Between Guatapé on the weekend, and arriving in Cartagena last Wednesday, we spent two and half non-stop days with Gloria, our host in Medellin. In addition to being our guide and cultural interpreter, she is a fantastic cook. Our best meals were at home, at her table, eating traditional Colombian cooking. A big breakfast, an even bigger lunch, and then out for some street food and an evening walk at night. All perfect.
First thing Monday morning, we headed for the market. We are trying to learn the names of all these fruits, which are sold everywhere--including on street corners, either cut up in plastic cups or as juice. At Gloria's house every meal starts with fruit--we just aren't always sure what fruit. But they are all delicious. Check out the rounds of cheese!
In the afternoon, we headed downtown to see the major sites in
El Centro. Medellín is a Smart City: I think they have joined the International Smart City movement some time in the past. I am just learning a bit about it as I go, but there is information here about the organization called
Medellín Ciudad Inteligente. If you are interested in how Medellín went from being controlled by the drug cartels to a world recognized city for innovation in social programming, part of the answer is here. It is worth following the link above to see more about it, even if you cannot understand all of it. Much is told in the pictures around the city. I used google to translate the page, so hopefully what comes up when you click on the link is in English.
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| Figures in Plaza Major, constructed of living plant material |
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| An eco-space in the plaza |
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| Pruning and deadheading while hanging from a rope, on one of 8 living walls at the Edificio Inteligente (Smart Eco-Building) |
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| An abundance of art in the plazas |
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| A Botero sculpture |
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The
Museo de Antioquia has a huge collection of Botero. And Plaza Botero in front has maybe a dozen large sculptures. Large sculptures of large people and animals. Really large. If you don't know Botero, consider a quick google to see some of the work. He says these images are not of fat people, but show volume. Okay, volume it is. You will recognize Botero when you see the work or at least the style; there is a great photographic display of the
Plaza and
Museo at
Plaza Botero and Museum Photos.
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| Story time at the children's library |
Pueblita is a replica of an Antioquian
puebla. It sits atop a hill and is another good example of how the history and culture of the Antioquian people are celebrated here. It's on top of a mountain, so the views of Medellin are spectacular.
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| Girlfriends |
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| Looking over the city; it's a 360 walk around |
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| El Pueblito |
We didn't know anything about this
Castillo but there are wonderful views from here too. We toured a museum (name escapes me, it's getting late) but missed seeing the formal gardens.
You really don't appreciate what this city is like unless you get up high and look across it all. I continued to be amazed at the site of the city sprawled out below us and riding up the sides of the mountains.
We ended this day walking to a neighborhood fast food cafe with some of Gloria's family. Before heading for bed, we practiced our colours with their little girl Maria-José, who parked herself on our bed, with her colouring book and pencils, and laughed as we tried to guess at what she was drawing. I don't know if it was the Spanish or us, but we had everyone in the house laughing too as we struggled to follow her instructions. With no one there who spoke much English we just bungled along. Good times.
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