Medellin, Colombia´s Progressive City

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Last night was a hilarious adventure trying to get to the bus terminal in Cartagena to catch our 11 hour overnight bus to Medellin. I was determined to take a regular bus since we managed to take the bus coming into the center and a taxi was 10 times more expensive. I don´t like taking taxis...I want to travel around the city like the locals travel around the city.

So we packed our packs up and walked to where all the local buses were loading people up and began looking for the white Metrocar bus. However, none were passing by and we were running late so we decided to get on another bus that said it was going to the terminal. Of course we were the only two white girls on this crowded rickety school bus that was re-painted red and had funky red tassles hanging all over the place. 5 minutes later the tire pops. The driver tries to just pump air back into it, but that obviously doesn´t work, so after another 15 minutes of waiting he decides it´s a lost cause and everyone on the bus starts yelling and asking for their money back. So in the end we still took a taxi, but only out of necessity to make it to the terminal on time. Had the tire not popped, we would have made it local-style!

We got to the terminal with time to spare and I even got them to drop the price for us so we only paid $45--I think I´m better at bargaining in Spanish than I am in English! Ha. The bus was really nice, but a little cold. Sim and I started watching the movie, but we both passed out by like 9pm and pretty much slept the entire way through. We arrived in Medellin at about 9am, hopped on the metro and made it to the Palm Tree Hostel with a little help from some really friendly ¨paisas¨, which is what the locals call themselves. I am really impressed with Medellin so far. It is the only city in Colombia that has a metro, it´s clean, seems very progressive, and Sim and I only got cat-called about once this afternoon!

Day 2: Today we woke up early and thoroughly explored the city (the trek definitely shifted my sleeping patterns to going to sleep early and waking up really early). We took the metro straight into the metro (one way fare is about 75 cents) and headed to Plaza Botero and Museo de Antioquia to see all the Botero originals. Pedro Botero was born in Medellin in 1932 and is still producing art to this day. The plaza was full of his sculptures and the museum had his pieces dating all the way back to the 1950s until 2008. I got very mixed feelings about his work because I associate high quality portraits with proportionality, and his subjects are far from proportional. However, I can still appreciate his technical skills with the variety of media that he uses, even if his subjects aren´t very different. His style is definitely unique and I did enjoy it.

We then headed a few calles east to Plaza Bolivar to have some lunch and then walked through Paseo Peatonal Carbobo, where people were selling anything and everything from pirated dvds to shoes and t-shirts. It was a bit overwhelming. By 4pm we found a the park where the Tango performance was being set up and found a good spot to sit and relax. Sim and I were so excited when we found out that we were here during the International Tango Festival and found this performance commemorating Carlos Gardel, the king of Tango. They set up a stage in the middle of these two buildings and spectators quickly gathered to get a good spot. There was a mixture of singing and dancing that was absolutely breathtaking. The dancers´footwork was so fast and the connection so passionate. The most precious part was watching the older folk singing along with the cantante to some of Gardel´s most famous songs. Adorable.

After the performance we popped back on the metro to check out El Poblado, which is apparently where the majority of the nightlife goes down. We got there by like 7pm and it was already picking up. However, we were on a mission to find a salsa club that night so we headed back to our hostel to take a rest and get ready.

We found out about two salsa clubs on Calle 70: Tibiri and Oro Solido. Luckily Calle 70 is only about a 5 minutes walk from our hostel so by 10:30 we were out and about looking to get our salsa on. When we finally found Tibiri (it´s in a basement so not very obvious), there were about 3 people inside so we went back to find Oro Solido. At this place we got hassled to buy a drink right when we sat down, when we just wanted to dance, so we ended up next door at Salsarengue instead. It looked promising with people our age dancing outside, but once we got in a little deeper and took our seats, 2 older guys pounced. They were nice at first, but they turned out to be overly aggressive so we left after like an hour. We´ve definitely decided that we need to befriend some young people in town first before we go out because apparently older guys have no shame and will throw themselves at you after they´ve reached like 35. Oy.

Day 3: I woke up early again today, went food shopping at the Èxito across the street, went for a short run to the stadium nearby, and made it back in time to shower, make breakfast, and do laundry before checking out at 11am. We left our bags in a closet behind the front desk and went to scope out the city one last time. We took the metro all the way west to San Javier and went upstairs to get on the cable car extension of the metro. So awesome. It took us over two hills full of apartments and favela-esk neighborhoods. The views of the city were absolutely spectacular and we really got a sense of how big it actually is to justify why it´s the second largest city in Colombia. Just the fact that it has a metrocable proves how awesome this city is.

When we finally got back down to the regular metro, we decided to ride our way north and check out the Botanical Garden near the University. The park was absolutely gorgeous with a butterfly house, a desert cactus area, and a walk through a tropical plant section. We even got to see a gargantuan iguana cross our path like it owned the place! We thoroughly enjoyed the park and decided to make it back to the hostel to get ourselves together for another 10-12 hour bus ride tonight to Cali! Cali is the self-proclaimed salsa capital of the world, so Sim and I are really looking forward to it!

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