Medellin
The "City of Eternal Spring," Medellin is a beautiful city with a pleasant year-round climate and surrounded by verdant green mountains. Founded in 1616 by Spanish Jews escaping the Inquisition, Medellin and the surrounding Antioquia department was colonized by farmers with small haciendas not utilizing slave labor. As a result, Paisas or Antioquenos as they are called, are characterized as hard workers and fiercerly independent. This is reflected in every aspect of the culture here including the food, architecture, and urban planning. Medellin's beauty is not just limited to its physical location; a narrow valley bisected by the Rio Medellin about 1500m above sea level. The buildings here are designed with both form and function. You can find a well landscaped park every few blocks. Public art is common throughout the city and now mandatory for new construction in certain areas. It boasts the only metro system in Colombia which also is a testament to its fine infrastructure. With the second largest population in Colombia of 2.4 million, the only thing Medellin suffers from is an inferiority complex from its larger brother, Bogota. Now, it is hard to believe that Medellin used to be one of the most dangerous cities in the world dominated by Pablo Escobar's cartel and the mecca for cocaine trade in the world.
El Centro
One of many suspension bridges in the city.
This 300 year old building was converted into a mall by adding a glass roof over the former courtyard.
Rodrigo Arenas Betancur's "Monumento a la Vida."
Four bottles of aguardiente with the Ecuadorians...........
............equals liquid courage with my newly found and near perfect understanding and speaking of the Spanish language.
Snails for sale in the park.
Not your average-sized garden snail, huh? The 500 pesos is about the size of a nickel.
Looks good from the rear, right? Wait till you see the front.
You won't find a camel toe on this beauty. Only a huge Adam's apple and a ripe banana ready to rip out of its hammock.
Like a muse from ancient Greece, I was mesmerized by this natural beauty. No camel toe here either.
Guy or girl? Maybe a girl if she is related to Bigfoot. Check the size of those kicks.
So if you are wondering why I am showing all these pictures from San Francisco; I actually stumbled upon a gay parade in Medellin. Entertaining, scary and hilarious all at the same time.
Fernando Botero is Colombia's most famous artist. Born in Medellin, his art is characterized by abnormal fatness. Now living in Paris, his fondness for his hometown is evident by all the donated sculptures found throughout Medellin.
This sculpture called "The Bird of Peace" was ironically destroyed by a bomb during the cartel days. As a testament to the Colombian peoples resilience to narcoterrorism, Botero made another sculpture and erected next to this original.
In addition to the metro rail that runs North/South, Medellin also has an aerial tram connecting the neighborhoods to the east. Before the tram was installed, these neighborhoods were a haven for hit men and mobsters with police refusing to go into these neighborhoods. Now, the area has been cleaned up and I enjoyed walking back down the mountain after taking the tram up.
Not a Banksy, but talking pooh is always amusing.
Me and the crew at Blue.
El Centro
One of many suspension bridges in the city.
This 300 year old building was converted into a mall by adding a glass roof over the former courtyard.
Rodrigo Arenas Betancur's "Monumento a la Vida."
Four bottles of aguardiente with the Ecuadorians...........
............equals liquid courage with my newly found and near perfect understanding and speaking of the Spanish language.
Snails for sale in the park.
Not your average-sized garden snail, huh? The 500 pesos is about the size of a nickel.
Looks good from the rear, right? Wait till you see the front.
You won't find a camel toe on this beauty. Only a huge Adam's apple and a ripe banana ready to rip out of its hammock.
Like a muse from ancient Greece, I was mesmerized by this natural beauty. No camel toe here either.
Guy or girl? Maybe a girl if she is related to Bigfoot. Check the size of those kicks.
So if you are wondering why I am showing all these pictures from San Francisco; I actually stumbled upon a gay parade in Medellin. Entertaining, scary and hilarious all at the same time.
Fernando Botero is Colombia's most famous artist. Born in Medellin, his art is characterized by abnormal fatness. Now living in Paris, his fondness for his hometown is evident by all the donated sculptures found throughout Medellin.
In addition to the metro rail that runs North/South, Medellin also has an aerial tram connecting the neighborhoods to the east. Before the tram was installed, these neighborhoods were a haven for hit men and mobsters with police refusing to go into these neighborhoods. Now, the area has been cleaned up and I enjoyed walking back down the mountain after taking the tram up.
Me and the crew at Blue.
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