RUSSIAN COCAINE IN MEDELLIN

After another overnight bus ride we got to Medellin at 6 am in the morning. With Medellin's metro it was easy to make our way to the hotel. Most hostel are in the El Poblado area but we decided to stay in a small hotel downtown to “avoid the hostel scene” as the Lonely Planet called it. The area around the hotel was a little shabby but safe enough. After we relaxed for a while in the hotel we started on a tour through the city. First we stopped at the Cathedral Metropolitana, a huge, beautiful church near Parque Bolivar. It seems like every South- American city has a Parque Bolivar and at least five statues of Bolivar. After that we walked through the streets which had a lot of small stores before we enjoyed a coffee at the 10^th Floor of the Centro Colombo Americano building. The view from there was nice. Next on our tour through town was the Botanical Garden. It was nice walking through the park even tough it started raining.

In the evening we met up with Walter and Milena, who we met in Tayrona. They picked us up by car and showed us places in Medellin they like. That was awesome. (THANK YOU SOOO MUCH Walter and Milena).

First we went to Cerro Nutibara, a hill with great views over Medellin at night. Up on the hill was also a museum-like version of a typical town from the Zona Cafetera. Quite interesting. After that we went to the cool Plaza Mayor before we stopped at a nice little bar near the old Museum of Modern Art. There we enjoyed a refreshing Refajo, a mix of beer, aguardiente and soda.. We also checked out the area around the new Museum of Modern Art and even got a tour in Walter's beautiful home. For dinner we had delicious pasta at the best restaurant on this trip so far.

The next morning we met Milena and Walter once more. We went to Explora, an interactive museum. There we played like kids with the physical experiments that were set up, went to the aquarium and got some information about Colombian geography. After that we took the MetroCable up to the Santa Elena park. Although the cable car looks like a ski lift it is used for public transport. It first passes working class and poor housing areas and than runs over the park. We went for a short walk and had lunch in a typical Colombian restaurant on the road. Huge amounts of meat with beans and some rice. For me it was definitely too much meat - there was half a pig on my plate. And was definitely enough meat for a few weeks for me.

Back in the city we went to El Poblado for some drinks and had a lot of fun. In the first bar we got a special cocktail called Iced Tea - I don't remember what exactly it contained but it was a lot of alcohol. Afterward we headed to the next bar trying Russian Cocaine. No drugs! Only a shot - Vodka + a lemon with sugar and coffee. Very good...

Thanks to Walter and Milena we had an amazing time in Medellin and really enjoyed it.