Medellín

We woke up at our normal time, around 7am, since our flight wasn’t until 10:45. Nice! It feels great not waking up in the dark for an early departure. Hehe. Dana and I had some morning java and we got a bit of work done before packing up and tidying the apartment before check out. 

We took an Uber to the airport, and had to put our masks on again, and we waltzed straight through security and found some seats near our gate. We were there super early, as we weren’t sure if we could make it to the lounge or not. Turns out the lounge was just for international travelers in the international terminal. So, no. We wouldn’t get to grab breakfast and water from the lounge. Too bad for us, lol.

We pass the time watching silly TikTok and instagram videos, and before we know it, it’s almost time to board the plane. We bought a ticket on Viva Airlines, and it appears to be the Spirit of South America, hehe. Bright yellow budget airplane, here we come! We were a bit worried about getting our bags stowed, so we did what I hate to see in airports and crowded the gate area, hoping to sneak on sooner than our boarding zone. Another great friend of mine did this when we were trying to fly out of Cairo together, and it worked to our benefit. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and sometimes, you just gotta be selfish and take care of you. I got a bit behind Dana and Hayden and scanned my boarding pass after them, but all the passengers were corralled in a long line waiting to go outside to the tarmac. So, I just scoot myself up to them, and we look around us, all thinking the worst about our bags. Flying budget airlines is pure chaos, lol. 

We are boarding from the front and the back, so Hayden goes to the rear door, and Dana and I board from the front. There was plenty of space for our bags, and we quickly stow our backpacks and take our seats. Watching the rest of the passengers file on and attempt to find their seats was a great reminder as to why I prefer to fly “flight leader” or in the way back of the plane, where there is less chance of dealing with this 3-ring circus. I am also thinking about how grateful I am to work for the airline I work for: mental note to remember not to take it for granted, hehe. 

The flight to Medellin is only about an hour, and we arrive on time. The landscape is very different from Cartagena, as we are now in the mountains. It’s cloudy, and feels as though it has just rained. The landscape is so green and lush, and I can almost taste the delicious coffee awaiting us. The Uber ride to our apartment was quite long, but we got to see a lot of the countryside, and it was gorgeous! I’m stoked to be here, especially after getting beat down and burned by the hot sun on the coast. I’m so ready to be in a mountain city, and I’m hoping it stays cool here. 

We get to our apartment, and it’s adorable, as always. Thanks, Dana! Hayden and I ventured out to the local grocery store to grab some goodies, and we all decided we’d have a rest day today. Rule number one: don’t go grocery shopping when you’re hungry! Haha. Hayden and I bought so many snacks! Hehe. All worth it, except for the long wait to check out. Apparently their computer systems were wicked slow, so we just had to attempt it and see what fate had in store for us. The woman in front of us took forever, but when it was finally our turn, we managed to get through relatively quickly. 

We traipse back to the apartment, and Hayden begins working on dinner. I just love traveling with a chef. I’ve only made one meal this entire time hehe. Thanks, Hayden! 

After we finish dinner, we retreat to our rooms and just get comfy and ready to watch Netflix. Dana wasn’t feeling 100%, and we all decided it was best for us to rest, as we didn’t want to wear down our bodies any more or risk anyone feeling unhealthy or over-tired. 

I didn’t realize how badly I needed a “do-nothing” day, hehe. I started to watch a series about Pablo Escobar, because, you know… lol. We’ve read and heard contrasting opinions on the infamous narcotraficante; some say it’s better not to mention his name or go on the tours, because the city is still healing and wants to forget those times. Other sources recommend the tour, and there is one neighborhood that was essentially built from Escobar’s personal money, so they adore him in that area. Hmm.. I think it best to learn about this history from Netflix. Maybe next time we can hit up a tour. 🙂

We all fall asleep early, with stars in our eyes, thinking about the adventures awaiting us tomorrow. 

Tomorrow morning comes quickly, and we wake up like clockwork at 7am! Haha, I guess we’re trained now, lol. Dana started making the coffee, and we were ready to take turns peeing in the 1 bathroom we are now sharing. So much for these apartments with private bathrooms. Dana: We need to talk about your choices hehe. Just kidding! The apartment is lovely. 

Medellin is HUGE. So we create a plan for the day and decide to Uber around, as it’s just too big to walk conveniently. We go to the center of town first, where we are warned by our Uber driver to not go down the streets behind our drop-off location. He explained that the heart of Medellin is not the safest and to be extra careful when walking around here. Yikes! I mean, I think we’ve all been to places like this, but it’s always a bit unnerving when a local tells you what it’s really like. The three of us are pretty well traveled, and we understand the mission. Keep your belongings close, don’t keep your phone out too much, and being three people, we can look out for each other. Done! I love traveling with friends :). 

The Plaza Botero is the very heart of the city, and the plaza has several statues from a Colombian artist, Fernando Botero, who exaggerates the shapes of his subjects, mostly humans and animals. Back in Cartagena, we saw so many paintings of quite voluptuous ladies, and we wondered what the story was. I finally googled it, and found out about the artist. Aha! It all makes sense now hehe. 

Dana found a neat picture of a place in the old National Palace, which has been converted into a kind of bazaar. We walked inside, and it was stunning! I really didn’t expect to see something like that. It was a decadently designed building, complete with multiple floors and chandeliers. It reminded us a bit of something we’d see in a Harry Potter movie, perhaps. We spent some time walking around and gawking at the beautiful architecture. 

From here, we decide to grab another Uber and head to the cable car that will take us to the top of one of the mountains surrounding the city. The end point of the cable car is the Arvi Park. Little did we know, this drive would be a ride to remember. 

Lorena picks up in the center of town, in the middle of the traffic. She admits that she doesn’t come to town often and is heavily relying on Waze to get her out of there. Our ride starts off just fine, but then the GPS tells her to turn left, and it doesn’t really look like a road, but okay. She must know where she is going? 

Nope! Haha. We are driving right down a pedestrian/bike lane, and on either side of us are street vendors. Lucky for us, her car was small enough to fit through, so we just kept going. We saw some local police ahead of us, and I thought they would stop her or say something to her, but they didn’t! I’m sure they were wondering what the hell we were doing there, but Lorena kept on going. Now we were in the middle of a square, with more street vendors, park benches, and plenty of pedestrians. How on earth are we gonna get out of this mess? 

Lorena spots an exit, or more realistically, a small gap between vendor carts that is flush with the actual road, so we head in that direction. As we’re passing by, some of the owners of the carts angrily shout and look at us as if we’re absolutely nuts. But we found the main road once again. Phew! We’re all dying laughing, saying this will be quite the story for the day. 

But the ride isn’t over yet! 

We didn’t realize that the cable car we want to take is already halfway up the mountain, so Lorena needs to get us up some incredibly steep hills. She’s driving a standard, and we all know San Francisco has some tough streets to maneuver a manual car, but the streets on these mountains have nothing on SFO. Lorena’s poor car couldn’t quite get the gumption to make it up one of the steeper hills. Oh dear. So backwards we go. She tries to give the car all its go to gain traction and get us up the hill. No luck. So she backs all the way down and looks for an alternative route. Oh man. If that was me, I think I’d just park the car and cry, lol. We tried a few more times to get her car up different hills with varying degrees of steepness, and we failed a couple more times. Each failure leads us to a new hill and a new attempt. Finally! We make it! Lorena is our hero, and she pulls off to the side of the street, and we hop out, giving her all the thanks we can and we sincerely apologize for having her bring us this high. Thank you, Lorena! 

We go to the cable car station and pay our ticket, and wait to snag a gondola for ourselves. The ride is supposed to take 15 minutes to the top. Sweet! We jump in and are instantly amazed with the views. Behind us is the sweeping valley that is filled with the bustling city of Medellin, and in front of us, on the steep slopes of the mountain are tons of homes, built right into the side of the mountain. Dana has an observation that most of the homes are in rough shape, and we figure some of those people are struggling. And here we are, the “rich,” literally floating above them in a gondola. Talk about a contradiction! Our ride up took a somber turn as we discussed this. 

Traveling is such an amazing privilege, and it’s in these moments I’m most grateful for it. Seeing how other people live in different countries really puts things into perspective. We are not rich by our definition of the word, or in comparison to the 1% in the US, but we are rich when compared to the majority of the world’s population, and almost certainly compared to the people living in the homes we saw as we swung high above, admiring the landscape. It’s hard not to feel guilty at times. We discussed the different definitions of rich; that a person can be rich with money, but poor in quality of life, or vice versa. Even so, that stark contrast is a reminder not to take anything for granted. 

We pull ourselves out of the slightly depressing theme and begin to imagine what the park will be like when we arrive. It’s a long 15 minutes, but we finally get there, and as we get off the gondola, it’s quite clear we’ve gained altitude. It’s so chilly! Hehe. We expected to enter the Arvi Park and walk a few trails, but it cost $10 to get in. We didn’t do enough research, and we decided we’d skip it and just hang out in the free areas. Dana and I bought a coffee, and we added cinnamon! Such a nice touch :). Hayden got a bowl of strawberries and raspberries, with a raspberry sauce on top. Yum! We wandered about through the vendor area, and I was drawn to a copper ring with what looked like a raw emerald in it. The woman said she makes them all by hand and that it is, in fact, a real emerald. A young, raw emerald. I paid $10 for it, and it was hard for me to believe it was in fact a true emerald, but later in the day, Dana looked up how to tell if it’s a real one or not, and we did our best to inspect the stone, and we agreed that maybe it is! The raw emeralds are readily available here in Colombia, and their prices can range anywhere between $1 and hundreds, if not thousands. So, with that kind of price range, maybe the stone I have really is an emerald! And, to think I was considering buying an expensive piece of jewelry with an emerald since that is a big precious gem here in Colombia. I like my $10 raw emerald the best :). 

We head back down the cable car, and we have a good time trying to get the perfect photos and videos, although the dirty windows made it difficult. We also decided it’d be best not to ask an Uber to come up the harrowing streets Lorena had to endure for us, so we bought tickets for the metrocable, another cable car, but this one is part of the Medellin metro line. So cool! I don’t know of any other cities that have metros that include cable cars. What a fun experience! 

Once back on sturdy land, we grab another Uber to head to a hipster market to hopefully find some grub. This Uber driver was a hoot! I sat in the front, and began speaking with him in Spanish. He was trying to convince me to invest in some land of his, and to start a coffee business, haha. He explained how he knew about the entire process of coffee, from planting it, taking care of it, picking it when it’s ready, toasting it, etc. He even said his coffee farm doesn’t use pesticides or any other chemicals. He was really trying to sell it! After I declined a few times, he came back to me with the great exchange rate between the US dollar and the Colombian peso. I kept telling him how someday in the future, that’d be great, but I’m not ready just yet to invest in and start an international coffee business, lol. He was so nice, though, just excited, I think. 

Once at the market, the three of us are hangry and unable to make solid decisions. Uh-oh! So we walk around this place, which has tons of food options, and we study several menus, but none of us can really make a choice as to what we want to eat. Great. It’s now or never for food, before we start really getting hangry. With some frustration, we opt to walk back towards the apartment, as there are restaurant options there. We pop into the apartment to chug some water and to find a place that looks good. 

Dana finds one and makes a final decision. This is where we are going. Great! Let’s go before we kill each other, lol. We head over there, just a block away from where we’re staying, and it turns out to be a space with 5 different restaurants! Haha. The irony of leaving one market with several options and ending up in another. How will we ever choose what to eat?! Gah!

It takes us a while, but we do order some food, and Dana and I try two different microbrew beers. Colombia is home to 33 microbreweries! Sweeeet! The one Dana picks is called “Rosada.” “Like a rosé wine,” we wonder? It IS! So weird, yet tasty. Almost like a sour beer, in that it is fruity, but it’s sweet like a rosé wine. I have never heard of anything like this, and now will be on the lookout. I don’t think it’ll be my new favorite, but it gets points for being unique, that’s for sure.

As we’re finishing dinner, the dark clouds roll in and we know we’re in for it, lol. We finish paying, and it starts to pour rain. We carried our raincoats all day, well, Hayden carried them all day in the backpack. Thanks, Hayden! But when we stopped by the apartment before dinner, we left the bag because we didn’t think we’d need it anymore. Ooops! 

We decide to make a run for it, and are rewarded. It stopped pouring, and we made it back to the apartment with just a few sprinkles of rain here and there. Phew! What a day! 

Back inside, we start to do work, polishing up blog posts, pictures, and journaling for the day. Tomorrow we have a few things on our list of what to see in the city, and we hope the weather holds out for us. Fingers crossed!