Coming from the North, Bogotá appears like an enormous and shapeless strip of lights and skyscrapers, colorful in the customary wealth and extreme poor islands. In the traffic of the evening we recognize the frenzy that characterizes all the big capitals, but what hits us is the massive presence of soldiers: at every crossing stops a group of young men in uniform that control people, appealing terrible weapons as they were toys… with the distracted habit of who is born with the violence in the eyes. They remember us that Colombia is a country suffocated by a bloody war, begun so many years ago that many people seem resigned to live with it.
Bogotá do not seduce at first sight, but it is for sure a dynamic modern city, vibrant and cosmopolitan, extremely careful about culture (from 2007 Bogotá will be the World Book Capital) and about art, maybe less interested in the poorest part of its population, abandoned here as in all the Latin American countries to a very difficult existence. In the Candelaria, the historical heart of the city, the roads leave their geometric distribution and in the maze of colorful houses takes shape the artistic inspiration which belongs to the Colombian young people. Bars, cultural centers and theaters are attended by musicians, painters, artesanos and undergraduates coming from every part of the country. During the weekend and the holidays, the traffic in the streets of the center is blocked in order to leave space to pedestrians and cyclists: Bogotá transforms in an enormous bicycle path, with many stops to assist to concerts and theater exhibitions.
Bueno, hemos hablado mas de dos meses sobre colombia, y siempre con grande entusiasmo… usted mismo puede averiguarlo leyendo los otros articulos (no son comentarios sino nuestra historia). Nosotros hablamos de lo que un lugar nos cuenta no de lo que los otros quieren escuchar. Conoci’ a casi todas las megalopolis latinoamericanas y siguo pensando que Bogota’ es la unica en que no conocimos ni una persona. Esta es la belleza para un viajero…
Esos comentarios son los que le hacen daño a Colombia, siempre hablando mal del pais y de la gente, de las cosas negativas. Esta vez se trata de turistas italianos que no comprenden nuestra realidad y quieren medirnos en unos parametros que no son los ideales para nosotros. No somos europeos, no necesitamos la aprobación de dos italianos para mostrar un pais perfecto. Incluso en estos dias Bogotá gano el Leon de Oro de Venmecia en cuanto refiere a la arquitectura, la recreación y el entorno de una ciudad sin importar quer sea una ciudad pobre o rica.
Señores italianos no hagan mas malos comentarios sobre Colombia, saben que estamos en guerra pero tratamos de brindar seguridad y estar siempre sonrientes yu amables con los extranjeros que nos visitan. No le hacen un favor a Bogotá y a mi pais Colombia con sus comentarios.
wHY YOUR REFER IN THAT TERMS TO BOGOTA, IS BETTER THAN CARACAS, LIMA OR QUITO, AT LEAST PEOBLE IS MORE EDUCATED AND THE CITY IS CLEAN . “Bogota is not beautiful”. WHAT´S THE BEAUTY FOR YOU?