BUCARAMANGA MY

BEATIFUL CITY
Is the capital city of the department of Santander, Colombia.
Bucaramanga has the fifth largest economy by GDP in
Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate, the highest GINI
index, and has the eighth largest population in the country, with
530,900 people. Bucaramanga has over 160 parks scattered
throughout the city and has been given the nickname "La
Ciudad de Los Parques" ("The City of Parks") and "La Ciudad
Bonita de Colombia" ("Colombia's Beautiful City").

TRANSPORT:
metrolnea'is theintegrated mass transit systemofbucaramanga
metropolitan area. its construction began in 2006 during the
administration ofmayorhonorio galvis; its operation is currently in its
first phase. its first phase was inaugurated in December 22, 2009;in
this phase, the first 6 lines inaugurated are: avenida del libertador
(diagonal 15), autocentral, prospero finch avenue (27th avenue), la
cumbre, highway floridablanca villabel bucarica and which have 91
stopways.

GASTRONOMY
In Bucaramanga, you can find all kinds of restaurants specializing in all
types of cuisine. A significant number of restaurants are located in the
central area of Llano. Typical dishes from Bucaramanga include: the
Santander-mute a soup made from various grains and accompanied by
various types of meat, the fricassee, a preparation of viscera and blood
of goat mixed with white rice camuro and accompanied by roasted kid,
oread meat, corn arepa pela'o, and the tamale sobrebarriga.

PEOPLE
Many important personalities fromColombiaare from Bucaramanga such
asLuis Carlos Galn, presidential candidate murdered in 1989,Carlos
Ardila Llle, one of the most important businessmen in Colombia, Claudia
Florez and Ivan Garzn.
Colombian artistOscar Rodrguez Naranjocame back from France during
theSecond World Warand settled in Bucaramanga. Rodrguez Naranjo
taught at the art school while he made a number of paintings that would
build up his reputation in Colombia. In 1941 he became the Director of the
Academia de Bellas Artes in Bucaramanga. Famous artist Margarita
Velandia known by her work in city museum.

CULTURE
Bucaramanga culture has several expressions, from the visual arts
such as painting, sculpture, photography, and recently also in
experimental demonstrations that incorporate new technology for
artistic communication, such as video. Throughout Bucaramanga's
history it has hosted many cultural offerings in various areas,
causing arts groups to form within the city.
One of the main pillars of culture in Bucaramanga is literature, as in
the past there was a cultural movement around literature that
produced a number of writers.

BARRANQUILLA
Barranquilla lies strategically next to the delta of theMagdalena
River, 7.5km (4.7mi) (originally 25km (16mi) before rapid
urban growth) from its mouth at the Caribbean Sea, serving as
port for river and maritime transportation within Colombia. It is
also the main industrial, shopping, educational and cultural centre
of the Caribbean Region of Colombia. The city is the core of
theMetropolitan Area of Barranquilla, which also includes the
municipalities ofSoledad,Galapa,Malambo, andPuerto Colombia.

CLIMATE
Barranquilla has atropical savanna climate(Aw) according toKppen
climate classification; it is hot all-year-round, with high levels ofrelative
humidity. The average temperature is 28.4C (85F)Daytime
temperature usually remains around 32C (90F). Nevertheless, from late
November to early April,trade windsmore or less cool it to a more
comfortable temperature during daylight. During evening and through the
night, temperature can change due to the strong winds it receives. Rainy
seasons are from April to June and from August to November, when some
streets flood producing "arroyos" (streams) that can be very dangerous,
given the lack of appropriate rain drainage in some sectors of town.

GASTRONOMY
Barranquilla serves a wide variety of cuisine to match its cosmopolitan
population and tourists. Restaurants can be enjoyed from Creole cuisine
to some of the most important international cuisines, such as SyrianLebanese (due to the significant presence of descendants of immigrants
from the Middle East), Chinese, Japanese, Brazilian, Peruvian, French,
Italian, Thai, Spanish etc. The typical dish of the city is plain rice, which
is served withcassavabuns. Very characteristic of the local cuisine is
apigeon pea stewwith salted meat (which even has its own annual
festival),sausage, cheese, friedarepas, caribaolas,pies,cupcakes,
Patacn.

TRANSPORT
Pumarejo Bridge over the Magdalena River is one of the most
prominent civil engineering works in the city, and the longest in
Colombia at just over 1.5km (0.9mi). The traffic in the city and its
metropolitan area is governed from 2009 by the Ministry for Mobility.
In 2001, the district administration started developingTransMetro
metropolitan mass transit system.This transport system uses
articulated buses traveling on exclusive lanes and stations where
passengers board on.