room, where you'll find yourself in the middle of a shaman rite.


Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia

We strolled the city center streets, stopping here & there to look at the cute lamas...


Lama in Bogota streets

...or more commonly, to visit churches.


historical centre in Bogota

Church in the historical centre in Bogota, Colombia

Church in the historical centre in Bogota, Colombia

And finally reached Bolivar square, the city main square, house of all the government buildings & the surprisingly simply decorated Cathedral.


Bolivar square, Bogota, Colombia

Bogota Cathedral in Bolivar square

Bogota Cathedral in Bolivar square

Time to go to Botero Museum. The nice thing in Bogota is that in the historical center everything is close by & you can easily walk from one place to another.


La Candelaria, Bogota


La Candelaria, Bogota

Botero Museum is located in a very cute colonial house


Botero Museum, Bogota, Colombia

& displays a huge collection of Botero paintings & sculptures as well as works from other artists such as Picasso, Miro', Monet, Dali'...


Botero Museum, Bogota, Colombia

It's really, really beautiful! I remember as a kid to be extremely annoyed to visit museums & art exhibitions with my mum, except for Botero. I vividly remember going to an exhibition at the National Modern Art Gallery in Rome as a child & absolutely loving those fat, funny, non-conventional characters!


Botero Museum, Bogota, Colombia

Botero Museum, Bogota, Colombia

I could happily have stayed there for hours, but it was time to meet with friends for lunch. 

We passed through streets full of graffiti


Historical centre in Bogota, Colombia

Graffiti in the Historical centre of Bogota, Colombia

The Historical centre of Bogota, Colombia

Graffiti in the Historical centre of Bogota, Colombia

We discovered a surprisingly modern & funny theatre


The Faenza theatre in Bogota, Colombia

Before arriving to our lunch spot.


Restaurant in the historical centre in Bogota

After lunch we climbed the Cerro de Monserrate, to have a view of the city from above, realizing how big it really is...


Cerro de Monserrate, Bogota

Cerro de Monserrate, Bogota

View of Bogota from the Cerro de Monserrate

The view over Bogota from the Cerro de Monserrate

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the colorful, little streets of La Candelaria, the historical district of the city.


Colorful streets in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

Colorful streets in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

Colorful streets in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

Colorful streets in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

Colorful streets in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

Colorful streets in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

Colorful streets in La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia

I really wanted to visit the Holy Mother of Carmen church - I saw a picture on google & it looked incredible - but unfortunately we were only able to see the exterior as it only opens for the the holy Mass.


Holy Mother of Carmen church, Bogota

Holy Mother of Carmen church in Bogota, Colombia

Holy Mother of Carmen church in Bogota, Colombia

For our last night in Bogota, our friends took us to Gaira Café, a music bar & restaurant where we could listen to different groups of local music while people watching - Colombian people dance so damn well!! :)


Gaira Café, Bogota, Colombia

Gaira Café, Bogota, Colombia


Gaira Café, Bogota, Colombia

Decoration is really nice & the menu is in the shape of an old disc!


The menu at Gaira Café, Bogota, Colombia

We shared different little local dishes, one better than the other, & enjoyed some cocktails while chatting & laughing :)

A night out at Gaira Café in Bogota, Colombia

Gaira Café, Bogota, Colombia

Gaira Café, Bogota, Colombia

A perfect end to our first Colombian experience!

& tomorrow I'll take you to Tayrona National Park! Trust me, you don't wanna miss it! 😜


12 comments:

  1. Wow, so many great pics! Thanks for the safety tips. Sounds a lot like Roatan, Honduras. (Stopping by from City Tripping.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehe I don't know about Roatan as I've never been there, but I just saw some pics on google, it looks like a magical place! Is it dangerous though?
      Thanks for stopping by :)

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  2. It's really nice to read about a new place - I've never read anything about Bogota before. Interesting. I can't say you've inspired a visit but I really do like learning about other cultures and how other nations live and your beautiful photo's definitely captured that. #citytripping

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    Replies
    1. Bogota was interesting, but probably if we didn't' have friends there, we wouldn't have stopped by neither... The rest of Colombia definitely worth a visit though! I'll post more about it in the following days :)

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  3. It sounds like a fascinating city to explore and love seeing your photos - it has such a bad reputation from a few decades ago but I really didn't know too much about it now. I certainly didn't expect llamas on the streets! Sounds like so much to discover if you're sensible. Thanks for linking up with #citytripping

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    Replies
    1. Honestly it's much more safer than its reputation can let people think. It's also a good time to visit as tourists start to discover the country, but not too much yet. And local people are very happy with tourists coming, as they know the country's reputation, so they're super friendly & welcoming! :)

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  4. Brilliant post and stirring wanderlust in me! Loved your pictures. Must get to South America again soon! Wilbur #CityTripping

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  5. What a fantastic insight into the city. I really don't know much about Bogata it so great to get a tour. Good tips on what to do (and not do). Having friends in unusual places really does have its benefits. Love the view from up high - it's a very sprawling city. Thanks for linking #citytripping

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    Replies
    1. Indeed, it's a really nice thing to have friends living abroad to discover new places ;)) I don't know if we would have ever gone to Colombia otherwise.. :)

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  6. It's great to come across a travel post about a South American country other than Peru and Brazil :) I enjoyed reading this post, learning a bit more about Colombia, loved the photos. Thanks for sharing!

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