Metropolis

A new day in Bogota. I got a full schedule today. I decided to walk through the whole northern city. Starting from the Parque de los Hippies, an alternative Detroit like part of Chapinero. Every Sunday they close the main street in that area. There are heaps of music venues all around and many people cycle or skate around the city.

I then went up to the Zona G, which is famous for its up-scale restaurants (you may pay more than 10$ for a meal!). Then I went up to Zona T which is a massive American Style Shopping district with luxury brands, hard rock café, Starbucks and so on. At the Parque El Virrey many locals, mainly teenagers, gather to spend their Sundays with some drinks. More north at the Parque de La 93 you meet the upper Bogota Middleclass. Everything is nice and tidy (Starbucks of cause) but not so pretentious. Actually a very nice area to live in.

After 5h of walking I reached the Usaquen neighborhood, which is the most wealthy in Bogota. Every Sunday there is a Flea market that sells overpriced Colombian “organic” “fair trade” “I-roll-my-own-tampons” products. However, it is still a very nice area to visit and there is good life music.

Here in Usaquen, I met Fernando, a friend of my flat mate in Heidelberg, who is currently visiting home. Since he and his friend actually studied German (with different degrees of fluencies), we had a fun time switching between 3 different languages. They took me to the mountains for some nice views on the city and to some bars (Bogota Beer Brewery). Later we ended up in his friends house drinking with his sister and mum some wicket purple cocktails made of red colored corn. It was way too sweet but surprisingly fruity.

After all a very different experience from my first week in Bogota. A have to update my previous view of the city a bit. It really depends where you are exploring. After all not such a bad place to live!

Tomorrow I will get my flight to Panama. New country, new experiences. I am excited :D