Free Stuff To Do!
He even makes fat hands!
The Museo Botero and the adjoining Casa de Moneda (the mint museum, where they once printed money), on 11th St. between Carreras 3 and 4, charge no admission. The BLAA public library across the street usually has free photography and other exhibitions, as well as events. Look at the big calendar on its 11th Street wall. The Museo de Bogotá, the Police Museum and several others are also free, while others charge just 1,000 or 2,000 pesos admission. And many museums have free admission the last Sunday of every month.
The Media Torta, an outdoor amphitheater above La Candelaria, has free concerts and dance shows on many sundays. The view is free, too. I couldn’t find a schedule of events on the amphitheatre’s website, but the folks at the tourism office should know: 245-6328.
Go to the races – the hamster races, that is! Street entrepreneurs often stage hamster races on the city’s sidewalks and plazas. Put a coin on an overturned bowl. If the hamster enters your bowl, you win! If not, you saw a hamster race, and it only cost you a few pesos.
Hamster racing near the Museo de Oro
Listen to one of the cuenterors, or storytellers, who ply their trade in doorway of the chapel in the Plaza de Chorro. (They will pass around a hat, tho.)
The art museum at the National University (by the east entrance) is always free. And the many museums are free the last Sunday of each month. And the University itself, fondly known as ‘La Nacho,’ is a show in itself. Read the radical graffiti, check out the students’ cultural activities, watch a pick-up football match.
City parks charge no admission. There are also often free concerts in Simon Bolivar Park.
Visiting Monserrate Hill/Cerro de Monserrate is free – but only when the hiking trail is open, which it won’t be until Easter 2010. The trail was shut during 2009 for repairs after landslides.
Walking, jogging or skating in the Sunday and Holiday Ciclovia is free, as is joining the public aerobics classes. And, renting a bike from us is pretty cheap.
The Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Center, built by Mexico, where the author has lived for decades.
The Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Center on 11th St. and the Silva House of Poetry on 14th St. frequently hold free talks, readings and cultural events.
The Gilberto Alzate theatre, on Calle 10 and Carrera 2, and many private La Candelaria theatres, hold free events.
Some Candelaria universities also have free exhibitions and events. For Los Andes University, see: http://eventos.uniandes.edu.co
You can also tour the Central Cemetery, which is on the south side of 26th St., just east of the Parque del Renacimiento, with its big Botero sculpture. (His horses are fat, too.) The cemetery’s central avenue contains graves of ex-presidents and other luminaries. One block west, you’ll see hundreds of crypts, all of them now empty, which the city plans to remove to create soccer fields. Another block west is el Parque del Renacimiento, which was also built on what was once cemetery. (The graves were relocated.) It’s open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Seventh Avenue Septimazo
Join the Septimazo – On Friday evenings from 5 to 9 p.m. Seventh Ave. is shut to cars between Plaza Bolivar and Independence Park. The avenue fills with street vendors, musicians, performers and regular folks. A great opportunity to mix with regular Bogotanos and people watch!
Jaime Barranco in his Macumba home/museum
Visit Macumba – A ways outside La Candelaria, in the Teusaquillo neighborhood, this older man has transformed his home into a quirky, eclectic ‘museum,’ altho he doesn’t like that word. Jaime Barranco, an energetic 80, spent his youth walking across the Americas, gathering all sorts of stuff. He’s got a room full of perfumes, another of archeological items, others of Asian curios. If he’s not busy, he’s happy to show visitors around, and give his sometimes-dubious explanations. Carrera 19 No. 42-88 Tel: 245-838 Cel: 313-234-9141
Telling a tale on the Plaza del Chorro.
Listen to one of the cuenteros, or storytellers, who hold forth in the doorway of the chapel on the Plaza del Chorro many afternoons, especially weekends. It’s great Spanish practice, too, altho the language is pretty colloquial (and often dirty, too). Listen for free, but keep a few coins in your pockets – the cuentero will ask for them.
There are many free theatre shows in La Candelaria. For kids, check out the theatre in the Parque Nacional. Check out the IDRD’s website: www.idrd.gov.co, for more info. Or call: 340-0468/72 , or 660-5400 ext. 5215.
Almost free stuff:
Many museums charge only 1-2,000 pesos admission.
Look for events in Bogotá’s public libraries at: http://www.biblored.org.co/
