One Day in Medellin
Our first stop in Colombia was Medellin, a city with a complicated history. During the 1970’s, the cocaine trade was growing, and with it, the Medellin Cartel was born. At its peak, the Cartel was supplying roughly 80% of the world’s cocaine and bringing in about US$420 million a week. To combat the illegal import of cocaine, the United States worked with the Colombian government to crack down on the trade by attempting to extradite any Colombian that was suspected of drug trafficking. These people were given the name the extraditables. Fearing life in a US prison, the Cartel began to intimidate the Colombian government through kidnappings and assassination attempts. By the early 90’s, most of the senior cartel members had been arrested or killed. Since then, the city has focused on positive development, such as the building of Colombia’s only city train line, the metro. In 2013, the city was awarded the title of “most innovative city”, an award based on eight criteria ranging from culture, livability, education and infrastructure. Today, Medellin is a safe and modern city that is an absolute delight to visit. Oh, and did I mention that the temperature is perfect year round? We had one day in Medellin and this is how it went:
Always a fan of public transportation, my sister and I decided to take the Metro from our hotel in the Poblado neighborhood to the city’s center. The train was easy to figure out, and we were soon on our way. We got off at Prado and were suddenly surrounded by Fernando Botero statues. Botero is a Medellin native, an artist and sculptor known worldwide for his “fat” portraits. His work is prominently featured all around Medellin.
We then headed to Museo de Antioquia. The museum has both modern and cultural art from Colombia as well as a few special international exhibits. We were particularly fond of the Colombian pottery exhibit and the Botero room (my favorites were his depictions of Pablo Escobar and Marie Antoinette).
After our visit to the museum, we were famished. We headed down the walk towards Govindas, the Hare Krishna restaurant. Hare Krishna in Medellin? Yup, that’s correct. It was perfect for us: vegetarian buffet for only $4 USD each! Our seats overlooked a church square, which allowed us to eat our lunch at a leisurely pace while watching the crowd below.
After lunch, we strolled down the street towards the old train station. We passed through the Plaza Cisneros and continued on towards the library EPM.
We wanted to check out Arvi, a mountaintop park that we’d heard had amazing views. Medellin is situated in a valley of the Andes Mountains. Parts of the city extend upward onto the hills. The city has built two cable car lines into the metro system. To get to Arvi, we planned to take the metro to the metro cable car and then catch the tourist cable car to the park. So… we hopped back on the metro.
After disembarking the train, we followed the crowd into the cable car line that moved fast as people loaded into the cars. It was amazing to us that this was public transportation, and these cable cars are the part of many people’s daily commute.
As we floated up alongside the mountain, we couldn’t stop exclaiming about the view. Unfortunately, at this point, the tourist cable car that continued on to Arvi had closed for the day. We decided to get out and walk around the neighborhood. Walking on a side road, we stopped to take in another gorgeous view. Medellin is full of impressive high-rises, which are densely packed into a narrow valley. On either side of the city, steep, mountain slopes rise quickly into the sky. The city is truly breathtaking.
As the sun lowered in the sky, we headed back to our hotel. At the end of the day, we did not have a single complaint about Medellin.
Traveling in Colombia? See more of our Colombia adventures here
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