Tuesday 12th December

 We started out with a walk through the teeming center of Medellin viewing some of the old and new buildings as well as the churches.

A longer and more detailed description of the city of Medellin is contained in the following Wikipedia link.

City of Medellin

Then we boarded the snazzy new Metro which runs above ground on two lines one east/west and one north/south. 

We arrived at the start of the Metro Cable Car which is a most remarkable affair. Boarding the still moving cars you are transported over two mountains with spectacular views of the crammed residential area below as well as much of the city spread out below.

We got off the cable car at Comuna 13. There we met Mara, a young resident of the area, who was to be our guide to this incredible area which has been transformed from one of the most dangerous places in Colombia or even the world, into a haven for art and culture and safe living. The story is quite amazing and transformative.

The descriptions we were given are far too long and detailed for me to write here but the entry in Wikipedia is also too long to copy and paste here but is well worth reading:

Medellin Comuna 13

This link shows some of the amazing street art:

Comuna 13 Street Art

Mara explained in Spanish which was translated by our guide Juan-Diego, the tale of his participation in the bad times and transition to ambassador for the revived and rejuvenated area by virtue of hip-hop, street art and the strength of the young people to regain their homes from the drug lords, Pablo Escobar and his ilk.

The area is served both by the cable car and also by a remarkable series of escalators which take one up and down the hills upon which the Comuna stands. The street art is of the highest quality and has many meanings within it which were explained to us by Mara. Basically, it was known as the 'Revolution of Love'.

After we had a very tasty lunch in a small, cramped restaurant within Comuna 13, we descended from Comuna 13 and we strolled through the streets and the Botero Square where 23 sculptures by the artist, who was a Medellin resident for much of his life. When the Botero Museum was sited in Bogota and not Medellin, Botero decided to give the 23 sculptures to his birth city, and they occupy a large plaza in the city center. Then it was back to the hotel to rest. After a hearty lunch we did not have a lot of appetite for dinner and MAC went into the mall for a snack.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday 13th December

  After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel in Medellin and drove to the small town of Santa Elena where we visited a flower farm and the tradition and culture of the Silliteros was explained to us by the most enthusiastic guide, Ignacio who showed us how flowers are inserted into a framework which is carried on the back of the contestants in a two-mile parade in August in the town of Santa Elena. Prizes are awarded in various categories. Some information about the history and derivation of the festival can be found here in Wikipedia: Flower Festival in Medellin Although the place we visited was not the actual flower farm, which is in a different location and much larger, this was where the arrangements for the parade were put together. We had lunch in a small restaurant in the town of Santa Elena and then drove to Medellin airport for our flight to Cartagena. At this point we said farewell to Armando who had shepherded us from our arrival in Colombia. A...
Read more

Colombia the country.

  This is a thumbnail sketch of Colombia courtesy of Wikipedia: Colombia  officially the  Republic of Colombia ,  is a country  mostly  in  South America  with  insular regions  in  North America . The Colombian mainland is bordered by the  Caribbean Sea  to the north,  Venezuela  to the east and northeast,  Brazil  to the southeast,  Ecuador  and  Peru  to the south and southwest, the  Pacific Ocean  to the west, and  Panama  to the northwest. Colombia is divided into 32  departments . The Capital District of  Bogotá  is also the  country's largest city  hosting the main financial and cultural hub. Other major urbes include  Medellín ,  Cali ,  Barranquilla ,  Cartagena ,  Santa Marta ,  Cúcuta ,  Ibagué ,  Villavicencio  and  Bucaramanga . It covers an area of 1,141,748 square kilometers ...
Read more

Sunday 10th December

  After breakfast, we rejoined the bus and drove to the small village of Salento. There we boarded old Willys Jeeps and drove into the Corcora Valley. There was lush vegetation on either side, and we arrived at a small cafe which was surrounded by wax palm trees. This is what Wikipedia has to say about them: Ceroxylon quindiuense , often called  Quindío wax palm , is a  palm  native to the humid montane forests of the  Andes  in Colombia and Peru. This palm species can grow to a height of 45 m (148 ft) —or rarely, even as high as 60 m (200 ft).   It is the tallest recorded   monocot   in the world.   The trunk is cylindrical, smooth, light colored, covered with wax; leaf scars forming dark rings around the trunk.   The   leaves   are dark green and grayish, 185–540 cm (6.1–17.7 ft) long, with a   petiole   up to 80 cm (31 in).   Fruits are globose and orange-red w...
Read more