Colombia Part Two: Medellin
I’ll be honest with you, Medellin was not my favorite city. It is arguably the more interesting of the two Colombian cities on our itinerary but I just did not connect with her. Maybe it had something to do with all the freaking mosquitoes. Maybe it had something to do with all the hills that made it difficult to get from point A to point B. Maybe it had something to do with all the relentless rain! It definitely had something to do with living in Poblado. Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful neighborhood. It is super lush and super green (probably thanks to all the rain) but for me, it lacked a lot of character.
To say that Medellín was not my favorite does not mean it is a terrible city or a city not worth visiting. And to be honest, I could have made much more of an effort to leave Poblado and spend some more time in other neighborhoods so it is certainly a two-way street. However, every month on Remote Year is a great month and here are some reasons why it was:
To Eat
Okay, so this is probably one of the top reasons Medellin did not rank high on my favorites city list: The food options in the area are super trendy and super pricey, at least in comparison to Bogotá and Lima. While the trendy restaurants and cafes have really good food and really good coffee, there just wasn’t anything Colombian about it.
Still, the tacos at Criminal Taqueria are fun and affordable. Go on a Tuesday and ask which tacos are part of their Taco Tuesday 2 for 1 deal. At $1 a taco, it really doesn’t get better than this. Their steak tacos are solid but their pastor was my favorite — probably because of the grilled pineapples. Try the habernero sauce but don’t be alarmed if they start freaking out when you go ham on the sauce, Colombians really can’t take spice.
Noms on some vegetarian pizzas at Cafe Zorba. Before you dismiss this, this was actually my favorite pizza place all year. Not only was the thin crust perfectly baked, the ingredients were simple and delicious and cost only ~25,000 Colombian Pesos. That’s only $7 per pizza pie! Don’t forget to snack on some of their sides dishes, including some of the best patatas bravas I’ve ever had and that is saying something because I’m a super big potato critic. Pro-tip: Come around 7:15pm on Wednesday nights to snag a seat for the 8:00pm live music.
Lastly, my favorite restaurant in Medellín and the one I will most definitely go back again was Alambique. This little green oasis serves Colombian food with a slight creative twist. All the items on the menu are sharable and their flavors are spot on. No reservations required during early weekday lunch or evening hours, but it does get packed during the weekend. This “meatball” platter was absolutely divine.
But perhaps the most innovative meal that I had in Medellín was at the house of this lovely couple who founded Cocina Intuitiva, or roughly translated, intuitive cuisine, a company founded in an effort to educate Colombians about their own food culture, revive some of the lost recipes of Colombians and start to build a national cuisine.
This was probably one of the highlights of my entire month and one of those events where the value of Remote Year really shines through. There was no way I would have found out about this experience on my own and not only that, I truly really felt closer to the community. I saw Colombian food in a different way and really hope Colombians can make a comeback in their cuisine. It also inspired me to look into my Hakka culture and think about all the recipes that will be lost if I do not learn them and pass them down to my family or friends. I highly highly recommend this experience for anyone visiting Medellin. To find out more, please visit/contact their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cocina.intuitiva/
And lastly, for my coffee sippers and sitters, I can recommend Pergamino Cafe, AltaGracia Restaurante, Velvet Cafe and Ceres Organic Market in Poblado and Amati Cafe, Cocolatte Café, and El Café de Otraparte in Envigado. Enjoy!
To See
Walk through Botero Plaza and admire all the different works of Fernando Botero, whom I first heard about in Bogotá but is actually a Paisa, or someone who is born in Medellín. The statues here are very characteristic of Botero’s exaggerated artwork but perhaps the most significant piece of artwork is a bit of a walk away, at the gritty park of San Antonio. Here, you’ll find two identical statues by Botero placed side by side.
Back in 1995, at the base of one bird statue was an act of terrorism, 22 pounds of dynamite, which exploded during an outdoor concert, killing 30 people and left more than 200 injured. The leftist guerrilla group FARC claimed responsibility for the bombing as an attack on Botero’s son, Colombian’s then-defense minister, for not engaging in negotiations with FARC. In 2000, Botero donated a new identical bronze bird and insisted the original statue remain in the plaza as a reminder of Medellin’s past but more importantly, of Medellin’s peaceful future. However, please do be careful at this park and try to not linger too long after the sun sets.
Retreat to a weekend getaway in the country and visit Guatape. Make a pit stop and climb the 650 steps up El Peñon de Guatape and enjoy the incredible view from atop.
Definitely book a graffiti tour to experience Comuna 13. Unfortunately, I did not like the tour company I went with so I cannot recommend them but I will warn you that many might sell you a tour of Pueblito Paisa and a ride up the cable cars before arriving at Comuna 13 and I would personally skip the first two.
To Do
Pueblito Paisa is a little mini town built from scraps of a once existing town that was evacuated to build a dam but it is very touristy and has only five semi-functioning buildings in total. As far as the cable cars, they honestly just took us up and back down — something one can easily on one’s own. (To get these views, I recommend taking an Uber up to Parque Arvi and then taking the cable cars down to admire the views).
Comuna 13 really is something beautiful. Just ten years ago, it was considered one of the most dangerous areas of Medellin. Today, it is known for their graffiti murals, street performances and walking tours. Completely outfitted with a metro cable and outdoor escalators, these few transportation fixes opened up a lot of opportunity for its residents and is credited to resolve the crime and violence as well. Other than the impressive array of artwork you’ll see here, Comuna 13 is also special in its symbol of Colombia’s amazing urban transformation. Make a point to visit with a local. I did some research after my crappy tour and found that Zippy Tour guides all grew up in Comuna 13 — might make for a more interesting perspective on the barrio.
Regardless of which tour you decide to go with, please do not miss two stops: the sugar cane juice before you even head into Comuna 13 (you can’t miss the family splitting the sugar cane underneath a tent) and the mango popsicles at the beginning of the escalators.
Book a free walking tour with Real City Tours to learn more about the city from people who were born and grew up in Medellín! Let them take you through the historical center and show you how the locals live.
Play a round of Tejo at Tejo in Medellin. What is tejo? This long time favorite Colombian past time is sort of like corn wall with explosives. Yup, that’s right. Explosives.
Eat all the fruits on the Exotic Fruit Tour with Real City Tours. This was probably my top 3 favorite activity in Medellin. We spent a few hours exploring Minorista, eating over 12 different types of fruits and interacting with the locals. Many locals might tell you it’s dangerous to visit the market but what we learned from our tour guide is that the violence that once consumed the market is the reason why locals still fear it, even though the market is very safe, with a police station located directly in the market and tons of video cameras on every corner. Part of the hope that Real City Tours has is to show locals that if gringos can walk around in the market, they can too.
Probably my second favorite activity in Medellin: go on a coffee tour with Zorbas Cafe. Visit an original coffee hacienda that brings together the best of Antioquia’s natural environment and local culture. Learn the process from tree to cup and experience first hand the process of what harvesting coffee beans means to the farmes, arrieros (people that pick coffee beans for a living) and coffee consumers in Colombia and beyond. Lastly, eat a delicious sudao, a traditional Colombian Farmer Meal — finally, real Colombian food!
And lastly, the most memorable activity during that trip and perhaps even on Remote Year was the backdoor Parque Arvi hike with Sam and Sergio. It was the most memorable because it was the most miserable seven hours of physical activity I have ever felt in a very long time. The hike itself really wasn’t too difficult, I was just mentally and utterly done with hikes since my my week in Cusco and I was just completely unprepared. Unprepared for how long the hike would take (5 hours vs 3) and therefore ran out of water and food a quarter of the hike in and unprepared for the rain that lasted three hours. But strangely enough, it’s the adventures like these that I’ll remember forever and why I’ll always and forever love oreos from this day forward.
Originally published at https://allthingslil.net on May 20, 2019.
