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Published: December 4th 2012
The Paisa City Now, the chance to visit the Paisa city of Medellin, but why Paisa? the word comes from the Spanish word paisano which means fellow countryman; and that's how they will make you feel there, as if you were one of them, something that you couldn't find in Bucaramanga, for example. As you will notice if you keep reading, Medellin is not only paisa but a worldwide city, in fact, my best friend told me that some French guys state that going to Medellin is like going to Europe as it embraces many cultures and soon, you will realize that the city is quite developed as the inhabitants have a very futurist vision. The bus ticket from Bucaramanga to Medellin costs 90,000 pesos.
Medellin or Medallo, as it is popularly called, is the second largest city in my country and some people might say, one of the most interesting places to visit in South America as they weave their way through the bustling city streets, their big avenues, sidewalks and the Metro. Lying in the Aburra Valley, the city offers everyhing and more than you could possibly want, be
it the climate as the city enjoys year-round spring-like weather, the fun, the accommodation, its exotic location, the culture: the city is known to be a rich cultural center. architecture, universities, communication, big shopping malls, industries, flowers, health services, hospitality, it seems the City of the Eternal Spring has it all. By the way, the reason behind this name is that its average annual temperature is 72°F.
From Murder to Progress Once a drug capital of Colombia, the city has succesfully changed both its present and future, that´s right, on the mend for a very long timem the city is an example for the whole continent.. They even had their own Robin Hood with his own reign and everything, that is Pablo Escobar, the only one able to build the world´s biggest cocaine cartel!! but they seem to be very proud of him as its museum shows. Yeah, you haven't heard it all, Medellin boasts a museum and a tour of the biggest drug dealer in the country YEAH, his Napoles Hacienda has been transformed into a museum, I cannot help but
wondering what guides will say, here, he killed two policemen, here he planned his next kidnappings, etc. You might say, I should become a drug dealer to have your own museum, and not only that, now the current soap opera about his life is by far the most popular one, that's really something!
What to do in Medellin? Fancy a stroll around the city? go for it, the city´s organisation and awesome landmarks gives you that chance while you reflect on your next destination.
Use all your senses to enjoy it Medellin is located in the Aburra Valley on the western range of the Northern Andes Mountains. The city is approximately 5000 feet above sea level (1500 meters) and has a cool tropical wet climate. Daytime temperatures can reach the high 80′s and nightfall temperatures can drop to the high 50′s at times. which has led to its distinction as the “City of Eternal Spring” given its springlike weather. On average, temperatures in Medellin
remain relatively stable throughout the year as compared to more seasonal countries such as the USA, Europe and Australia. However, due to the fact that the city sits in a valley and many of its neighborhoods reside on the mountainsides, temperatures can be slightly cooler on the surrounding mountains.
A Modern and Welcoming Capital. Thanks to the long list of theaters, parks, museums and cultural and recreational activities, there is more than enough to keep visitors busy. On the other hand, Medellin, being the Colombia´s fashion main exporter offers a great deal of woven textiles, and industry that brings lots of employment to the paisas. Big brands are actually producing in Medellin: Americanino, Diesel, Chevignon, Levis, etc.
Shopping in Medellin It is impossible not to go shopping in Medellín. the city is brimming with modern shopping malls full of fashionable, must-have items; informal shopping markets offer handicrafts and manufactured products; all in all, the diversity of prices allow you to pick up bargains.
Textile The local textile industry has a well earned reputation not only in Colombia but in the whole world; Colombiamoda and Colombiatex are some of the most important textile fairs in the city that showcase the best Latin American clothes made by our designers being admired by international guests. That´s right, if you are into haute couture, this is the place to look for. Colombiamoda is the biggest fashion event in the country, have a look at our top raw materials and enjoy our promising fashion talent.
Health Tourism The best medical practitioners wait for you here to give you a premium health service; one of the reasons is the affordable prices that Medellin offers compared to other metropolis
A cocktail for the human senses Every year, important international events take place here as Medellin stands out as an important hub for business, fashion and international trade.
Some such as the International Poetry Festival, the International Jazz Festival and the Book Festival bring thousands of foreign tourists. Your senses are transformed as you walk through the city of Medellin. Sights, sounds, smells come at you from all directions as you . , the Medellin culture and appeal are in full force as you discover various parts of the city, each containing its well guarded cultural, historic and social treasures!
The Forward Thinking and Innovative City The city also has The transportation system serves more than two million residents and hundreds of travelers. One of the many reasons for the city's cosmopolitan reputation. People say that the success of the paisas is not due to the fact that they are more intelligent or anything but that they are very close to each other, just what people in Bucaramanga are lacking as they are very individualistic.
They also have the only public system linking the raiway and the underground system, thats right, they provide visitors with the only metropolitan train in the
Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe
A Gothic Style for a building that took 20 years to be built, inside cultural projects take shape every day. country and a Metrocable or cable car, which connects outlying areas to the metro, downtown and business complexes in the city. But take it as only a relaxing experience If you haven't had the riding experience, please avoid watching the youtube video where doña Gloria actually uses 2,340 swearwords after riding the cheap cable car. This is what we call the Colombianadas, this woman´s cosy talk has been watched many times on youtube and she, her husband and daughter Cindy got kind of famous. Instead,go there and take a glimpse of the beautiful bird´s eye view of the city and admire the cleanlliness of the trains
Important Events La Feria de las Flores, or Flower Fair, During 10 days of the best month of the year, August, remember, that´s my birthday, Medellin opens its doors to lots of tourists visiting its biggest festival. You got it, the Flower Fair, the horse and Silleteros Parade, festivals including plays, orchestras and the
trovas, the annual classic car parades and lots of folk songs attract millions
of travellers ascending on Medellin to witness the week long series of events that define the commercial strength of the city as well as its rich cultural heritage surrounding the flower trade.
So, this year from August 3rd to 12th, I had the chance to admire the 19th Display of "Örchids, Birds and Flowers" and the Handycraft Fair at the Botanical Gardens. As far as flowers is concerned, this is the 37th time that they make an international display of the best Colombian orchids. For only 14,000 Colombian pesos, I had the chance to admire a lovely display of the best flowers I have ever seen, what a comibination of beauty and nature! I even bought a CD of the display so that my mum could share my visit, it was great!
Orchids An awesome feast of flowers blooms in all its splendor in August and every venue in the city get flooded with flowers. The orchids, being our national flower has its own place and, as a sign of the paisas´ love to our country, they
adorn the beautiful sillas of the main parade.
Birds As Chileans state that God gave them that awesome gift of huge mountains, Medellin can claim that their majestic mountain range has become the preferred dwelling place of a large variety of bird species flocking to the south of Antioquia. Tourists have actually profited by this lovely present as it has become their favourite hotspot when they feel like practising Bird watching.
The Silleteros The forever farmers´ tradition of making beautiful flower arrangements on chairs is there to stay. They proudly carry them on their backs showing us why this lovely tradition has become part of our Colombian heritage. The festival originally started in Santa Elena, which is a small town where you can actually learn about the story of the big event.
Mind you, some of the best silletas are displayed in the most important shopping centres in the city, so it is worthwhile
to look for them as i have heard that the best ones win prices and are admired by pedestrians too.
The light Capital Christmas is also a big event in Medellin as things officially kick off on December 7th to mark the month of happiness. What creativity can you actually enjoy as they display the colourful lights in the city from the very 8th of December. That's the beginning of long holiday festivities including a Christmas light display worthy of nobility.
Christmas lights in Medellín. People highly enjoy what many people call the magnificent Christmas lights that decorate the main avenues, parks and plazas in December. That´s correct, picture lots of Christmas lights that are hung in Envigado and the surrounding cities. The view of chivas taking passengers to admire the light displays add a different contrast to the city.
However, I must say that I didn't find them that magnificent. I don't know I thought they
would have a different impact on me, like a revelation or something, but hey, I liked walking around, seeing lots of people happy drinking beer, children shouting in the fountains but other than that, no. It might be me, for example, in Bucaramanga, people feel proud of the Water Park as there are lights and I find them cheap and tasteless. so, sorry folks it is only me but maybe you will have a different view of the lights; ask Madonna, they were lit for her concert so that she could see a lively city. They just didn't do it for me and I can only offer you my biased account of the event.
Main landmarks for Touring the City Parque Berrío Just close to the Plaza Botero, this 300 years old park is a place you cannot miss. there you find the Church of La Candelaria and “Torso desnudo” (naked torso) by painter Fernando Botero.
Plaza Botero Proudly displaying its 23 sculptures, the plaza lies in front of the Museum of Antioquia and near to the Rafael Uribe Uribe Cultural Palace.
Plaza Mayor A 12,000 square meters international Convention Center which has hosted international events such as the OAS General Assembly in 2008 and the IDB Assembly in 2009. You can find out as there are many events taking place all year round, gastronomy, pets, etc
Plaza Mayor is an amazing modern architectural complex that includes the
Palacio de Exposiciones de Medellin, the
Teatro Metropolitano, the
Museo Interactivo, the
Pies Descalzos Park and the
Edificio Inteligente.
Open Spaces Parks Engulfing the whole valley, you will find exhuberant vegetation composed of tall trees, shrubs and beautiful flowere adorning the city of the eternal spring. As for recreational areas, they have thought lots and there you find,
Botanical Garden
More for Medellin's patrimony apart from the small parks for casual encounters which are very common among the people from the city, you find lots of activities to do for both adults and children.
The Barefoot Park The
Parque de los Pies Descalzos is located between two important Medellin's landmarks: the one I have just described and the Empresas Públicas building. They took the countryside to the city in the sense that you get there, kick off your shoes, walk barefoot, and wade through the various shallow water pools just like you would do in a countryside stream. I have nice memories of the water hitting my feet, a similar experience to what they do in the Turkish spas, fish sucking on your feet and cleaning them. Which is a wonderful idea as you go there, think, meditate and you want to forget about everything going on in your life
The Lleras Park In the heart of the prestigious El Poblado neighborhood, The Lleras Park has an ample
Plaza Botero, Colombian pride
His sculptures, found here at the Berrio Park underground stop, are famous across the world supply of restaurants, bars and clubs. A great place for discovering the enthusiasm of the paisa people and the beauty of its women. Although I thought the park was bigger, its cosiness actually makes you feel at ease and happy. Around the park, you can see lots of extremely beautiful cars for you to realise that the people going to that park are quite wealthy.
While I was there something funny happened. I went with a friend and we sat down at the park to have a look at the beautiful people at the quite packed park. Suddenly, I caught sight of a beautiful girl gorgeously dressed who nervously paced up and down. 10 minutes later, she was drinking a Club Colombia and nervously looking at her watch. It was weird to see a lovely lady at a park drinking beer on her own for almost half an hour. Some minutes later, the girl moved and three Americans followed her and they sat down a bit further. I saw them introducing themselves to her. Feeling a bit curious, I decided to approach them and I heard them speaking English, they went to a
phoneboot and 10 minutes later, two more girls joined them. It seems that these girls are well prepared, her English was excelent, wow, quite an impression... as well as all the things you can see around the park, lots of bars pop up and it was interesting to see how acceptable the city is for a Colombian city.
I also did the Explora Park, with a lovely account of how the dinosaurs appeared in our world and how they lived, the park is worth the 40,000 pesos as there are other activities to do.
Oops, I just realised, I can also do yellow journalism! Aren´t you impressed?
Once you visit Medellín, you will see that is not an exaggeration. This truly is a modern, cosmopolitan city, with beautiful people. It is filled with birds, orchids and flowers, and has perfect spring time weather year round.
This place has a lot of nightlife options to choose from
Botero gracing the city Hometown to
Iglesia de la Candelaria
Just in front of the Parque Berrio Underground station, a church built in 1767 Fernando Botero, a very famous worldwide painter and sculptor, Medallo is a paradise ready to be explored and admired; there, you will find sites that make the city spectacular. Some of his most famous fat beings can be found in both Plaza Botero and the Museum of Antioquia. The museum also houses works from Colombian artist Pedro Nel Gómez.
Pueblito Paisa A replica of the main plaza of a typical village in the department offers the best spectacular panoramic view from the top of the Nutibara Hill, the highest point in the city. It has restaurants
Medellín is also famous for its flowers and Christmas lights, as well as business opportunities and a wide range of hotels, cuisine and culture, all surrounded by magnificent architecture.
The Botanical Gardens Many species of mainly orchids, other plants and more than 1,000 species will wait for you at the Botanical Garden to provide you with a respite from the stress of the city;
that's right, the city provides you with this greenbelt zone just right in the city. You can't miss it as the entrance is quite adorned with the view of many bikers, the place is large, I heard it is almost 14 acres for you to walk and quite colourful.
As you can see from my pictures, I might have gotten a bit carried away and took far too many pictures but the charm of the venue was quite worth exploring. Yeah, the place is so huge that this lovely meeting with nature was what I needed at that moment.
The gardens known as the Joaquin Antonio Uribe Botanical Gardens are a member of the International Network of Conservation Gardens. Don Joaquin was a prolific writer who made big intelectual contributions to the city and as a retribution, this refreshing area will bear his name, what an honour!
Lots of progress Transport whether you want to go south or north they have it all take the metro, the feeder line and you'll
see... it wasn't difficult to be reminded of European cities just by being in Medellin. They like organisation and that's huge, cleanliness, The city boasts a modern public transportation system with it’s Metro and Metro Plus buses, newly refurbished thorough ways, two bus terminals, two airports including an international terminal located in Rio Negro just outside the city.
Toures There is also a TURIBUS offering you to take you to the the highlights of the city. The bus is scheduled from 9:00am and 1:00pm to 5:00pm. The Bus starts at Parque Poblado or Parque Los Fundadores, and stops at the Barefoot Parque, which is the one at the park by the observatory, at Botero Plaza, at a crafts market, and up the hill to Pueblito Paisa. This tour offers good discounts for restaurants and shops.
Today’s Medellin is also full of parks, libraries and large, open public spaces that have become symbols of a new and transformed city full of creative leisure activities, knowledge and fun!
The Sports Arena The 2010 South American Games enjoyed a high level of organisation and the city gained an important place within the continent, the attention was focused on the almost European city.
The Underground Made by Spanish and German engineers, the underground is an example of a mutual effort of both a city that was hungering for modernisation and a county just willing to give it a go. Nothing more than 25 stations
I guess the foreigners are the ones who enjoy Medellin the most, travelling so cheaply and having so many beautiful views of the city is just amazing
As we know, Madonna is soon coming to Medelling, which is great that someone of such high profile comes to this land so that our country turns into a place livening up musically; some others would come as now foreigners need to realise that we are not that dangerous country they've always imagined we were
Where are we heading to?
Que linda costumbre para esos amores que son eternos! How to dress Fashion It is difficult to talk about people's clothes in Medellin; you find everything, from the latest fashion to the most village outfits that really show Medellin is modernisation but countryside. Depending on what you intend to do in Medellin, it is always recommendable to bring cool clothes as well as a jacket, and also very informal clothes as the sun is sometimes boiling. The city of the spring offers us such a good weather that people are fine just wearing jeans and tshirts but once in a while the rain also wets the city, so it is a good idea to be well equipped for those refreshing times.
So what´s the verdict for Medellin? One thing is clear, as soon as you get there, they will infect you with the paisa spirit which for me includes values such as joy, kindness, humour and lots of exaggeration, that is for sure. All the places I visited were lovely,
but if I may, the only disappointment was the Museo de Arte Moderno and the lights in December; as to the the former, I found only a recycled world inside, I don't know whether they were restoring the place but that was poor, and for the latter, the lights are ust common and they do not show something really worth admiring. And here I have something else, their UNE company, a shame that being from such an austerous city, they make everything to spoil their good image. In Bucaramanga, some of us say that they love you when they want you to sign up with them for using their internet and phone but once you want to quit, they come up with rules and start asking you for lots of money. A shame, really!!!
Apart from that, wow, the city has lots to offer the tourists!
After your visit, you will be longing for a quick return be it to see the city engulfed by flowers, Christmas lights or just to enjoy the happiness of the city dwellers, yeah, lots of paisas who are reknown for
being hard working, kind, friendly and should I say it?... No, I won't, for you to guess if you ever pay them a visit. NOt surprised I was that they take so much pride of their city. Come on, have a go and meet its 3 million people and enjoy their friendly reputation, feelilng fine there is easy as pie. And last but not least, if you need a quite affordable hotel, you can stay at Balcones del Estadio, very close to the Unicentro Shopping Mall.
And as some popular songs I heard during the festival go:
Me voy pallá, Paisa seré en Medellin me quedaré.
y en la primavera, tus mujeres bellas te adoran
Me voy para Medellin a la Feria de Flores,
me voy a encontrar alli mis querencias y mis amores
Mi Medellin del alma eres mi gran consuelo
El paisa te quiere a ti, el paisa te adora
y con su cordialidad tambien enamora
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