Medellin

View of the city from the balcony of the Museo De Arte Moderno 

Greetings from Medellin!  We have now been in our long term apartment for almost two weeks.  Perviously we stayed at a hostel, which was part of a yoga studio, for the first three days after our arrival.  Lance and I love Medellin.  According to Wikipedia, it is the second largest city in Colombia with an estimated urban population of 2.5 million as of 2017.  To put that into perspective, Cuenca, Ecuador, the city where we spent the last 3 years, has an urban population of about 400,000, and as of 2015 our hometown of Milwaukee had a population of more than 600,000.  Needless to say, this is a big city.  During the 1990's Medellin was considered to be one of the most dangerous cities in the world.  Today it is considered to be one of the best cities to live in South America, and was nominated for Most Innovative City of the Year in 2012.

The Metro system in Medellin is the pride of the city.  Although it was built 22 years ago it looks almost brand new.  You don't see any tagging on the building or vandalism on the train.  Lance and I live only 5 minutes from one of the stations and have taken full advantage of using it.  In fact...we are proud owners of a green Civica Card that allows us to load it with money and skip the long ticket lines.  We had to wait in line for an hour or more to obtain these cards...but it was well worth it.    

Of course, it wouldn't be a trip to another country for us without a medical emergency.  In Paris I fell shortly after arriving and broke an arm.  In Medellin, about the third day we were here, Lance experienced severe tooth pain and ended up at the emergency clinic...twice.  Luckily, we had read previously about an organization called Latin Hosts.  They provide all kinds of services for you for a small fee.  You contact them online...describe the help you need...they tell you how much the service will cost...and you can put the charge on your credit card.  When we wrote to them, the response was immediate.  They sent Ericka to pick us up within minutes.  She drove us to the clinic, and stayed five hours to interpret for us.  Ericka  was wonderful.  We weren't sure how long she was going to be needed so we had only booked for 2 hours.  However, she insisted on staying the remaining three hours for free.  After much negotiation, we convinced her to take a generous tip for her services.  Two days later...we requested help from Ericka again because Lance needed additional help.  He returned to the emergency clinic...this time to treat a different tooth.  Follow-up work for two root canals is being taken care of at a modern, English speaking clinic that was recommended by our Latin Host.  

We've also had some fun during our first two weeks here.  We visited Santa Fe Mall, which is one of the newest upscale malls in the city.  While there, we saw the movie The Greatest Showman (in English.)  We also toured Jardin Botanico, the Museo De Arte Moderno, and the Museo De Antioquia.  On the day that we visited the Modern Art Museum, we had lunch at Mercado Del Rio...which is a new gastronomic market located in a large warehouse type building.  The prices are reasonable, and you can find items ranging from $3.00 sangria's to a full gourmet meal for under $10.00.  Mercado Del Rio has nearly 40 small restaurants and bars located on two floors of the building.  Lance and I have eaten there twice and the food is delicious.  The second photo shows the inside.  What you can't see are the numerous tables available to sit at with your meal.    

Lance and I also participated in a free walking city tour.  There is no set price...you just tip the guide based on your experience.  This was an interesting tour because we were able to learn a lot about the history of Medellin, as well as what is happening today.  Our guide also took us into some areas that we would not want to venture alone due to safety issues.  It was surprising to see how few historic buildings remain in the city.  Most were torn down and replaced with just a few exceptions.  It made us appreciate even more how unique Cuenca is when it comes to preserving the past.  Below are a few of the rare exceptions that we saw when it comes to older historic buildings in the center of the city.

Plazoleta de los Esculturas

Above is a picture of the group that accompanied us on our City Tour

On the tour we saw a sign that sums up what one should think about when you are traveling around the world.  Even if you don't speak Spanish, I think you will understand the sentiment of what they are trying to say.








Below is a short slide show I created using pictures of some of the places that we visited.  Simply click on the arrow to advance the pictures.       

Next week we are traveling to Jardin, a small town located in the heart of coffee country.  We will be spending two days there...and plan to take a tour of a coffee farm.  Check back soon to hear all about our trip.