After breakfast we waited in the lobby for our city tour to pick us up. At about 9am we boarded a small bus with 11 other people and went took off around the city. Our host, Mai, was an adorable woman, 42 years old, with a little English (but the tour was in Spanish), from a small town near the coast. She has been living in Medellin for quite some time and was most familiar with it. Most importantly, she was a happy, bubbly person. A perfect host who you could tell loved her job.
First, we drove past the government buildings. Being as it is a holiday in Colombia (Epiphany – which is still important here), the area was closed off to the public with security, but we did see it from afar. Next, we went to a large plaza that had more government offices as well as a aquarium and a few other things. One building had a bamboo forest in front of it, and all the piers in the building were made to look like bamboo. Another building had massive gardens growing down the side to help with pollution in the city.
Next, we went back to Plaza Botero, where Chris and I had been the previous day. With a tour guide we learned a little more than previous before heading off to the metro and our entire group caught the metro and then cable cars to the communes Chris and I had visited at the beginning of the trip. Being a holiday, the cable car was so backed up with people trying to go to Parque Arvi that we ended up about an hour behind on the tour. Next we visited the area of the university and Imax, which was a nice looking area. Finally, back in the van, we toured the city while each person got dropped off. Being as we had fallen behind, the botanical gardens and escalators were out. Since we had seen the escalators previously, the botanical gardens are the only thing I would have liked to see but didn’t. Although much of the tour was a repeat, it was a very pleasant way to spend most of the day.
I spend the afternoon relaxing, while Chris returned to the mall to try to exchange more of his money. The mall was open, but the exchanges all were closed. Later in the afternoon I went and had a massage, very good and nothing “extra” was offered. Perfect place, which I may go back to when I return to Medellin for a day or so at the end of the trip.
Chris and I meed up a little later in the evening for dinner, grabbing an Uber to go to Poblado and dinner in Parque Lleras. Leaving the Uber, Chris stops him just as he is ready to leave, and Chris grabs his cell phone from the back seat. Chris and Uber doesn’t work well! We find a nice patio spot and have dinner while watching all the activity in the park. Such a busy place, and filled with tourists. Apparently the area is nicknames Gringolandia.
Later in the evening, we Uber back to the hotel and call it a night.
Colombia Motorcycle Ride 