Bogota Blogger

My friend Ines Cristina, a teacher at my school, has a flower farm just outside the city, near the town called La Calera. Well, it’s not her farm–she and her husband own a piece of it, along with her husband’s brother and some others. La Calera, by the way, I always thought was the name of the mountain just above Calle 84, with lots of cool restaurants and clubs and a popular place on weekend days for bicyclists and brunchers. Now I know that i’s actually the name of a little town on the other side of the mountain.

Selling Roses all over the World

This farm is called Matina Flowers (the Italian word for morning) and grows roses only. Seventy-five percent of the roses sold in the US come from Colombia, but this farm also sells roses in Spain, Germany, and Russia. Ines says it’s important not to put yourself in a position of relying solely on the US market. Makes sense to me. They sell 30% in the US, 30% in Russia, and the rest in Europe and various other places.

(more…)

La Candelaria is the oldest neighborhood in Bogota, so of course the most historic also.  It’s the area around the spot where the city was settled by the Spanish in 1538, which is roughly near the Plaza Bolivar (the main square in the city), at the foot of the mountain below the peaks of Monserrate and Guadalupe. This is probably the most touristic area of the city, with a concentration of cathedrals and churches, colonial architecture, government buildings and museums that is thicker than anywhere else in the city. People live in the Candelaria also, and there are hotels and restaurants and some night life, though, as the city center, it’s also a little dangerous, especially after dark.

Tourist Attractions

There are tons of tourist things to do in the Candelaria, and walking around looking at the architecture is probably number one. The Teatro Colon (Columbus Theatre), a theatre and opera house opened in 1905, and the hotel near it are a good place to start. Opera, when in season, costs about $15 US, by the way, for the least expensive seats.  That’s about 15% of the cheapest seats in the US, I think. Last year I saw The Barber of Seville.

(more…)

Bogota is about 8,000 feet above sea level, so sometimes the altitude is a problem.  Maybe you will be a little sick for a day or two, and maybe not, and no one seems to be able to say what factors will determine this.  I  expected to be sick, but was not, when I first came.  I don’t even think I was particularly tired.  The common advice is, of course, to rest as much as possible and drink lots of water.

Subiendo (Going up) Monseratte

For real altitude, though, you climb (or otherwise get to the top of) Monserrate, one of the two peaks towering over downtown, on the top of which is a huge church and lots and lots of kiksch.  Besides walking up, you can go on a train or on a tram.  Either way, you end up another 1,500 feet above sea level.

(more…)