The BIG Colombian Adventure

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Planning the trip

If opportunity doesn’t knock…..build a door.”
— Milton Berle

Here we are in Puerto Vallarta in January, 2019. We talk alot about travel. We considered Cuba or Italy, but settled on Colombia, mainly because of the ease of getting to other Latin American countries from Mexico. Many of our friends have traveled there and said it to be a beautiful country. So we leave from Mexico City on December 31 and the first stop is Medellin. It will be hot and humid and a far cry from the dry climate of Central Mexico.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Final post on Colombia…..

All good things must end and Colombia has been a very good thing!

Living the last couple of weeks in El Laguito provided a whole different take on Cartagena. The beach is basically out your window and the cool breezes keep you comfortable pretty much all day. Of course, the best time to enjoy the beaches are early in the morning when life is just beginning….

El Laguito apartment

Simple, but comfortable and more importantly, we always had water for a shower and air conditioning!!

El Laguito is about an hour’s walk to the walled city, so mainly we stayed close to the apartment and enjoyed the neighborhood.

We decided to do the Getsemani Tour, even though the Gastronomy Tour took in part of that barrio.

These are **NOT** my favorite amphibian!

We played bridge at the very lovely apartment, of the very lovely….Cici.

When we first came to El Laguito, we met Martin. He is a bridge player as well. He also is in the hospitality business and set us up with an amazing tour to Isla del Pirata. It’s part of the Rosario Islands and about an hour by launch. On the way, the water was a bit choppy but it was do-able. The tour included a traditional Colombian lunch of fried fish, coconut rice, plantain and a salad and was quite delicious. The day was exceptional.

On the way back, later that afternoon, they knew the ocean would be too choppy and took a different route back through a channel on the Magdalena River. Problem with that is, it is a very shallow channel, as you can see people standing in waist high water. They would hop on the launch and direct the captain the safest way to crawl through without damaging their boat.

Mark celebrated another spin around the sun on February 22 with a Perro Caliente!

We only had a few days more to enjoy this remarkable country and I have to say I was in no hurry to leave. Falling asleep to waves crashing out the window won’t be replaced for some time..……sigh. A couple of last photos before we return to Mexico on Monday! It will be a grueling 12-14 hour travel day until arriving in San Miguel in the wee hours on Tuesday morning..….whew! tired already:)

“masseuse on the loose” on the beach!
2 at the same time….pretty awesome 30 minutes!

Ciao from Colombia!

Bogota and Cartagena

There wasn’t a lot that I wanted to see in Bogota and you could do it in 3 days, but I chose to stay 5 days, mainly to recuperate from traveling! Bogota is a megalopolis of about 10 million people. Traffic is horrendous because it has no Metro system. Although, the bus system is quite advanced, there are just so many cars and of course, people.

One of the things I wanted to see was Monserrate, which is situated high above the city of Bogota. Many people, on Sundays, actually do a pilgrimage by walking up the mountain. I chose the Funicular:)

I did a walking tour with a group on Friday, a great introduction to the city of Bogota.

The Gold Museum, where they used to make Colombian money.

On Saturday, I did the graffiti tour and though it was good, it was nothing compared to Comuna 13 in Medellin.

You’ll notice some graffiti on top of the original graffiti makes note that not all gringos are welcome. They welcome refugees though from Venezuela and it was explained they do that, because one day, Colombia may need help. Although, without permission graffiti is illegal and if caught you will have to pay a fine.

The last full day in Bogota (Sunday) and I had to go see the National Palace, the Botero Museum (a little Muro and Picasso also) and just do last day wanderings.

The Palace grounds and the guards who were suppose to change, but, alas not today. The Palace is called Casa Narino.

Then it was off to Cartagena to meet up with Mark. The architecture is absolutely lovely. The photos are taken inside the Walled City and then a beach area.

Boco Grande, a very wealthy area of Cartagena

We did a walking tour with Edgar and learned a lot about slavery in Colombia, which was quite prevalent in Cartagena because of building the fortifications around the city. They were built in the 16th century to be a source of protection from the UK and Sir Francis Drake.

We found a couple of people to play bridge with too!

We hiked up to Castillo de San Filippi…The Spaniards needed to fend off the British and in 1657 they finished building this fortress on the hill of San Lazaro, taking control of the only access point to the city from the mainland.

We did the Cartagena Bay sunset cruise and a day trip to Playa Blanca, unbeknownst to us, to get to a really nice beach you must travel about an hour.

Then it was off to the city to do a little wandering and painting.

We did the Gastronomy Tour. It took us to the Getsemani neighborhood. Seems we got a Graffiti tour also. It’s a great little hip area.

We have been away from Mexico for 6 weeks and with only 2 more weeks to go in lovely Colombia, we are moving to a condo in another area. The air b n b we booked had a few shortcomings, like….. sometimes a shower, sometimes not. Air conditioning sometimes, sometimes not. No coffee maker, a constant odor of greasy food being prepared……. So our host, Fernando, is moving us to his other property for the remainder of our stay. We will be in the El Laguito neighborhood.

Jerico & Beautiful Medellin

Jerico is a wonderful, colorful, small city with a population of about 11,000….with 17 churches and they are not small ones! The surrounding valleys amid the Andes are spectacular. But getting there was an adventure. First, the road construction for about a 1/3 of the way and then ‘Mario Andretti’ behind the wheel! He barely slowed for hairpin turns, which were every 10 seconds! It wasn’t a big bus, but an 8 passenger van and you felt most every bump as we and our luggage flailed from side to side around the corners:) But then you get there…..

I opted to do something I hadn’t tried for about 15 years… horseback riding. But to get there…..this guy had to take me on this….he kept saying, “tranquilla, tranquilla”. Longer than not being on a horse, I’ve not been on a Moto!! I held on so tight, he knew I was scared!

Then we got to the horse part….and again “tranquilla, tranquilla”. One of the guides attached my lead to his horse for about half of the ride…then I got the hang of it and the horse and I became amigos:) Actually, I think it was the Club Colombia!

I went to the Botanical Gardens and Morro del Salvador before heading back to Medellin, which I requested a “Big Bus”. The ride was uneventful….Yay!

Getting back to Medellin and the familiarity of the city was a pleasure. We rescheduled our tour of Communa 13, at one time the most dangerous neighborhood in Medellin. Photos below and a little of the history.

Part of the Graffiti Tour with Juan Jose (in the red hoodie) our guide

It has a complicated history. The land surrounding Medellin was a farming community, conducive to growing many fruits and vegetables. The struggle for power between the guerrilla forces and the para military (the group the government set up to combat the guerrillas) was won by the guerrillas, resulting in these poor farmers being displaced because their land was taken from them. The only place they could afford to live was up in these mountains. They constructed wood houses, later brick. The poverty led to illegal drugs and weaponry. Then the guerrillas and para military banded together against the government! When the government retaliated with tanks in Operation Orion, many innocent people lost their lives. It wasn’t until 2006 that the government stepped in to help Comuna 13. Since then the “escalators” were built that helped people get around in these high elevations. Graffiti in these areas brings in tourists and helps the community thrive. Their art tells the story of their struggles and it is changed every 1-2 years giving many artists ability to express themselves. The government has set up free programs for children in the area to keep them reaching goals that were virtually impossible a few years ago.

We hadn’t explored a couple of neighborhoods that were recommended by my Colombia book, so we went to Prado. This was “THEE” place to live in the 50s and 60s because it represented the Spanish influence on Medellin from those who migrated from Spain. Poblado is the “NOW” neighborhood. But the renovations have begun in Prado to revitalize the neighborhood and it seems there is construction everywhere in the area. Check out the slides below.

On a whim, we decided to take the bus to Barbosa, a pueblo North of Medellin only about an hour away. Population 25,000. Returning to Medellin, we stopped at Parque Berrio to see the Uribe Palace known as a cultural center celebrating the arts.

Photos follow.

Saturday we booked a Coffee Tour close to Medellin. First they showed us the Laboratory where they sort and roast. Then took us to La Finca (the farm) where they grow the beans. We learned a lot about coffee production that day!

The ripe bean has a cherry like appearance and actually tastes sweet, like a cherry. It takes about 18 months from seedling to harvest and they produce for about 30 years. This is an organic farm…..no pesticides or chemicals of any kind. These coffee connoisseurs are very proud of the product they farm and rightly so. They belong to a Federation that regulates coffee production. They have stringent requirements to meet and a reputation to maintain to bring the world the famous Colombian coffee. BTW, there is no Juan Valdez, just a made up character with a Burro:)

That’s all I got on Medellin. Bogota is next for me, I will enjoy 5 days there and then meet up with Mark in Cartagena for the rest of our time in Colombia.

Hasta Luego!

We are old pros now……

We have the metro system down pat. It takes you all over the city and is quite inexpensive @ .75 usd and it usually is connected with parks or attractions that you want to visit. Yay Us!

Guatepe is a couple of hours out of Medellin and we did a day trip to see the famous “Rock of El Penol”. (Guatepe was the original capital of Antioquia, not Medellin). It was an 11 hour day with driving time. The ride was absolutely stunning and our guide, Sander, was very knowledgeable. Slides below.

It’s millions of years old, weighs in at an estimated 10 million tons, is more than 200m high and has a curious history. The rock was first climbed officially in July 1954, when Don Luis Eduardo Villegas Lopez and a couple of others scaled it by using the cracks in the rock!! It took them 5 days and people thought they had lost their minds. It still isn’t clear how they were able to do it. It has 2 “plates” that came together eons ago and that allowed for building a staircase of @ 700 steps. What is so interesting about this area, in more recent times is that it is near the 2nd largest river in Colombia, called Cauca. The government of Colombia offered to buy out the homes in El Penol and build a dam that would supply energy to Medellin and beyond and in fact, it does provide 30% of power to all of Colombia. The men of the city agreed, however the women of Penol wanted more than that. This was in the 60s, talk about brave women! They didn’t just want to be relocated…..they wanted a complete town. 10 years passed and finally the government gave in and built an entire town in one year. Of course, there was this “Rock”. The Lopez family bought it and the enterprising guy had steps built to go to the top and said people would pay to climb it and I did….and so it is. There are about 3,000 visitors per day….x $6 per person. You do the math:)

Then we went to Guatepe a sweet little town with great coffee and shops. The last photo is our tour group……from all over the world.

Visiting the city Guatepe with the numerous Zocolos

I had to include this photo from the coffee shop we stopped at…..the guy who did this is genius!

Saturday, January 13, we spent a relaxing day at the Botanical Gardens and the San Pedro Cemetery Museum and ended the day with “Charlies Angels” at the Cinema. On Sunday we found one of the longest standing Italian restaurants in Medellin called, Palazzetto D’ Italia . Delicious! All very close to Parque Bolivar.

We were a little disappointed that the Bridge Studio by Parque Bolivar closed with no notice of where they had moved…..but by researching on Facebook, we got a response from a woman named Claudia who said bridge is only one day a week on Tuesday. So, Tuesday we went…….. to the wrong location (of course!), but with the help of an extremely wonderful taxi driver and his ability to understand our limited Spanish, we arrived 5 minutes before they began. They are the most welcoming group. We were invited to a special event they were having at a members home in the country and offered transportation to get there. Here are some photos of the bridge club.

It continues to simply amaze me of the warmth of these Colombians!

The Bridge event on Thursday took precedence over the Walking Tour I had scheduled on the same day. Here are the photos. This was an extraordinary country home of Margarita. This house was actually the stable for their horses, now converted to a home, but not the big house, that was further up the road!! From the champagne reception to the Paella, appetizers…..wow! Oh and did I mention wine?? We played 28 hands, got 50.70%, good % for us and the players were so fun and welcoming.

I needed to see more of Colombia, so I traveled south to Jerico, a small city known for it’s many churches, hiking and coffee. Next post will include photos.

Settling in…..week 2

Going to a country you’ve never been before can be a little daunting. What neighborhood is safe, how are you going to figure out their money system, the language thing or how are we going to get from point A to B? Although it is quite exciting, it also pretty much takes you out of the box. The one thing that I have consistently found is this: we are all the same, we are people all inhabiting the same planet with the same desires as everyone else and let me say, the Colombian people that we have met are unbelievably kind, loving, helpful and patient. We have visited many of the neighborhoods and El Centro, where we are, is simply wonderful! It’s flat, one block from the tram which takes you to the Metro, it has Mom and Pop stores EVERYWHERE and the humble Columbians that live here are just so nice. We love the neighborhood. Of course, you need to be careful. Of course, you don’t walk alone at night. Just normal safety precautions. Because there is this……

Homeless on the streets…they drop anywhere.

But, then there is this…..look at this cute minimalist apartment…

Everything you could possibly want…including a wash machine with drying capabilities!!

We went to Parque Explora and enjoyed a full afternoon there. Here are some photos. This is a wonderful place for kids especially. My grandson, Leo could of spent a week there!

January 7….I went to paint at a little coffee shop that is near Parque Bolivar. It was quiet when I came, but soon became busy and decided to go to the old National Palace…same thing…really busy…but I found a quiet spot and journaled…after a 3 hour adventure I figured it was time to return…..of course, got confused and walked an extra 30 minutes. I got to see a part of Medellin I would have never seen:)

This is Sebastian, he knows us very well. We stop almost everyday for a beverage where he works. He’s always happy to see us.

Today is Zoo day! January 9. It was refreshing to be out of the hot Colombian sun, shaded by beautiful foliage. A collage of photos below.

Being relatively close to the Mercado del Rio, we took a look at the huge food court and it’s copious amounts of wine!

It is said there are 600,000 motorcycles in Medellin and they drive fast here. Guess there is one less now……..….thankfully the cyclist was fine and was assessing the damages to his bike.

Food has been simply delicious and very reasonably priced…..I wonder……. how all these Columbian Chicas stay so fit!!

Today we’re visiting the Antioquia Museum in Plaza Botero and then off to Pueblito Paisa. Fernando Botero was a prolific painter/sculptor and the museum is nicely done with much of his work. Photos below.

Pueblito Paisa is a mock Antioquian village situated atop Cerro Nutibara, a hill occupying a central location in the Medellin valley, with amazing views.

So ends a 2nd week of learning a lot about the city of Medellin and Colombia itself. Ciao for now!

The First Few Days…….

December 31 began our adventure to Colombia. We left San Miguel for Mexico City to catch our flight. Landing in Medellin at about 10:30 pm was a welcomed relief after starting the day of travel at 9 am. Our first job was to get Colombian pesos at the airport. Four ATMs didn’t work and we needed pesos to get to our apartment. Finally Mark found one that actually gave him money. But, this is a weird form of currency to us, everything is in millions! He thought he was getting like a $100 US, unfortunately all that came out was 1 bill! I tried and I got a handful, it was like a slot machine. We didn’t know if we had enough for a taxi, but we needed a taxi! It’s about 11 pm now. I walked up to a fellow having a coffee and asked in my broken Spanish, how do we get a taxi. He talked fast and I caught none of what he said. Turns out of all the people I could of asked…..he was, in fact a taxi driver. Of course, being the untrusting sort that I am, I was very leery. We asked how much and he replied 100,000.

What??? It sounded as if he was asking for a down payment on a house! By now, Mark had taken out more money from the machine and he, being the trusting sort, showed him his handful of bills! He picked (5)20 mil bills, which equaled $30 US, the going price for a taxi. Whew!….We did have enough and thank God, we did have an honest cabbie. Arriving to our cute little apartment was such a relief. It was NYE, almost midnight and there were parents with their kiddos on our street eating and listening to very loud music. This was the view from the 15th floor of the Torre Monserrate, our home for the next month.

The next day was New Years Day and it seemed nothing was open. We needed food! On the street we met a young man, we later found out lived in our building and his name was Phillipe. We asked…where can we have breakfast?? He replied, “most everything is closed.” But he motioned us to follow him and we did. The first place was only sweets. He saw we were not impressed and walked with us to another place. Then we asked….Where is the Metro?? He motioned us on, but we were hungry and wanted breakfast. We did find the metro, however a bit later. It has large windows and even though crowded we found it a great way to see the city. We headed North to Niquia. I was seated next to a woman about my age and she begin speaking to me. I did understand much of what she said. When we got closer to the Acevedo station she told me we could go on the gondolas at no extra charge and then I lost what she was saying after. A young man, overhearing our conversation asked, “did you understand?” “Mostly”, I replied. Then he told me when you get to the Santo Domingo station you can go over the mountain to Parque Arvie. Thanks so much, young man!

Medellin itself is at about 4,000 feet and btw, a very steep city. As the city expanded, informal neighborhoods—usually unauthorized, unplanned, and unserved by city government—climbed up the slopes of the Medellín River valley. The mostly poor people in neighborhoods like Santo Domingo and Popular faced horrible commutes to jobs downtown. The roads were too narrow and steep for decent bus service. In 2004 the city pioneered a new kind of mass transit, a fast-moving urban gondola system called Metrocable that carries commuters from the hills directly to the light-rail station at the valley floor. The cars, which each hold eight passengers, speed up the hills on a cable at 10 miles an hour. Stations are dropped right in busy and jam-packed city neighborhoods. Line K has 30,000 riders each day, and cuts commute times in half or more. They are very popular with tourists, since they offer amazing views of the city.

Once we got over the mountain (about a 20 minute ride up, up and more up:)) viewing fields, farmers and their horses, we arrived at Parque Arvie. It’s elevation is about 8000 ft. It is a natural oasis with over 50 miles of hiking trails. There are also guided tours. I wasn’t dressed for the colder temperatures up that high and opted not to hike. There are also tiendas where you can buy local crafts, coffee and fruits.

It was a wonderful experience….and I imagine we would have experienced it at some point, but we got to do it that day!

The next day, we wandered…..to Botero Plaza

Senor Botero did not plan on being a sculpture, but civil unrest in the country helped him along. He was making a political statement. Sculpting these enormous figures to show that the politicians appear to be doing big things, but in reality are not. I don’t think anyone from the US can really relate to that, right? They say here, that if you touch his statues…at least a couple of them in certain areas, you will have an improved love life:)

Also in this area is one of the oldest churches in Medellin, Iglesia de la Veracruz.

And this beautiful building is the Raphael Uribe Palace of Culture in Botero Plaza.

On January 3, we decided to check out the wealthiest area of Medellin called Poblado. It had some really cool looking condos/apartments, but didn’t have the charm of the typical Colombian neighborhoods we had seen. I included a little graffiti on the way to the Museo Castillo.

We arrived at the beautiful Museo Castillo and it was amazing. Got a tour in….Spanish, but I understood a lot of it:)

January 4, I did the walking tour with Sebastian of iGUIDEyou. We began at the Poblado Station and then took the Metro South to Ayura station and traversed the Alpujarra administrative district. It was a very informative tour. Columbians are very proud of the progress Medellin has made after the whole Narco problem with Escobar. These are photos of the group and the tour.

Young travelers from Romania, Germany, Australia, France, Belgium, Norway, Uruguay, Canada, Romania, Panama, Norway and me, Mexico!

This is Plaza Libertad. Many protests have been held here because of the violence in the country. It serves as a reminder to Colombians that it must never happen again.

Below is a photo of the Old train station and our guide, Sebastian.

A Cuban engineer, Francisco Javier Cisnero, was determined to have a rail system. The State of Antioquia, which is where Medellin is located, is geographically too steep. It began in 1874 and finished in 1929, and it wasn’t too long before it began to decline. Most of the country today does not have a railway system.

We finished off the tour at the former National Palace, which is now a shopping mall!

It’s been a busy few days! January 4 we finished the night going to the famous Christmas light event at Parque Norte. It’s hard to photograph ALL of these lights, but here are a couple that will help show the event. We did the Gondola ride once more before ending the night and quietly watched city life from way up and then, with our tired “dogs”, went home:)

El Alumbrado

So ends our first few days in Medellin!

Mark and I met in Mexico

Little did either one of us know that moving to Mexico would lead to romance:) We met at the Bordello Bridge Studio in San Miguel de Allende. I had a plan long before coming to Mexico to travel the world for one year. It started out that way, but ended when I experienced San Miguel. My one year of travel ended after 6 months in this beautiful colonial city. 1 year later I met Mark, he likewise likes travel and so our first adventure as a couple was Oaxaca, Guadalajara, then Puerto Vallarta and lastly Guatemala. Now, we are off to Colombia for two months. Medellin and in February Cartagena.