{Plaza de Bolivar on a sunny afternoon}
So we’ve been a bit off the grid on vacation in Bogotá for the past ten days. We first visited this city in 2012, back when we were travel babies (Colombia was the third country we visited). We fell in love with Colombia then and always planned to come back at some point. When some good friends announced they were coming here for a wedding, we jumped at the chance to meet up with them and spend more time exploring Bogotá.
I remember coming here 5 years ago (almost exactly to the day) and how cosmopolitan and elegant this city felt compared to places we had visited in Ecuador and Peru. It’s the perfect combination of traditional and modern, where one minute you’re walking through a square with old traditional hacienda architecture and five minutes later you’re in a bustling big city with high rise skyscrapers. I also remember the huge amount of culture shock we felt here – everything seemed so different to what we were used to – the pace was new, as was the food and the culture. I remember relishing those differences and all the newness – it was one of the reasons I wanted to travel in the first place – but it also felt a bit overwhelming at times.
This visit was different. We’ve lived in latinx culture for a good while now. I was looking forward to diving head first into this city again and soaking up everything I remembered loving about it the last time we were here – and I also wanted to explore new sights and new flavors. So we’ve spent the past 8 days doing just that. In many ways, this city feels familiar now – plus, I got to eat one of my favorite soups – but it also had so many new experiences to offer us. Was 8 days too long to spend in Bogotá? Maybe so…but we had a great time while we were here.
A few fave moments from our time here, as we get ready to head back to Mexico today.
{Bogotá has an amazing street art scene. This one was close to our apartment.}
{The main cathedral at the Catedral de Sal in Zipaquira. It’s built inside an old salt mine.}
{On Sundays, the city closes down some of the main streets downtown for Ciclovía, and everyone rides their bicycles and eats street snacks. You can even ride right past the congress and presidential palace – although guards are still on duty.}
{Ate some weird fruits for the kiddos while we were here – yellow dragonfruit, lulo, and tomate de arbol}
{My favorite church in Bogotá – Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Carmen}
{Bogotá is full of artists and art is everywhere}
{Ajiaco – one of my favorite soups in the world can be found in a tiny little restaurant on an old street in Bogotá)
{Parque de las Periodistas}
{Chocolate Santafareño – also known as Chocolate con Queso. You tear the cheese into pieces and put them into the hot chocolate to get all melty. Then dip the bread in the chocolate. Then eat the melty chocolatey cheese and drink the chocolate. So delicious!}
{The beautiful gardens at Museo Botero – with Montserrate on the hill in the background}
{Find the Kat}
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