Walking through La Candelaria (my friend, Juli, at the right).
A balcony / Iglesia de San Francisco
Walking towards the city center, through the University of Los Andes area (me).
Montserrate markets / Toasted ants (packaged for eating) / Coca leaves tea.
La Calle del Embudo magic.
I embarked on the most recent adventure yesterday dawn, on my way to visit a dear old friend in Bogotá. My real first day was yesterday since I arrived at noon, but we went to do some shopping (get it out of the way--- although I've learned that you can't really do that here, everyday is a shopping day!). We went to Andino, El Retiro & Altantis, three shopping malls that are very close together in the T ("la T") in 85th Street. So today was my first tourist day. We started our day in Montserrate, a mountain that dominates the city (they call it the lung of the city, and it's now forbidden by law to built in it) where there is a church with a shrine devoted to the Fallen Lord. You can reach the top by aerial tramway or fornicular, or if you're into pilgrimage you can find a climbing area. After our mountain-top destination, we walked down to the city center, known for it's culture-filled streets, cobbled streets and colorful buildings. We first stepped foot into three beautiful churches: La Iglesia de San Francisco, Iglesia de la Veracruz & Iglesia de la Tercera (iglesia means church), all located a very close walk to the Gold Museum. After our religious start, our stomachs starting getting a bit loud so we headed to the all-time famous Crepes & Waffles, a Colombian restaurant that serves what the name spells out: a huge variety of sweet and salty crepes, as well as delicious waffles for dessert. With our stomachs full and quite happy, we headed to La Candelaria, the place where Bogotá was founded in 1538. After taking some pictures of the colorful houses and famous balconies (and not to miss- eating an arequipe Oblea, a waffled-thin crust cookie filled with caramel) , we continued our way to El Chorro de Quevedo located in La Calle del Embudo, the most ancient street of all Bogotá where it's believed it all began. I couldn't believe the beauty of it all, the vibrance of the city center, the colors of the people that explained their saturated decorations. Definitely a place not to be missed when in Bogotá, where you can chill with a chela (beer) or have a very traditional meal.