Blogs from Medellin, Colombia, South America - page 7

In the United Kingdom it's traditional for the Christmas lights to be taken down by Twelfth night. There are two exceptions that I know of. Me, as I never put any up in the first place and Colombia, where they stretch the Christmas holidays well into the middle of January and beyond. Christmas isn't huge here. It's Massive. Every city, town and village pushes the boat out with lights to celebrate the birth of Christ. It was just after dusk on a balmy Sunday's evening that I met up with Adriana again. She wanted to visit Pueblito Pais (a typical Medellin village) which was festively festooned with lights. I'd spent the day taking in a bit of culture, visiting museums, churches and the like. Since my mum died in 2013 I find an inner peace and ... read more

We had another slowish start to our day, and packed up and checked out of the hostel. We got breakfast at Sams before catching the bus to Medellin. In Medellin, we took the metro to our hostel. It's sure nice to have a metro since buses are usually hard to figure out for me. Even the Trans Milenio in Bogota seemed unnecessarily complicated. Medellin is the only city in Colombia with a metro, and in general this city seems very modern by comparison. The city sits in a valley, and the elevated metro is actually a great way to see the city. We found our hostel in a quiet neighbourhood on the southern end of the city, and checked in. We booked a private room, and it was really nice, like a nice hotel room. With ... read more

Best city Ive ever been to? Medellin. And its not just me who thinks it. They currently hold the title of the worlds most innovative city thanks to their free sports facilities all across the city, well designed public transport and so much to do that I could barely do half of everything I wanted in five days there. The hostel I stayed in was really good - right across the road from free soccer pitches, running track, basketball courts and outdoor gym but strangely 80% of the people there were Americans and all were either working or studying down in Medellin. "So anyone up for Botanical Gardens, Parque Arvi, game tonight..? No...?? You've already been since you've been here 4 months?? OK just myself so!" First things first. I finally made it to a South ... read more

Ti najbohatsi zvyknu byvat na vyssie polozenych miestach, tak ako napriklad v Bratislave na Kolibe - v Medelline je to presne naopak. Na strmych kopcoch mesta ziju prave ti najchudobnejsi. S cielom vyjst im v ustrety a ulahcit im pristup z kopcov do centra, nechalo mesto vybudovat dve lanovky - Parque Arvi a San Javier (metrocable). Tieto zanovne, nablyskane lanovky silno kontrastuju s okolim, kde kazdy pohladom naraza len na pozliepane, neomietnute chatrce s plechovymi strechami. Jednu z tychto stvrti (barrios) nechal v osemdesiatych rokoch vybudovat prave Pablo Escobar. Medzi chudobnymi tu ma preto dodnes vela privrzencov a povazuju ho za svojho spasitela. (Odporucam dokumentarny film “The two Escobars, rok 2010). Najvacsou pychou mesta je od roku 1995 jednoznacne metro – symbol pokroku a nadeje. Pocas celej jazdy nas informacny system metra vzdelava, ako sa mame ... read more

Eine Woche Medellin und das Wetter war noch etwas besser als in Pereira wo ich zwei Tage war und wesentlicher freundlicher als in Bogota. Wieder habe ich von Pereira bis nach Medellin eine 7 stündige Busfahrt hinter mir. Durch die wunderschönen Hochebenen Kolumbiens mit der immer grünen Landschaft und den versteckten Villen irgendwo im Hügel oder den einfachen Hütten der ärmeren Leute direkt an der sehr befahrenen Strasse. Teils türmen sich unglaubliche Hügel auf und irgendwo hindurch quetscht sich die einzige Strasse nach Medellin. Meine Unterkunft ist im Zentrum von Medellin, ich mochte nicht in die bessere Gegend rund um El Poblado im Süden der Stadt. Im Zentrum lebt die Stadt, hier bekomme ich um jede Uhrzeit was geboten. Von den unübersichtlichen kleinen Strassen, den vielen Shops auf vier Räder, den fest eingerichteten Läden die irgend ... read more