I just took this one while driving. It was not my intention but the light effects seem interesting for me.
Blue Sunset
I just took this one while driving. It was not my intention but the light effects seem interesting for me.
Warhol Mr. America
The exposition Andy Warhol Mr. America will be in Bogotá until September 21, then it will be in Buenos Aires and finally in Sao Paulo.
T Zone
The T Zone in the north of the city. Well, many people like to go there Friday nights. Lots of restaurants and bars. I recommend you to bring some money.
Any street, any day
In the past the traditional view of the city was that of a cold and rainy place, now people say the city is becoming warmer.If it's true or false, I don't know, but I love the sunny days in my loved city.
Soccer's temple
Colombia's more popular sport is the football soccer. However, Bogota's most traditional teams Independiente Santa Fe and Club Los Millonarios, which play in the Campin stadium (show in the picture) were champions of the country for the last time in 1975 and 1987. Some new teams from the city appearing in the last years had been more successful than the traditional ones.
Eating the forest
Bogota is lucky for being surrounded by forested hills. However legal and illegal urbanization has been eating the remaining forests around the city. In any case the native forest is almost absent from the city. The picture shows a popular neighborhood at the southeast of the city.
On the park
Maybe one of the more interesting things of Bogotá is that there are a lot of things to do in your free time. Between them are the parks where you can practice sports or simply take a rest in the grass or get fun in entertainment attractions like the panoramic wheel in the back.
Security begins at home
The government’s house (Casa de Nariño) at left and the closed street in front, just for security reasons. In recent years Colombian government has invested millions and millions of dollars in security for the country, and it begins at home. Foreigners are coming back and people feels safe, but I feel that we need to invest more in education than in security.
Blocks every where
In recent times Bogotá is being filled with blocks of buildings everywhere. Houses are part of the past. You rarely can find a project offering new houses and when you find it they are constructed in lot of no more than 45 square meters. So you have no more option than to decide for an apartment. And blocks of apartments traditionally of no more than six floors now are higher, as the ones in the center of this picture. Of course, the city needs to accommodate something like 7 million people, and growing, an although Bogotá lies over a vast plateau, it also has its limits.
A typical neighborhood
This is a typical view of a mid class neighborhood of Bogota. These houses were probably constructed in the 60’s or 70’s, the same epoch of the old Land Rover in this view. I love that car!
Tropical, any way
Bogotá is characterized by a cold climate with temperatures oscillating between -5°C – 26°C. However as shown in this picture tropic is evident every where, from the colorful umbrella of a street vendor to the slender palm tree standing out, over the houses at left.
The Park Towers
The renowned architect and artist Rogelio Salmona designed these buildings in the early 70s. He was able to harmonize the buildings with their physical and social environment. This is the reason why these buildings are considered as one of the most emblematic constructions of the city.
Icon of the city
One of the most representative icons of the city is the Monserrate Hill. Along with Guadalupe hill (past post) is used to represent the city. People can ascend to the top of this hill and visit the sanctuary using a cable rail way or a funicular, or more frequently using a stone road which many penitent use to pay promises to the Monserrate Lord.
Green areas
Although in some sectors the city is treeless, Bogota has a lot of Parks and green areas. Here we can see the Independence Park at the left and in the back the Guadalupe hill (behind the building), with the Guadalupe Sanctuary in its top. There is a road that reach that place.
Old Bogotá
This is a typical house from the colonial epoch of Bogotá. Those houses are now protected as historical patrimony of the city, so their facades can not be modified.
Transportation system
Although Bogota has changed a lot during the last ten years when the mayors tried to transform the city in to a more human place, thinking more in the persons, we still have a bad transportation system, based mainly in old and insecure buses. There’s a new system called Transmilenio of big articulated buses and stations similar to those of a metro, but this is not enough and a metro for Bogotá, a city of nearly eight million people, is still far from reality. Any way, if you visit Bogota you will have several alternatives and even traveling in a traditional bus will be something like an exotic experience.
Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden of Bogota is one of the most important scientific institutions of the country. It was created in 1955 and named in honor of the Spaniard astronomer Jose Celestino Mutis, a botanist who was the first scientific in making deep studies on the Colombian flora by the year 1783 when he began the Real Botanical Expedition along Colombia.
Juggling the city
While the traffic light turns green an improvised juggler plays with some skittles with the hope of receiving some coins from the drivers. It seems a hard work, but people in the red light don’t pay too much attention to those urban artists that like thousands of people in the city live their lives like a juggling act.
Bolivar Square
Named in honor of the liberator of Colombia, the Bolivar square took its name since 1846 when the Colombian congress set a statue of Simon Bolivar in its center. Before that date the square was used in many ways but particularly as the principal market of the city. Today is a wide flat space rounded by public buildings (catholic and official) including the National Capitol (1847-1926; right), where the Colombian congress meets.
Planetarium
This is one of the interesting places to visit in Bogota: The planetarium inaugurated in 1969. It employs a Zeiss Power Dome projector based on a set of computers joined by a high velocity network that generates astronomic images and sounds. People who visit the planetarium can find additional activities like art expositions, seminars and courses, and can visit the Museum of Bogota located in the same building.
Downtown of Bogotá
With 42 floors, by the date of its construction the Avianca building was the tallest building of all South America. I was built between 1967 and 1970. It was partially burned in 1973 but it was reconstructed later. Located in the downtown of Bogotá, still today it’s one of the largest buildings of the city. In reality Bogotá has few skyscrapers, instead the city had expanded widely along an extensive plateau. At the left of the picture there is the San Francisco Church from 1611 and at the right there are the headquarters of the central banking of Colombia (Banco de la Republica).
Bogotá under construction
Bogota is changing every day. Citizens are making its part like leaving their cars at home two working days of the week. For many people this is bad for the economy, for others it's a necessary measure. We won't really know how bad or how good it could be, but we hope the city will be better in the future.
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)