Nestled in the Aburra Valley and surrounded by the Andes mountains, Medellin is a stunning city. Pleasant weather year-round due to its proximity to the equator in combination with 4900ft elevation has earned the second-largest city in Colombia the nickname “City of Eternal Spring.” However, until recently, Medellin would have never reached a traveler’s bucket-list. In the 1980’s and 90’s, Medellin was home to the most renowned criminal of all-time, drug lord Pablo Escobar and known as the “most dangerous city in the world” due to the fighting between Escobar’s Cartel, FARC guerrillas, and the government. However, after Pablo Escobar’s demise, a string of forward-thinking mayors led this city into a new era. In 2013, Medellin was awarded “most innovative city in the world” due to its advances in politics, education, and social development. We had heard from multiple people that Colombia was a beautiful country and that Medellin was now prime for foreign tourism, so we decided to use Medellin as our home base for a month to explore Colombia and better understand how this city managed to reinvent itself over the past 20 years.
View from our apartment of the beautiful Medellin landscape
Social Inclusion
The first step in getting rid of crime and setting a community on the right path is through social inclusion. The rough mountainous terrain of Medellin made it difficult to unite the city. The most dangerous neighborhoods were disconnected from the main part of the city as they were built up the steep sides of the mountains. First, an above-ground Metro system was built that connected the city north to south. The citizens of Medellin are extremely proud of their Metro system being the only one in Colombia, and we noticed that it was spotless, clean, and well-maintained, putting many US public transit systems to shame.
The most important step for social inclusion was finding a creative way to connect the poor, dangerous hillside neighborhoods to the rest of the city to give these people a chance to thrive. An aerial cable car system was designed that soars above the shanties and labyrinthine streets. On our first weekend in Medellin, we took a ride on the cable car system to visit Santo Domingo, formerly one of the most dangerous communities in the world, to get a sense of what this has done for the barrio.
The ride on the cable car is included in the basic (and cheap) Metro fee. We were immediately impressed with this creative way to connect the city. In addition, the fun cable car ride is now an attraction for tourists as well as Sunday afternoon entertainment for the kids. We actually shared our cable car with a young girl and her mother, who literally just rode the cable car to the top and then right back down again to enjoy the views on a leisurely Sunday afternoon.
We took a quick stroll through the main drag of Santo Domingo. Although this is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Medellin, they have some of the best views.
The cable car is just one of the many new additions to this neighborhood that helped promote social inclusion. Another important accomplishment was the creation of the Biblioteca España, which is a combination library, internet café, and social center to give an opportunity for education and advancement to the poorest citizens of Medellin. Unfortunately, the library was closed for renovation and covered with scaffolding when we visited. But, we took this picture of what it normally looks like when we visited the city museum:
On our last weekend in town, we went to visit one of the other dangerous communities known as Comuna 13. Here, there is another cable car system as well as a covered outdoor escalator that connects the hillside shanty town to downtown.
Looking down from the top of the orange escalators
Taking a ride down the escalators
View from the San Javier metrocable
Before the public transport system, people were stuck in their neighborhoods with all the gangs and violence. Now, they have access to libraries, community centers, and jobs to pave the way for a better life.
Just like Santo Domingo, Comuna 13 has one of the best views overlooking downtown Medellin
Art and Urban Development
One of the primary objectives in Medellin was to turn the most dangerous areas and blocks of town into family-friendly urban areas for people to congregate and enjoy concerts and festivals. The historic center, El Centro, is still quite gritty, loud, overwhelming, and not exactly safe at night. But, we ventured here during the daytime to check out how these areas are being transformed.
Parque de las Luces (Park of Lights)
The Park of Lights used to be the area where the train ended. Farmers and tradesmen came here to unload their goods, which led to the area being full of cheap hotels and storage facilities. After the bankruptcy of Colombia’s railway, the area became home to thieves and drug addicts. Today, thanks to innovation, the area has a new public library as well as a renovated train station and government buildings along with the artistic park full of concrete cylinders and a bamboo forest.
One of the main squares in El Centro is Plaza de las Esculturas, now known as Plaza Botera. Here, 23 rotund, bronze sculptures that were created by Medellin’s own Fernando Botero decorate the square. Botero is famous world-wide for his sculptures and paintings of voluptuous, and oddly proportioned, characters from men and women to dogs and horses.
The beautiful Palace of Culture sits in one corner of Plaza Botero and provides a gorgeous backdrop for Botero’s interesting sculptures.
The Plaza was packed with people over the weekend demonstrating that these parks and plazas are being used as popular hangout spots. Families were posing by all the statues, and lots of vendors were selling everything from mini Botero statues to hats to exotic juices and ice cream.
Graffiti, or vibrant street art, has also been embraced in Medellin. This is no ordinary graffiti. The museum-worthy murals are colorful, thought-provoking, and beautiful. They tell stories and give meaning to the transformation that has been seen in these neighborhoods.
Urban art decorating Comuna 13
Urban art decorating our upper-class neighborhood El Poblado
Recreational activities
Along with education, beautification of urban areas, and public transportation, there is also a need for recreational activities to give people opportunities for entertainment and hobbies to avoid turning to drugs and gangs. In Comuna 13, we found slides for the kids next to dramatic murals giving a lift to this community.
In the Santo Domingo neighborhood just a couple blocks from the Metrocable stop, a playground now gives kids the opportunity to jump in bouncy houses or ride a carousel.
Doesn’t that little boy look so excited to ride the carousel?!?! With the cable cars soaring above the hot pink bouncy house and the carousel, you would think you were in a popular amusement park and not what used to be one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the world.
Besides a basic means of public transportation for work and education, the cable car to Santo Domingo continues further up the mountain to an outdoor recreation area called Parque Arvi. The densely forested wilderness has miles of hiking trails, camping/picnic areas, a local market with traditional food and handicrafts, and even a zipline and a playground. We took a guided hike through the park to a couple lakes and learned about the original inhabitants of the area.
The path we hiked was hundreds of years old, similar to the Inca Trail.
We thought it a bit strange that three policemen on horseback accompanied us, but police presence is pretty high throughout Medellin. So we assumed that a bunch of tourists on a nature walk may be an easy target for potential criminals. As one of our tour guides described it, you need to be careful not to “offer papaya” or else it will be taken. (ie. Don’t do anything stupid or you will still be taken advantage of in Medellin.)
After participating in triathlon for many years, I have an appreciation for how difficult and expensive it is to close down roads in a city, so I was super impressed when I discovered that on Sunday mornings in downtown, one side of the main road through the middle of town is completely closed off to traffic. Hundreds (maybe thousands) of residents fill the streets running, biking, and walking. The stretch in the neighborhood we stayed, El Poblado, is quite lovely with the tree-lined street passing through a couple of the local parks.
I couldn’t resist a run to join in with the locals to check out the scene. Numerous food stands were selling fresh fruit, exotic juices, and ice cream. Many places were playing traditional Latin music with a handful of people stopping to dance. I passed by all of those, wishing I had some money for a treat and contemplating a quick salsa dance, until close to the end of my run, I heard all kinds of whooping and hollering up the street. I decided to check it out and found a huge dance party!! There was an instructor leading a group of over 100 people in dance/fitness moves to salsa, meringue, reggaeton, and cumbia (a native style that combines Spanish, Colombian, and African music). I couldn’t help but join in the fun. And that turned out to be one of those magical moments that I will never forget and am fortunate to have just stumbled across (and of course no photos to document as I run without my phone). I never thought I’d be dancing to reggaeton and salsa in the street with a hundred Colombians in a city once considered the “most dangerous place in the world”.
Cuisine
Colombia may not be famous for its cuisine, but as far as traditional dishes, there are a few that every tourist must try. We went to a cute open-air restaurant called Restaurante Hacienda in El Centro, the historic district, after our walking tour guide highly recommended it.
The view from our table overlooking a pedestrian street filled with shops and restaurants
We shared two of the most traditional dishes in Colombia. The unofficial national dish is called Bandeja Paisa, and literally means platter of the Paisa people (Paisas are the residents of Medellin and the state of Antioquia). Even for big eaters like the Lovgrens, this meal is a bit of an over-kill and includes chorizo, chicharrón (fried pork belly), ground/powdered meat , blood sausage, red beans, rice, plantains, avocado, an arepa, and a fried egg to top it off.
The other dish we shared was Sancocho, which is actually popular all over South America with slight variations. This version had pork and beef with the usual mix of plantains, yucca, and potatoes along with a side of avocado, rice, and an arepa. Most traditional dishes in Colombia seemed to be a blend of these same foods over and over. The arepa and avocado on the side is very popular, and to be honest, the avocado never seemed to go with the dish. In addition, the Colombian arepa just isn’t that impressive. The basic arepa served in most restaurants, to me, was a bland, dry corn patty…until you fry it and stuff it with meat, cheese, and egg.
Now this popular breakfast food that can be bought at food stands on street corners, I can get onboard with. Just a few blocks from our apartment, we discovered a small, trendy eatery that specializes in stuffed arepas for lunch and dinner too.
Arepa stuffed with chicharrón, cheese, and fried egg & Arepa stuffed with shredded beef and cheese
Although I am not a fan of the traditional arepa, the more modern stuffed arepas are amazing.
Another street food that deserves more attention than the arepa are the buñuelos. Buñuelos are fried dough balls made from a white cheese. Light, fluffy, and a mild cheese flavor…the buñuelos did not disappoint like the traditional arepas.
To go along with the transformation theme of the city, despite the lack of diversity in traditional Colombian cuisine, the culinary scene in Medellin is thriving. Many local chefs from Medellin went to train with the top chefs in the United States and Europe and are now back to bring an international, creative flair to the city. This new, modern take on Colombian cuisine is innovative, fresh, and absolutely delicious. Even better, you can get high quality, molecular gastronomy at a fraction of the price compared to similar restaurants in NYC, DC, Paris, or Tokyo.
We went to two of the high-end restaurants in Medellin and were truly impressed with the level of service, presentation, and the use of traditional Colombian ingredients in a new way. The first restaurant that we went to was called Carmen, and we enjoyed a 7-course tasting menu with wine pairing. Highlights of this meal included a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth ceviche in tiger’s milk and a yucca croquette filled with foie gras. The other restaurant we went to was El Cielo and is often considered one of the top restaurants in Colombia and even Latin America. We did their 12-course tasting menu or “moments” with wine pairing. We were very impressed with their creative use of smell and touch as not every “moment” was edible. For example, to prepare our hands for the meal, we were given a wash/exfoliation with a coconut and white chocolate cream ball to rub in our hands and then pink Himalayan salt to scrub with. Our favorite of the edible moments were
A fancy liquid-center buñuelo
Sea bass with quinoa covered in chard leaf and drizzled with aioli
Lulo ice cream with chocolate ganache and yucca crisps
A mysterious mist and mini trees on our table were used to resemble the cloud forest of the famous Colombian coffee region during the final coffee course. A bit of science (you gotta love liquid nitrogen after-dinner mints) used to transform traditional Colombian dishes and ingredients led to an unforgettable experience.
From cuisine to art to public transportation, Medellin is leading by example on how to transform poor, dangerous urban areas into thriving centers of learning and innovation. A couple Botero statues in Parque San Antonio give a strong statement regarding the past and future of Medellin.
In 1995, a bomb was placed inside the Botero statue, known as “the bird”, and exploded during a concert killing 30 people and injuring hundreds more. When hearing the news about the statue and removal of the debris, Botero himself called the mayor and asked him not to remove it. Instead, Botero built an exact replica and had it placed next to the destroyed statue. He wanted the destroyed statue to be a reminder of the hard times Medellin has endured, and the new statue represents peace and the resilience of the proud, strong, Paisa people.
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