Cartagena, Colombia (June 14-18)

Cartagena is unlike any other city in Colombia. It's a Caribbean city with the most charming and beautiful colonial historic district within the "Walled City". The beaches are terrible though. I had to take a boat one day to one of the islands to get a decent spot for swimming and sun bathing.  This is the last stop on my Mid-Life Crisis Big Adventure South American Tour.  I had debated with myself for about a week whether or not to go to Tayrona National Park, but in the end, I decided against it because of the prospect of a long hike to the beach in the intense heat and all the talk of mosquitoes.  I opted for four days  relaxation instead. In Cartagena. 

Below are some photos of the old town. 

Castillo de San Felipe is a fortress built in 1657 by the Spanish for protection against pirates while shipping gold out to Europe. 

Adventure over!!!

Provincetown, Fire Island, Italy, Spain, etc. next...

El Peñón de Guatapé

El Peñol is a huge rock (monolithic formation) located about two hours outside of Medellín in the town of Guatapé. 200 meters high with 659 steps, it has fantastic views from the top. 

The local town of Guatapé is one of the most colorful I've seen. Each building has tiles along the facade's lower walls in bright colors and dimensional images. Here are just a few. 

Medellín, Colombia

When you think of Medellín, you think of drug cartels, Pablo Escobar, wonderful weather, sculptures everywhere and very pretty women with certain, shall we say...enhancements. 

In the 90's Medellín was noted as the most dangerous city in world; more dangerous than Beruit. Due to its amazing recovery, it was recently named the most innovative city in the world. I took this great walking tour that explained so much of the culture, politics, conflict and recovery. Too much to go into here, but really fascinating.  One really interesting thing was that "we", the tourists, were the point of interest. Local people don't see many tourists. In fact, I didn't see any others that day. So the locals kept eavesdropping on what the guide was saying and would often stand right beside us. The next day, while I was on my own, I had only one tourist sighting, an English couple. People are still afraid to come here. But they shouldn't. 

What is evident in the city are the "new" spaces designed to convert the "worst" of the past (conflict, poverty, crime areas) to "new" spaces that are essentially signs of hope, peace and inclusion. Plaza of light is one example below of this renewal, known here as "democratic architecture". 

During the 1980's there was a local law mandating every new building to invest 5% of the budget in a work of art displayed to the public, usually a sculpture. The legacy is around 300 monuments and sculptures scattered throughout the city and the nickname of "City of Sculptures".  

Many of them are Botero's, who is claimed to be the world's most famous "living" artist. See his sculptures below and some paintings from the museum. Medellín is his hometown. Hard to believe these sculptures on the street are worth millions each. 

Also part of the renewal was the building of brand new metro system. There is a great cable car ride as an extension to the metro. It was built to connect the poorest area of the city, the mountain side, to the rest of the city.  It was a political act to prove the point that the government and city cares about its poorest citizens. It worked. These folks would have remained on the fringes with no access to employment and services. And "people on the fringes" is something this country cannot afford to have. It's an extremely poor area. See photos below. 

The weather here is almost perfect. Because of this Medellín is known as the "City of Eternal Spring".  It has beautiful parks and gardens everywhere. 

As for the women...it's true. They tell me that a common past-time for the men here is to play the "Fake or Real?" game. All I can say is that even the manikins look good!

Overall, Medellín is a GREAT city. Worth a visit.