My latest trip was to Medellín. It’s a city that many people rave about, for
its innovation, its friendliness and its climate (‘eternal Spring’).
I had another reason for going: I wanted to do a Spanish immersion course and
chose to do it in Medellín, thus combining both study and visiting.
The course was good, I liked the set up and teachers. I also complemented my immersion by living
with a local family, who don’t speak English – which also helped I
believe. Other students on the course
were from all over and there was an attempt made at school to speak Spanish
where possible.
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| my teachers |
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| happy resident dog: Luke |
Classes were in the morning and the afternoons were free for
cultural activities.
These ranged from
tours of the city, to cooking and dance classes.
Empanadas - with meat, potatoes and vegetables.
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| serve with a coriander salsa |
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| chefs! |
Aborrajado - stuffed platanos with cheese and bocadillo (sweet)
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| finished product, with seeping cheese - this dish is a desert |
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| chefs! |
I did two group classes and supplemented it with an extra day where we made Patacones.
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| ingredients |
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| flattening the platano |
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| before and after |
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| serve with a salsa |
I also visited the Plaza Botero which has many of his statues (he donatated a large proportion of his collection to the city and its museums for people to have access).
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| Botero statue in front of the Palacio de la Cultura |
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| Mujer con Espejo |
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| I felt short next to his statues! |
One evening a few of us decided to visit 'Pueblito de Paisa' which is a model of an Antioquian village, with spectacular city views over Medellín. Paisa refers to people from Antioquia.
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| classmates overlooking Medellín around sunset |
One visit was to the Museo de Antioquia. The majority of the collection was of Botero's paintings. I'm not a huge fan of his paintings (but I love his sculptures) though some of his more 'modern' stuff was interesting.
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| A house of disrepute :) |
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| 'Pablo Escobar muerto' |
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| 'car bomb' |
Some of the afternoon trips involved parks or 'comunas' (neighbourhoods of the town). I hadn't managed to join them so one day I went to Parque Arvi (Santa Elena) with one of the teachers. We took the metro and then the metrocable (cable car) to rise the 1000+m from Medellín (which sits at about 1470m). The change in temperature was felt.
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| from metrocable |
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| views (of comuna 1) from metrocable |
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| views (of comuna 1) from metrocable |
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| at the midpoint of the metrocable with Esteban |
Santa Elena is known locally for its flowers and this is the starting point for the parade of silleteros in the Feria de las Flores.
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| Silleteros |
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| metrocable back down |
At the weekends some slightly longer day trips were
organised. We went to El Peñol de Guatapé and the town of Guatapé, a few hours east of Medellín. The rock is a natural rock formation that is privately owned and open to visitors to climb (I did not climb it but my classmates did).
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| El Peñol |
The towns of Peñol and Guatapé were relocated in order to create this reservoir, whose hydro pumps supply 30% of Colombia's electricity.
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| overlooking the reservoir |
The relocated town of Guatapé is a colourful, touristy town. It's known for its 'zocolos': a bas-relief displayed at the foot of the houses. These represent anything from historical elements of the town to flowers or daily life objects.
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| Guatapé zocalos |
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| Guatapé zocalos |
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| Guatapé zocalos |
We spent the afternoon there enjoying lunch and the scenery.
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| entrance to Guatapé |
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| entrance to Guatapé |
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| Guatapé fountain and church |
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| classmates in front of Guatapé church |
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| Guatapé buildings |
Every August Medellín hosts the Feria de las Flores (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_the_Flowers)
A highlight of this is the 'silleteros' procession. Historically these were chairs used by Colonialists using their slaves to carry them. Eventually they were used for transporting flowers from Santa Elena to the city centre (a good 2 hour hike) where they sold their flowers.
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| zocolo showing original silleteros |
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| preparing a silletero for the Feria de las Flores |
A short stroll through the town led to more colourful squares.
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| classmates on steps being overlooked by a giant tuna |
The Feria de las Flores is a big deal here and one of the malls even decorated its open spaces.
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| flower display in Santa Fe Mall |
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| flower display in Santa Fe Mall |
For my last weekend we visited Santa Fe de Antioquia, a few hours northwest of Medellín and in 'tierra caliente' which basically means a place with a warmer climate (by a good 10-15 degrees). This is a colonial town which was once the capital of Antioquia. The region has many tamarind trees and tamarind based goodies were for sale throughout the town.
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| markets selling tamarind products |
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| Santa Fe de Antioquia scenery |
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| Church for the Virgen de Chiquinquirá |
Whilst there we visited one of the hotels where there was a 'tradition' of trying on hats.
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| hat modelling in the Mariscal hotel |
We also enjoyed some wonderful coffee there and were given a demonstration on how to make coffee and avoid burnt, bitter coffee.
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| enjoying coffee with Amber at hotel Mariscal |
After having visited the town, its museum and eaten lunch we went to the Puente de Occidente, a suspension bridge linking the east and west over the river Cauca.
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| Puente de Occidente |
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| Puente de Occidente |
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| Anderson and I waiting for the others crossing the bridge |
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| Rio Cauca |
My visit to Medellín has been a taste of the area. I'm sure to visit again sometime.
