Medellin, nestled in the Andes Mountains, is the second largest city in Colombia.
It's well known for it's focus on education {
there are several universities located in Medellin}, their women {
I'm serious... google it}, the perfect weather, and Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord and leader of the Medellin cartel.
From the moment we stepped off the plane, we liked the feel of Medellin. Literally. The weather was incredible... much cooler than Cartagena, a nice brisk temperature in the 70's. We also felt that buzz that is in the air when you are in a large city... the airport seemed larger, updated, more familiar. I was quickly reminded that I was still in Colombia when I went to the restroom and the toilet didn't have a 'seat'. Unfortunately this is quite common in public restrooms.
We enjoyed our 30 minute drive from the airport to the area of El Poblado, where our hotel was located. After checking in and getting settled, we set out to do some exploring. For the sake of story telling, let me add that I was wearing wedges, despite my husbands commentary about the amount of walking we would be doing. I thought I could handle a few city blocks. I couldn't. I also did not take into account the landscape of Medellin, including inclined hills. It's time to face the music. I'm almost thirty and I can't rock a pair of heels all day like I used to. There. I said it.
The area we were staying in was full of hotels, cafes, large modern buildings, and malls. Yes. Big malls. Several of them.
{
we saw a random restaurant called 'The Movie Place'... Matt literally dragged me inside to get a picture with the Oscar. He also did not realize my camera was on manual so his picture came out a little under exposed...}
the mall... huge.
Medellin is known as the city of 'eternal spring' and with spring comes flowers. They have a huge flower festival every year in August {
we missed it by a week}
but we saw flowers in several areas... including the malls.
While browsing we found a Dunkin' Donuts
and a disposable coffee cup with a sleeve.
For dinner, Matt suggested a nearby restaurant called
Carmen. After checking out their website and discovering Anderson Cooper dined there, I was sold. After browsing their enticing menu, we chose the Chef's 5 course tasting with wine pairings.
We loved each course, trying different wines, and enjoying dinner conversation in between at our perfect table located in the very corner of the restaurant. What made the tasting all the more exciting is that the 'explanation' of each course was entirely in Spanish. Our waiter was not bilingual, so while we were able to make out portions of the description {
example: i heard pork and cilantro} we never had a clear idea of what we were eating. We loved it.
Sunday morning we awoke and opened the windows to let the fresh breeze of Medellin in,
something that you never do in Cartagena.
Sunday was our big day for tourism, including art museums, the botanical center, an aquarium, and a trip on a cable car.
Plaza Botero, named after the famous Colombian artist, is filled with several of his large sculptures, which he donated to the city of Medellin. The plaza also hosts a large art museum filled with works from Botero and other artists. Botero is very famous in Colombia and well known for his art works of 'fat people'. The Old City in Cartagena hosts a large Botero sculpture and we visited a large art museum in Bogota which has many pieces by Colombia's most loved artist.
For lunch Matt chose a traditional Medellin meal, which consisted of beans, an egg, beef, plantains, rice, an arepa, and bacon. Sarah had a caesar salad:)
While enjoying our lunch, we did a lot of people watching in the square. We spotted this. See the person wearing 'Minuto Cellular $200' sign. We see these people all over, including here in Cartagena. I always assumed they were selling cell phone minutes (?). Wrong. I finally got to see them in action. They carry a cell phone, strapped to their waist, and people use the phone for $200 COP/minute. I'm not really sure how this price compares to pay phones, but they are located all over.
I guess it's a matter of personal preference.
Next we made our way over to a botanical center.
We read that the center was known for it's orchid garden.
This about sums up what we saw.
We didn't stay long.
Next we made our way over to the aquarium, where we took in a 3-D film {it was in spanish and Sarah enjoyed a power nap} and a large aquarium, which included fish, reptiles, and insects.
To end our day of tourism, we took the cable car up to the top of the city to check out the view. Much of the lower socio-economic population of Medellin lives up in the hills and mountains and transportation has always been an issue. About seven years ago the city installed cable cars to provide easy and affordable access for the population. It works much like a train. There were three 'stops' and at each stop people left our individual car and someone else got on.
We ended our evening at an Irish Pub we spotted the previous day...
I don't think we could have asked for anything better.
On Monday morning we enjoyed breakfast outside in the cool morning air and headed to the airport.
On the way, our kind driver stopped over on three different tourist areas so we could get pictures of his city.
We had a lovely weekend...
learning a little bit more about Colombia,
feeling a little bit adventurous,
drinking coffee out of a cup with a sleeve and indulging in the familiar taste of a donut,
but mostly enjoying time on a get away together.
here is our trip in phone photos...
