Today we finally got to see Medellin by day !
This morning, we went for a stroll in El Poblado, much calmer by day than by night ! The buildings here are not very memorable, by the neighborhood gives of a cool vibe, and it feels very European. Even by day, you can’t help but notice this is the place to be for parties, given the density of bars around here !
We also noticed a lot of greenery around El Poblado (but also in other parts of town). You can find a lot of old trees in most streets, which means they took care not to destroy them while building the city.
This afternoon, we took the subway (which is the only in Colombia, even though it’s aerial). It took us quickly and efficiently to the city center. The subway is large and very clean, which is a shocking change from the bumpy and filthy buses.
In the city center, aside from several statues of Botero in the main plaza, we didn’t see anything noteworthy. This part of the city doesn’t really feel like the real center, but rather a poor neighborhood (they are quite many prostitutes and hobos, even near the main square). The disparity between the filthy streets and the very clean subway overhead made us think of Gotham City (in Batman, for the ignorants !).
For lunch (ok, it was more like a very late lunch, but we had eaten a very big breakfast !), we ate half a fried chicken with potatoes. So we had the opportunity to eat it like the locals, meaning with your hand in plastic gloves given by the restaurant (convenient, but a bit weird and not zero waste friendly !).
Today we also changed hostels (because the dorms without windows felt a lot like a prison, and were also expensive). Now we are in the pretty chic residential neighborhood of Aguacatala. This part is clearly blossoming, with big glass buildings under construction and very high end hotels (our new hostel is also very neat !)
To unwind after this long day, we went to watch a movie (it had been a while since we last set foot in a theater !). The theater was in this huge, huge mall (bigger than anything we’ve seen in Europe). It’s quite classy, evidently it’s much richer than the city center.
P.S : As you’ve no doubt noticed, we’ve changed our banner picture (so that we know both appear in it !). The picture might have been photoshopped a bit … 🙂