If somebody had told me Medellin would be the most tranquil place I would visit on this trip I would have been hesitant to believe. Yet, so far it is true. Over three days here I have seen little that could qualify as a tourist attraction. So with little must-see places I have just been relaxing.
I took a couple walks to downtown to see more Botero sculptures. The bird pictured here is popular because it was blown up by a bomb during the cocaine wars that occurred here during the reign of Pablo Escobar. Speaking of the drug lord, the city gives little attention to his legacy. I didnt see any Pablo T-shirts for sale or posters paying homage. The cocaine is prevalent but the former mastermind behind its use is not.
Medellin is a gorgeous place. The weather and beauty is like that of San Francisco, CA. It is set among rolling hills and views are available in nearly every area. The aesthetics of the terrain match the aesthetics of the Paisas who live on it. I spent a little time each day using the workout area pictured here. It is a make-shift gym just around the corner from my hostel. As the beach approaches I figured I needed to work off a bit of the food I have been devouring. Which leads me to another point, I am already a over budget. I didnt expect to be participating in this higher class living. Each hostel so far has been located in the more affluent areas, leading me to have to spend more on each meal. I am missing the tacos carts of Mexico.
I spent yesterday in front of the television. During the day I walked over to the Zona Rosa area to an American owned sports bar called Timeout. I witnessed the most violent episode I have ever encountered on a trip - the Eagles pounding the Cowboys out of playoff contention. The loss made me exhausted and figuratively sick so I took it easy for the night. I rewatched the latest Batman movie for the first time since Guatemala. The joker performance was just as good on the flat screen of the hostel as it was on the imax screen of the theater.Oh, and in my own defense of this leg of the trip seeming "boring," there was one night of partying until 6am. The sun is alot more beautiful as it rises after a long night out as opposed to an all-nighter to finish an exam paper.
So now I say goodbye to Medellin and head to Cartagena to try and find a place to sleep.
2 comments:
I classify traveling kings into three, enjoying, exploring, and enjoying-exploring. Enjoying traveling kings, mostly they are damn rich and just want to relax and have fun by enjoy different entertainment styles in the world. So they pick those different, yet happy and fun places to go. They never need to think of the price of hotels but just pick most expensive. And they never care about normal people's life. Exploring traveling kings, they go place not for relaxing or having fun but for investigating. They go some places because going there is their work and they have to go. Many researchers are this kinds of traveling kings. And specially if you were the guy that want to become a president for people, then you have to travel in this way too. The third type, namely enjoying-exploring, they combine both enjoying and exploring into their travel. So in one side, they relax both their body and mind by enjoy different spectacles in the world, yet based on their thinking background, they do investigation too.
I think you are the third type of traveling kings currently. I say this because in one side, you haven't exact work task for your travel but picked "improvisation" style, and you have been enjoying what you have seen. In the other side, you wanted to travel not only for fun, but also for exploring the world, and you had to planed the travel on both money and time aspects. Maybe someday you will travel as the second kinds of the kings.
I think the more you travel and the more exploring you do, the more spectacles of how human live in the world you will find out. Like in Medellin, you noticed there is tranquil. Maybe someday you can find out why it is tranquil. And actually most people in the world still live in places that tranquil because they still have to work for making living. Sometimes some places not tranquil not because some kinds of entertainments or sports, but because war.
By the way, I just know Botero little bit that exactly about he made human and animals very fat. So proud to see his fat bird work that you took.
Dear Roel,
New year eve comes little earlier here. With daughter, dog, bright candles, music, chocolate cake, and heater, combine with missing the rest of the family, and a lot memories, it is a very warm and touching evening.
You are maybe still on the way of going to Cartagena and your eve will come little late. Just want to say happy new year and best wishes for you in the new year.
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