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| La Candelaria |
Today I said goodbye to Ciudad Kennedy, hopped in a taxi, and headed to my new home in La Candelaria.
La Candelaria rests at the base of Cerro Monserrate, a mountain that dominates the city center. As the city’s historical district, its architecture is characterized by Spanish Colonial and Baroque styles, most noticeably with the red-tiled roofs and protruding balconies.
With its plethora of churches, museums, and historically-significant plazas, La Candelaria is also Bogotá’s main tourist zone. Whereas in Usme and Kennedy, a gringo sighting was as common as a Big Foot sighting, La Candelaria is brimming with camera-wielding foreigners. My new apartment is located just around the corner from the famous Museo de Botero and within walking distance of some great restaurants and bars.
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| View down the street. |
Although parts of La Candelaria can be sketchy after dark, my place is on a well-lit street and is relatively safe by Bogotano standards. Just a few doors down there is a permanent post of soldiers with a sub-machine guns guarding the Colombian military history museum.
That’s got to mean it’s safe, right?
I am excited to be living in a better part of town where there is much more to do and maintaining a social life is not a herculean task. With just over three months left in my sentence…err… I mean, service, moving here was a necessary change to help me make it to December.
Time to go unpack.
I'm glad you have been exposed to different people, locations, etc I hope at the end of your sentence you will have more good experiences to be satisfied instead of bad ones that will make you regret chosen to go to Colombia...Anyway, you already passed your probation and very soon will graduate and be able to endure any catastrophic events coming your way Jajaja ..
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteI will miss your blog. I was kind of hoping that you would fail your parole hearing and get an extra year.
Hey Mike,
ReplyDeleteGood that you got to live in Ciudad Kennedy, it's an experience most others don't get. I live in La Macarena and I've seen it become more and more populated with foreigners, which is fine by me. La Candelaria I think is more filled with backpackers but, as you rightly point out, this gives it a lot of things to do. I hope you enjoy your new home.
Ryan
www.seecolombia.travel/blog