If I Were a Rich Man

Over our summer vacation Dale and I got the chance to share our adventure in Medellin with my mom.  We had a lot of fun and got to explore many aspects of the city that were unknown to us before.  Medellin is a city full of things to do, however, most of these things cost money and as penniless volunteers many things are out of our reach.  When my mom came to visit we got to see how the other half of the city lives and got to really enjoy everything that the city has to offer.  If you plan to visit Medellin here are some things that we enjoyed as tourist in Medellin.

Illeras Park

Illeras Park is an area of the city that has a cluster of high-end bars and restaurants all with their individual theme.  We drank beers at the Irish themed bar, had Margaritas at the Mexican restaurant, Long Islands in America, Colombian cocktails in hammocks at the Colombian restaurant and Hurricanes at Hard Rock Cafe. 

Santa Fe

We took a bus out of the city to Santa Fe, a nearby colonial town.  We had a lot of fun in the small town. We took a Moto taxi to the infamous Puente de Occidente bridge, ate an incredible Colombian lunch, and strolled around the plaza.  Although the town couldn’t be more relaxing the bus ride left something to be desired.  I am just happy we all made it back alive as the bus flew up the mountains taking turns so that we were only on 2 wheels half the time. 

At the bridge

Moto Taxi

Oviedo and Sante Fe Shopping Malls

I have been window shopping in these beautiful malls for 6 months but actually shopping in them exceeded my expectations.  The retailers were all so helpful and nice and despite our small knowledge of Spanish they really loved that we were trying to speak their language and that we were spending time in their city.  We shopped for unique clothes and quirky gifts these malls had just about everything.  Also spending a shopping day with my mom is something that I was really missing so it was so much fun to have this day with my mom. 

Ciclovia

Every Sunday morning Medellin shuts down its main street for the public to exercise.  People Jazzercise in the parking lots of the closed businesses, they walk their dogs, roller blade, run, bike and walk.  It is a great way to people watch and enjoy your Sunday mornings with the Medellin community.

Publito Paisa

Publito Paisa is a mock colonial town in the city.  It is very cinchy but is a nice place for scenic views of the whole city and you can easily find knick-knacks and souvenirs.

Restaurants

Medellin has all kinds of food to offer from traditional Colombian to southern comfort food.  Our favorite restaurants included Crepes and Waffles, a chain restaurant throughout Colombia that serves all types of foods with spices and sauces,  El Corral, a gourmet burger joint styled like a typical diner and Bonuar a American restaurant that served great short ribs and wonderful mixed drinks, which is hard to come by in Colombia.

3 Cordilleras

3 Cordilleras is Medellin’s microbrewery.  They brew 5 types of beers from a brown ale to a cider beer.  They open up their brewery on Thursdays and allow beer loving people in and for a flat rate you can drink about as much as you want and take a tour of the factory.  It was definitely a high light of Medellin and brings a taste of American beers to the masses. 

It was so much fun to share our city with my mom and getting to be tourist in this city was incredible.

Adventures on the Coast: Part 2 Santa Marta and Cartagena

Checking back into our hostel still sticky with sweat and layers of dirt built up over the sunscreen and bug spray our only thoughts were of a clean shower and dry clothes. Only moments after the best shower ever we decided to delay our trip to Cartagena due to our inability to move around with any ease. We booked the hostel for an additional 2 nights and it was the best decision.  We spent the entire next day just laying around at the hostel. We enjoyed watching movies, swimming in the pool, drinking, eating and meeting great people.  Two San Francisco guys run the hostel and being there made me miss the USA a little.  They made it a point to bring some things from the states to Colombia; like they had real Heinz ketchup, English television, and the bar was decked out in traditional USA gear.  However, I think that the most familiar aspect of the La Brisa Loca was that everyone spoke English; in fact some of the staff didn’t even speak Spanish at all.  It was so nice to be surrounded by people that you can understand not only their language but their culture as well.  I did not realize how isolating it can be to live in a culture that you weren’t raised in and how even the small things can be very uncomfortable and unfamiliar. 

Other then just being incredibly lazy we also made it to Tayrona Park, which is the beach about 40 minutes outside of the city.   We only had a couple hours to enjoy the beach but it was wonderful.  We had the entire strip of beach to ourselves and we had a great time.  It was the first beach that we have seen in 6 months and as we both have not lived far from a coast in our entire lives it was so comforting to listen to the waves crashing against the shore and to feel the sand between our toes. 

The next morning we took a bus to Cartagena to spend the reminder of our trip.

When we arrived to Cartagena the beauty of every detail of the streets overwhelmed me.  Colorful balconies hung over finely decorated doors as horse drawn carriages galloped through the streets.  The first thing we did was just soak up this fairytale city.  Later that night we met up with a few of the volunteers that work in the nearby island of Baru.  We enjoyed swapping stories and catching up. We had not seen each other since orientation so we had a lot to talk about and their experiences are far different from my own.   

                

 The next day we took a short 10 minute boat ride to Tierra Bomba Island where we planned to spend the night.  The beach was nothing to speak about and although we tried to spend time in the sand it was impossible with all the bugs.  We made the most of the pool and sunbathed all day.  After 4pm we were the only guests at the hotel as the other people spent the day there and then returned back to Cartagena.  It was very weird to be at a large hotel all alone but again we made the most of it and the owner was very nice and friendly.  We had a private dinner on the beach and it was very romantic (private because we were the only ones eating but private just the same).  We were on the boat back to the city after a morning of collecting seashells on the beach. 

 

We were very excited to return to Cartagena but noticed immediately that we did not return to the same city that we had left.  In the afternoon it seems like the streets closed down and none of the stores and restaurants were open.  It was smoldering hot so I don’t blame them for shutting their doors during the hottest hours of the day but it left of with not much to do.  During the evenings the city was jammed packed full of venders selling everything and anything.  Tourist swarmed the streets weaving through peddlers and traffic.  You could not move 2 inches without being bombarded with people shoving their products into your face.  Even sitting at the nicest restaurant venders had no problem interrupting your dinner to jingle their trinkets at you. 

Even the police were troublesome in Cartagena.  We were walking along a main street in the early evening when we were stopped by two young police officers. We were the only gringos on the street we were definitely the most sober and least suspicious.  However the cops drove by everyone else and stopped us.  They spoke to us very abrasively and did not even try to help us understand what was going on.  Feeling helpless we tried to go with their requests as they began to pat down every inch of Dale’s body.  They pulled my purse apart unzipping each and every compartment.  The more intensely they searched the more uncomfortable I became until they pulled out Dale’s wallet and started taking out his money. At this point I was certain that we were being robbed and this is when I started to talk back, in retrospect probably not the best idea.  Fortunately, perhaps at my protests or perhaps for other reasons, they just gave us everything back and left.  Later we found out that they were trying to get a bribe from us; common practice in Colombia is for the police to try to find something to pin on tourists and then to ask for a bribe to let them off the hook.  Either way it was incredibly disheartening to be treated so poorly particularly since we have only had good experiences with police in Medellin.

Despite the obvious problems we had with the city we still had a good time.  We rented a two-person bike to ride around the city.  We loved peddling around the beautiful old city swerving around people and cars.  We enjoyed a romantic horse drawn carriage ride around the city at night.  Cartagena also had some great restaurants, coffee shops and ice cream parlors.  I am so glad that we took a trip to the coast, as it was so very different from everything in Medellin.  However seeing the Medellin city lights as we returned home almost made me tear up because Medellin is truly the best city and I was so happy to return to paradise.    

The Cevicheria, the restaurant made famous by Anthony Bourdain.   

Hot dogs from the street vendors. 

Peruvian fusion restaurant