After a wonderful introduction to Colombia in the capital city of Bogota, we're heading
up north to Medellin.
People from Medellin are proud of their Paisa culture and heritage and are well known for
their entrepreneurial spirit, hospitality, and their beautiful metro system.
Back home in Boston, I teach English to adult's part-time and a number of my students from
Colombia are from Medellin.
For all of these reasons and more, we were excited to explore this unique part of Colombia.
So another day, another beautiful park in Colombia.
This time we are in Medellin.
And we went up north from Bogota, but we dropped about 4,000 feet in elevation, and at least
for me, it's actually pretty noticeable.
So one of my favorite things to do when I'm traveling in a new city is to go check out
the grocery store.
I find it infinitely fascinating to walk around and see what types of foods are on offer at
the local grocery stores.
Plus, you can pack up a few things, throw it in a bag, and then come to a beautiful
park like this one in Medellin.
And enjoy the views, while you have some empanadas or some apples.
Whatever you want.
How's your apple?
What are we doing here?
Having lunch.
We're having a little picnic.
I got a charcuterie, a little cheese, a little chorizo, a little jamon.
Very good.
She's practicing her Spanish.
She listened to a few podcasts on the way from Bogota to Medellin.
So, that's great.
We're both learning a bit and trying as much Spanish as we can.
How do you say "apples" in Spanish, in Espanol?
Como se dice "apple" en Espanol?
No se.
But it's a good way to just get out in thee, get out in the open, get out in the green
spaces of whatever city and have a nice little meal.
And also saves a lot of money, its very cheap to just go to the grocery store and put together
a little picnic for yourself.
Try it out, wherever you are.
John, how many empanadas did you just eat?
How many empanadas did I just eat?
Umm... uno, dos tres, three.
I had three empanadas.
I'm not ashamed of that.
The empanadas here are fantastic wherever you get them.
On the street, in a grocery store, wherever.
They're great.
When you're in Medellin, make sure you get on a walking tour with Real City Tours.
This particular tour came highly recommended by my good Aussie friend, Desmond, and it
didn't disappoint.
Our guide gave us great history on Medellin's beginnings as the manufacturing hub of Colombia,
it's darker days in the 80s and 90s when a certain infamous drug-lord was terrorizing
the city and one of the most remarkable transformations you'll see anywhere in the world since.
Emerging from the aforementioned darker days, Medellin over the last two decades has become
a vibrant center for innovation, world-class art and coffee, and one of the fastest growing
economies on the continent.
Walking around the city, it's easy to tell how much its residents take pride in its entrepreneurship,
unique architecture, and their public art installations that all give this city a great
community vibe.
As you can see, Medellin is a city that takes pride in its art.
After some of the issues that they had in the 90s and 2000s, they really wanted to develop
the city to make it beautiful, and really highlight a lot of the artwork so some of
the spaces that you see here were some the most difficult parts of the city as far as
crime is concerned, and now you can see they've turned some of these buildings that were notorious
for crime in really beautiful spaces that house their government and a lot of artistic
pursuits of the citizens of Medellin.
Here in his hometown, Fernando Botero has his own plaza, which truly is a feast for
the eyes.
Here you can find his beloved depictions of nude men and women, cats, and even an oversized
baby head.
So, walk around and enjoy the sights and sounds of this beautiful outdoor gallery, all for
free.
Alright Erin, we're in the center of Medellin, what are going to buy right now?
Un bunuelo.
Bunuelo.
Deep-fried cheese ball.
Deep-fried cheese ball.
Alright, make it happen.
Alright, give it a try.
Very good.
Now that we've gotten a bite to eat, it's time to check out one of Medellin's claims
to fame: I'm admittedly a bit of a public transportation geek, if that's even a thing,
but Medellin's metro system is continent-renowned.
Opening in 1995, Medellin boasts the only metro in Colombia.
Speaking to locals about it, they take great pride in this distinction and you can tell
as the metro itself and its stations are sparkling clean at all times and they run incredibly
effeciently.
Those of you who have seen our Bogota video know that Colombian's love a cable car.
In my humble opinion, however, Medellin's cable cars are even cooler and more enjoyable
than Bogota's.
While the ride up to Monseratte in Bogota is short and sweet on one route, Medellin
features multiple routes.
There's a series of cable cars moving up to the west of the city which go over Comuna
13, or Comuna Trece, formerly known as statistically the most dangerous neighborhood in the world
over 20 years ago, but we took the cable cars moving up to the east that go all the way
to Parque Arvi, which is an ecological nature reserve.
The cable car takes about 30 minutes to get up to Parque Arvi, and a round-trip ticket
costs less than $3.
It's genuinely shocking how quickly the landscape shifts from urban sprawl to the woodlands
stretching over the Andes as far as the eye can see.
Both the metro and the cable cars in Medellin are important symbols of the city's pursuit
of economic equality, as when opened, they connected the lower income and the wealthier
parts of the city directly for the first time.
So, we made it, we're on top of the hill now, Parque Avri, and it's amazing once you get
up here the change in temperature, the change in smell.
It just feels crisp and clean and much like the rest of the city it's very beautiful up
here.
And they've done a really nice job of putting together these little...
I guess it kind of tells the story of this place and lets you know sort of the flora
and the fauna that exist up here, and just a really cool learning experience.
They have a little market, a little mercado, and you can be some nice snacks and also little
handmade gifts, and it really just does a nice job of demonstrating what this national
park is all about, and what it means to the Colombian people.
And if you have a good grasp of Spanish, then you can understand it by reading those little
boards over there.
Uh we'll have to take photos of those and do a little translation later and learn a
little more about the park ourselves.
Either way, its well worth the trip up here.
The gondola ride was a lot of fun.
You get to see a really cool perspective of the city.
And then once you get up here its just you and some nature.
And, Colombian nature at that.
A lot of beauty in this country to behold.
And a lot of beauty in the people that come to visit it.
Now before we end this video, it's important that we sample a local favorite; an alcohol
that literally translates as fiery water…
Erin?
Welcome to beautiful Medellin.
We are here amongst the beautiful mountains and we're about the have a very authentic
Colombian experience with our liquor that comes in a juice box.
John, what is this called?
Aguardiente?
Arguardiete.
Si.
Si.
And its supposed to taste like liquorice, which sounds lovely.
Okay, I'm going to try it out here.
I don't really want to do this.
Salud!
That was terrible.
Tell us what you really think.
Colombia, liquor in juice boxes.
Thanks so much for checking out our Colombia videos the first travel videos I've ever
made.
If you like these, be sure to like and subscribe to my channel as we've got great trips coming
up including our next stop in Oslo, Norway.
That's what we were looking for.
Oh ya.
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