After a leisurely breakfast at the InHotel we went to drop our laundry off only to find it closed and despite the very kind guy from the pharmacy across the road ringing to find out what time someone would arrive we gave it up as a bad job. We dropped the laundry back in our room and set off downhill to get the metro which runs north to south through the city. Medellin (pronounced Medejin) was once the world's most murderous city, centre of the worldwide cocaine trade run by drug lord Pablo Escobar. Until his death in 1993 the city was a no-go area for foreigners, not that you can image any would have wanted to visit. Today cut flowers, coffee and textiles provide the income stream. The city is set in a large mountainous green bowl and as South American cities go is very attractive (from a distance!). We got the metro to the north end and then headed uphill on the cable car to Santo Domingo, which gives great views back down over the sprawling city, and then another to Parque Arvil, a huge park of wilderness which includes miles of hiking and biking trails. We decided to head back down to the city to visit some of the local attractions. As we headed back in the cable car you could see the local airport, located next to the bus station that we arrived at yesterday and in the heart of the city. Given the mountainous area and notorious cross winds it must make for a very spicy landing and take off. We got the metro to the station near Plaza Mayor although never actually found the plaza (the map we'd been given by the hotel was great for the metro, useless for finding our way around the city). Instead we headed to Plazaoleta de las Esculturas, which we did find, in front of the Museo de Antioquia. It's also known as Plaza Botero with 23 of the artist's large bronze sculptures dotted around the square. We had lunch, a very dire affair and the worst meal we've had in a long time, in a nearby cafe and decided to head to the botanical gardens given they have such a good write up in Lonely Planet. The streets were really busy and the weather hot so we got the metro to avoid the 2km walk, conserving our energy for the gardens. The gardens were only small and although not unattractive, they were no comparison to the botanical gardens in Edinburgh. After a short walk around we headed back on the metro and walked back up the hill, slowly, to El Poblado stopping at the BBC (Bogota Beer Company) for a drink on route. Simon was very impressed by the quality of their beer and is looking forward to sampling more in Bogota. In the evening we went to a pizzeria nearby the hotel. It was a very busy restaurant with a buzzy atmosphere, OK pizza's although very pricey for what it was.
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| Looking across the rooftops of El Poblado |
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| The cable car heading up to Santo Domingo |
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| Looking back down over northern Medellin |
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| Heading across the tree tops to Parque Arvi |
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| Chaotic traffic scenes near Plaza de las Esculturas |
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| Botero's bronze statue in the plaza |
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| A lovely pint of beer from the BBC |
you'll certainly be a whiz on beers Simon, you've sampled a few different ones.
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