Back to Colombia: Medellin
The calendar indicates that it's September and here I am, writing about a trip taken in June. As is customary, I have an excuse for my tardiness (you can decide if it's valid or not). Our summer was a whirlwind with our two months equally split between the U.S. and South America; Peru was our primary destination in the southern hemisphere, but for one week, just before we headed up to Minnesota, we took a week and traveled to Colombia, specifically Medellin and the region. While in Minnesota, there just wasn't much time spent at the computer, nor when we returned to Peru for a slapdash week before taking that big jet airliner to Bangladesh. We've been back to Dhaka for a little over a month now and while readjusting to work life has been hectic, I also have time available on the weekend to share a bit of our summer adventures.
Three years ago Marianella and I first visited Colombia, spending our time in Bogota and Cartagena; on that trip we heard repeatedly from the locals that we really needed to visit Medellin if we ever got back to Colombia. So, along with Marianella's parents, we decided to follow that advice. It turned out that the people from Bogota and Cartagena did not let us down-we had a wonderful week in Medellin, escaping the hustle and bustle of Lima. Not that we could describe the week in Medellin as relaxing-"The City of Eternal Spring" and the surrounding towns and villages kept us hopping, with only one afternoon washed out by a rain shower.
Medellin is notorious for its association as deceased drug lord Pablo Escobar's hometown, where from the late '70s into the '90s, he basically ran as his personal fiefdom, replete with a murder rate that eclipsed all other cities in the world during its peak of violence. Escobar was gunned down nearly twenty years ago, but his notoriety lives on in the numerous Pablo Escobar Tours offered by a variety of agencies in the city. Yet Medellin has been able to move away from those dark days and is now a clean, cultural, and attractive city connected by an extraordinary metro train which includes a gondola system, opened several years ago that has allowed easy access for residents of the poorer hillside communities to the larger community and opportunities.
Admittedly, all this positivity did not arrive with our first impression of Medellin. When our initial hotel booking fell through, Marianella and I chose another hotel located downtown, within walking distance to a metro station. Our first joint venture was a short walk in the late afternoon to the main square of Medellin, to visit the Cathedral and surrounding area. The square was teeming with people, not unusual for that time of day in any South American city, but the flavor of many of its denizens still lived the ethos from the glory days of Escobar's time. It was one of those instances when my Irish heritage made me quite noticeable and drew attention from drug dealers and prostitutes alike, who were not dissuaded by either Marianella or my in-laws. We made it a quick tour of the square and as we passed the transvestite prostitutes on the way out of the square, it certainly gave us pause to wonder if Medellin was the right choice for a peaceful getaway.
That cast of colorful characters from our first day faded quickly into memory as the rest of our time in Medellin was thankfully tame by comparison. We spent our next morning in the city visiting the Francisco Botero Plaza and Art Museum, just a short jaunt from our hotel. Botero is another of Medellin's famous sons and one that the citizenry takes quite a bit more pride in than Escobar. Botero's noted for his over-sized portraits and sculptures which have made him one of the world's most recognizable artists. Following our morning posing next to the sculptures and feeling downright skinny, we jumped on the metro and headed to the botanical gardens. Strolling through the gardens past the families picnicking and spying iguanas in the pond was quite a contrast to our first day in the city.
Botero Plaza:
Getting a little cheeky ;-):
A Botero painting of Escobar's death:
The Botanical Gardens:
The following day we chose to get the full experience of the Metro system, complete with the gondolas. Heading out to the edge of the city on the Metro, we then transferred to the gondolas which took us over the top of the barrios and we just kept riding out to Parque Arvi, a wonderful natural reserve just beyond the hillsides and millions of people populating Medellin. It was wonderful to be out in the park, but what we found ourselves marveling at was the means; we had never seen public transport this clean or efficient anywhere else in our travels. And at the end of the day, it brought us back to the heart of downtown where we stumbled upon quite an amazing scene. As we exited the elevated train onto the platform, a vibrant roar was emerging from the street below-was it a protest? hoodlums? Not quite-it was a pep rally unlike any other I've seen from the supporters of Independiente Medellin, the soccer team which was celebrating its 100th anniversary on the square below. It was an incredible site to behold-fans squeezed into every space available including the tree branches, swaying to the music played through trumpets and drums, chanting the team's song while a handful of the fans would slam dance into one another. The pure energy almost made me want to join in, but then I noticed-I wasn't wearing the team colors; c'est la vie, I'll have to wait until the next soccer rally we stumble upon to jump into the fray.
Gondolas, first at Parque Arvi and then moving over the top of an outlying Medellin neighborhood:
Our next day was spent outside of Medellin, visiting the towns surrounding the city. Heading out of the valley and into the rolling countryside provided a wonderful taste of small town Colombia and the cool climate recalled for me the glorious fall days of Minnesota that I've been missing for the last few years. There were two major attractions on this day trip-El Penol and the small, vibrantly painted and decorated town of Guatape. We stopped first at El Penol, which is a big damn rock rising into the sky. To ascend to the top requires more than 700 criss-crossing steps which I'm proud to say, all four of us achieved, with not a small amount of labor involved-but we made it. It was especially memorable for Marianella's parents, with her father celebrating his 74th birthday on this day which also marked their 44th anniversary. Reaching the top certainly felt good and as the pictures below attest, we were able to admire the river valley from the bird's eye perspective.
The metro system, for outlying communities around Medellin:
It was market day in one village, which brought a lot of old men to the town to occupy the park benches:
El Penol:
The Band:
Returning back to Medellin, our time was getting short and we still had two important agenda items to cross off our list. One of those items was the Pablo Escobar tour, which for Marianella's father was akin to a little boy given the key to a candy store. Upon moving to Peru, I had read the book Killing Pablo and my father in-law had in recent months been wrapped up in a TV serialization of Escobar's life and downfall, so we were quite keen to go on this tour. While the tour itself consisted of three stops (an apartment building built by Escobar which had been bombed by a rival cartel and now lay unoccupied; his gravesite; and the house where Colombian police tracked him and gunned him down), our tour guide peppered the conversation with interesting tidbits about life in Medellin during Escobar's reign, what led to his downfall, and how Medellin has since rebounded into the city we saw today.
Escobar's now abandoned apartment complex:
The modest home and neighborhood where Escobar was gunned down:
After our morning of absorbing Escobar's life, we headed off in the afternoon to our other must-see, Museo El Castillo, or the Castle Museum. A rather modern castle constructed in 1930, it nonetheless was an impressive structure that realized one of my childhood dreams, to visit a castle. There wasn't a moat (so of course, no dragon either) but it was a meticulously landscaped grounds that I was able to appreciate for its classic beauty and contemplative vista, so my forty year old self was quite pleased with reaching that childhood goal.
The next day we were flying back to Peru before then embarking again to Minnesota just one day later. While a bit exhausting, all parties involved relished our trip to Medellin and agreed that it is one of the jewels amongst cities in South America. Colombia promised a good second experience and it certainly delivered.
Comments