Arriving in Medellin, Colombia

---

Hola! We made it to Medellin, Colombia! It was a direct flight out of FLL to Medellin via Spirit Air. Customs was very easy and painless to get through. We stopped to exchange money for the cab ride to the hotel and were excited to learn that we were charged less than a $1 for the fees. Colombia uses the Colombian peso and currently we get approx 1800 pesos for $1 USD.

The cab ride took us down the mountain into the city of Medellin. The views were beautiful and full of red brick buildings thoughout the city.

The experience of riding in a cab was very scary and interesting. Dogs roamed freely and knew how to evade the vehicles. Motorcyclists swerved in and out of traffic and the cars were constantly watching their side view mirrors. Even with what I would call "loco" drivers, everyone seemed to know where the others were going and no accidents occured. I was very happy we decided against renting a car for this trip as I am sure we would have killed a dog and/or motorcyclist.

We arrived at the hotel and checked in. We decided to stay close to the hotel and it was conveniently attached to the Oviedo Mall. We dined at Hatovieho and I had the Piasa that included sausage, egg, meat, rice, beand, avacado, and pork. YUM! It was the regions specialty dish. We also tried several Colombian cervesas.

Later that evening we decided to walk to La Strada, a complex full of nightlife. We had a quick drink at La Tiendecita and took in some of the culture. As expected, no one was wearing shorts except Jose!

That was all for the first evening. We had an early tour on Saturday, so we hit the sack.

---