The Magic of Medellin

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I have just spent the last 4 days in Medellin and my time there was truly fantastic. Medellin is Colombia's second largest city with a population of over 2 million. Situated at 1540m in a deep valley with shantytown barrios covering the slopes, the city is known for its eternal spring weather.

Medellin is also an industrial city of little "tourist attractions" but the overall vibe makes up for it and then some. The locals are extemely warm and welcoming to everyone and they often went out of their way to make my stay that much better.

Friday morning I took a painless one hour flight north from Bogota. The afternoons of Friday and Saturday were spent wandering around the city viewing plazas, churches, public art, and interacting with the locals while trying to improve my spanish.

One of the highlights Saturday was Santo Domingo barrio. There is a ski lift gondola type of public transportation that ascends this particular barrio. An English traveler named Marcus, whom I met in the hostal, and I took the gondola to the very top. We exited the gondola and walked around the barrio for a little bit. The locals we met were all very happy to interact with gringos as I don't think they get too many up there.

Friday night we went out and experimented with Colombian rum which seems to jump out at you everywhere. This experimentation led to late night salsa dancing with some curious Colombian girls which no doubt provided amusement to them and the rest of the locals in the bar.

Sunday we were suppose to go to a classic football(soccer) match between two rival local teams but it was sold out. Plus we probably would not have been able to get in because we were wearing belts which are outlawed in the stadium due to fighting between the fans. Instead we watched the game in a bar outside with thousands of other rowdy fans.

In the evening two of the girls we met dancing Friday night showed us around their barrio. Myself an another american named Jason were given this tour. From some of the looks we received, we felt like we were walking where no other gringos had walked before or at least in a while. But it was a lot of fun and very culturally interesting to see.

Monday night I took a 14 hour bus ride to Santa Marta on the carribean coast where I am writing this blog now. If this blog seems hurried it is because in 20 minutes I am heading off on a 6 day trekking expedition to Ciudad Perdida(The Lost City). I will be in the jungle so I'll have to get back to everyone next week. See ya!

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