Fernando Botero is easily the most famous artist to come out of medellin.... famous for both sculpture and painting. a while back he donated a ton of sculptures to the city with the agreement that they had t0 be displayed outside so people could see and touch them, etc. they are in an area next to the museum called plaza botero. very cool place with amazing people watching. i could hang here for days on end.....
before coming here i had a clear picture in my mind that this is one city in the world i never really desired to visit. after being here for 5 days that picture couldnt be any further from the truth. i love this city! it is hands down my favorite in all of this trip and in the top 5 i've ever been to in my life. travelling its often said its the people you meet not the places. my experience here has been both. built in a huge valley surrounded by mountains with a river running thru it with the sides of the mountains built up with housing and the middle majority city. at night it lights up like a giant football field where both the field and bleachers are full of lights. view from outside of the city on top of the mountains looking down is spectacular! in the city itself you have steep roads better than san francisco, heavily green and comfy city neighborhoods like greenich village and the feel of barcelona with everyone taking help and friendly pills. not to mention absolutely beautiful women everywhere. the most friendly people ive met and a vibe that is radiant with good. im thinking maybe its because of old escobar oppression days and giant relief/thankfulness to be out of that and appreciating life to the fullest. who knows, but what i do know is i cant imagine anyone coming to this city and not loving it by the time they leave.
two cable car/ gondolas in the city that take you up the mountains with various stops in neighborhoods. there's also a rail line that runs the whole valley along side the river
juan is a biker and has travelled all of south america and a lot of north america. this summer he rode with his daughter, lina, to alaska from medellin and was going to return. unfortunately a moose changed his plan....it jumped out into the road causing him to crash into it. miraculously not a scratch on him! the bike not as lucky. can you imagine hitting a moose on a motorcyle? the story and pics.... fittingly.... wild
went to the ktm dealer here and had the brakes bleed and put on a new chain. they were great and had more 950 adventures i have seen at any dealer even in the states
medellin has the worlds largest red stone church and it is quite a sight. usually closed because of all the $$art an stuff.. they opened the doors just as we got there which was cool to walk in/around
the bike arrived a few hours late and then after we went thru all the customs, importatation process the whole day was shot but we decided to get out of the city anyway and headed toward medellin. the guy i am riding with has a contact there.
farc is still alive but extremely subdued due to the current presidents tough clean up process. there were a few times we would come accross soldiers on the road about every 100 yards. thats when you know you're in a farc zone, but they are not kidnapping now and i havent felt unsafe at all. exact opposite and much more relax than central america once out of bogota.
