As you should be aware by now, we have a routine for traveling days : leave the hotel, get some breakfast, hop in a bus, discover a new city in the afternoon !
After closed roads yesterday, we got construction today between Manizalès and Medellin, and we lost a lot of time. From 2 lanes they are making 4 in the next 5 years, winding on mountain slopes with sheer force of motivation and toggling traffic flow (every 30 minutes).
When we arrived at the South Terminal under pouring rain, we found a touristic information which was well beyond what we had had around here : a map with transportation and sights, a guide book, very useful advice in a very articulate Spanish… And the city has free WiFi almost everywhere. Tourism here is a serious thing. Same with accommodations : you can feel that a lot of young people travel here to party, the shared spaces are well cared for and decorated, the rooms are all reserved and the dorms are very small. Tough luck, tonight we sleep in bunk beds with a roommate, french like us, and tomorrow, we move !
That being said, this neighborhood is really nice : we are at El Poblado, part center, with streets lined of low houses with trees and street art, very different from the towers we saw on the way here. Bars and restaurants are everywhere, and we see a lot of foreigners. Since it mostly rained, we will tell you more tomorrow !
Night edition !
After writing the previous lines, we went out, first to eat, then to meet Lucas, a friend of a friend who lives here and offered to show us around. After a meal of ceviche and fancy rice, we had a beer at the park El Poblado and met a group of friends with whom we went to a bar for… dancing salsa !
Medellin, in some ways, is very much like a European city. Anyway this neighborhood for bars and parties could really be from a capital of the old continent, and we have, like at home, met new people, talked and drank… and danced salsa. OK, culturally, it doesn’t have the same presence here and there, so we weren’t as good as them, but our respective partners were really nice and it was a very pleasant evening.
Noting : here, too, are some sorts of fast-food restaurants, open late at night around bars for the party-goers. They seem pretty nice, especially for arepas, little rice and corn pancakes that you can eat anytime. They are fried and served with chocolate sometimes, or nature when served with chicken. Yummy !
PS : This article doesn’t have any pictures because of the bus, the rain and the night. Sorry guys, but that’s life !