Goodbye Monica, hello Candelaria!

Last night I moved out of the "Monica" building in northern Bogota and settled into an apartment located in the historic downtown neighborhood known as the Candelaria. While it was nice living just a few blocks away from the office, Monica was just a bit out of my price range. And because my roommate Maggie is leaving Colombia for Boston in a week, it made more sense for us to part ways rather than pay rent together for the entire month of August.

My "new" home is a two-story, one-bedroom apartment located in the heart of the Candelaria neighborhood. This rustic apartment is in a restored estate known as a quinta. In Bogota, quintas were constructed during the colonial period in the early 1800s and were typically occupied by the most wealthy members of society.

Today many families, foreigners, and students attending nearby universities rent these apartments at a very affordable rate.

Quintas have been traditionally characterized by various one- or two-story homes built around a central patio with a single door leading to the street. Today, many quintas in Bogota have been restored to their original condition and are designated as cultural landmarks.

My small apartment is spread out over two floors. On the first floor there is a small kitchen, a dining room, and a living room (top left) complete with a rustic fireplace (top right). A narrow, wooden staircase leads to the second floor where the bedroom (bottom right) and bathroom are located.

The apartment has many windows (above left) and comes completely furnished with all the basic necessities including kitchen utensils, a bed, an armoire, and various wooden pieces of furniture that seem to have been left by the original owner. It seems that the only things I need to purchase are bed sheets and an extra wool blanket since nights in the Candelaria neighborhood are cooler than in northern Bogota.

Check back soon to see more pictures of my new apartment!