My impression of Bogotá now that I look at it not only with the eyes of a tourist is that people in the city spend most of their time working and eating. The cafes and street food stalls are crowded at all hours of the day. But it is also a city where you walk a lot. I like that. Here I can walk everywhere. In Caracas, although I used to take my walks in the mountains to exercise, I was very dependent on the car. Here I don't have one, and if I had one I would use it very little to avoid getting stuck in one of the daily traffic jams. So people here walk a lot and also many get around by bicycle.
So much so that on Sundays, the day when the pace of the city slows down, several avenues and main streets are closed to traffic until 2 pm, for people to bike, jog or walk in the Ciclovia. Last Sunday, my husband and I enjoyed a typical Sunday morning in Bogotá.
We woke up early, maybe it's just our age, hehe, but no matter how much we wanted to sleep in the morning we couldn't get to it. So after having coffee we put on some sport clothes and walked towards Carrera 15, one of the main avenues, which is part of the Sunday ciclovia. The avenues and streets that go from north to south or vice versa here are called Carreras, while the streets that go from east to west and in the opposite direction are called Streets and both are usually numbered, so at least in this area of the city, it is easy to find an address.
There were people using the Ciclovia although not as many as on an ordinary weekend. This past weekend was a long weekend as Monday was a holiday and on those weekends, many people tend to leave the city.
I love that the city is full of murals and #StreetArt.
This one of police dogs that crossed our path on the Sunday walk along the ciclovia is by a collective called Toxicomano. I have read they have plenty of murals around the city.
And speaking of dogs, dog walkers also take advantage of the ciclovia on Sundays.
We caught one of them giving instructions to the dogs he was walking who seemed to be very attentive to the indications, hehe.
I already mentioned that going to eat and where to eat is very important here, right? And Sunday mornings are no exception, so it was not difficult to find a nice cafe where to have breakfast.I was going with the idea in mind to visit one that I had visited when I was here last January. I remembered that their croissants were very good, so we took a little detour off the ciclovia to have breakfast at a cafe called Arbol del Pan.
A small but very nice cafe. With nice details like a bouquet of beautiful fresh flowers on each table.
I had a croissant with poached eggs and avocado for breakfast which was delicious. Perfect to recharge energy and continue with our Sunday stroll. So after breakfast and buying a loaf of sourdough bread to take home, we continued to our next destination, Parque El Virrey.
The Park El Virrey is one of the urban parks of Bogota.
The park has many green areas, pedestrian paths and is very wooded.
The buildings along the park and in the streets surrounding it are some of the most desirable areas to live in the city. And it is easy to understand why, since it must be very pleasant to be able to walk the paths of the park every day and enjoy this green oasis in the middle of the city.
Throughout the park you can see a water channel of the El Chicó stream that originates in the eastern hills of the city.
On Sunday there were many families hanging out in the park. People walking their dogs. People lying on the grass enjoying the sunny morning while others preferred to rest in the shade of one of the many trees in the park.
Like this dog, who looked absolutely relaxed resting in the shade.
We walked through the entire park following the canal route. Until we got back to Carrera 15, which we had to take northbound to return to the apartment by the ciclovia.
But not before stopping to contemplate the striking yellow building of the Hotel Virrey Park that has a very European feel at least outdoors with the terrace cafe that operates on the first floor of the building. A place that we will like to try another time.
Thus passed my first and sublime Sunday morning in Bogotá.
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