When I moaned and groaned because no one from the States has visited us, except my son Robert, a gringo expat said, " Send your friends and family a basic itinerary so that they will have a more concrete idea about what visiting you in Medellin would be like!", So... Here we go..
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You can stay at a local five star hotel...Hotel INNTU//look it up! It is about $100 per night.First day relax, Hotel Spa and restaurant. BTW they have American style breakfast included.
When you clear customs we will take you by taxi along the spectacular Av de Las Palmas down to the city direct to your hotel.
The hotel is on Laureles Parque Secondo with all sorts of fine dining,.. Peruvian, Japanese, Continental, Colombian tipico, Caribbean.. and, sorry to say, Burger King , surrounding it. The park is circular and on weekends there are delicacy and fruit stands, flower sellers and musicians.
It is about a quarter mile from our place. Dinner for two incl wine is COP 60,000... uhh TWENTY bucks at the hotel and the other restos. !!! The food is excellent! No tipping required. The hotel restaurant has wonderful and appropriate local music for dining Thursday through Saturday.
Touring second day will be a short walking tour around Laureles... beautiful neighborhood that both our place and your hotel is in . In the afternoon we"ll taxi to Plaza Botero for coffee and maybe a short look at the collections in the Museo de Antioquia. You will be taken aback by the collections in all of our art museums. Superb.
Day Three will be an excursion to the swanky rich El Poblado neighborhood incl Coffee at Pergamino, Tipico lunch on Parque Lleras, and a walk down the Golden Mile of exclusive shops, hotels, casinos, stunning malls, international offices and style shops. Most of the American expats live there because it is luxury at low cost compared with the States. Very low cost. Two bedroom, 2 bath,Balconies, porter and guard, parking,gym, spa, large pool and glorious vistas from the high rises..$1600 per month.
Just for comparison, my apt in Laureles on a beautiful street has a mother in law studio on the veranda, four br, three baths and balcony..$350 per month. Yup... that is one million pesos! That is one reason why we live very well on my teacher pension.
Next days will take us up to the top of Medellin, the ultrafine El Tesoro Mall at the way top of El Poblado., A ride on the metro with some of the best foto ops, the amazing San Pedro Cementario y Museo, University of Antioquia Museum, the Brand new Modern Art Museum of Medellin, the wonderful zoo.. a fave of my family, the Jardin Botanico with its collections of jungle environments, orchids and ornamentals..lunch there,
The MetroCable up to EcoPark Arvi with tours by college aged docents, and stalls with crafts and delicacies, waterfalls, .. The ultra modern Water Museum, Acuario, El Parque Explora physics playground, Barefoot Zen Park, EPM Library, concert at Teatro Metropolitano * tix for Juilliard Jazz Quintet were $20 for the best seats!
All by taxi, yellow cabs .... no tipping, ultra available and cheap. Or rides on the Metro above surface subway, Transvia brand new light rail, Metrocable...87 cents!! With free transfers.
AND we need to get out of town. I recommend an overnight in the colonial gem of Santa Fe de Antioquia, at our favorite club, Penusco, Large pool, poolside resto, very comfortable spacious rooms, poolside bar and small plate service, spa, sauna and simply lovely walk thru the town and perusing art centers and historical sites. One and a half hours west.
Weather.. warm spring days or cool spring days Nothing but! Dress always casual, jeans or slacks, tee shirts, a little dressier blouses for women. No bermuda shorts or flip flops. Temps 76 down to 66 at night, no mosquitoes, no tropical diseases, water is Andean cool and pure from the tap. Very little tobacco smoking and it is forbidden in all restos, buildings, on the metro. MJ and coke are easy to get and LEGAL. You will be delighted at the unfeigned friendliness of the folks.
So while you have reasons for not having come to Medellin yet, look at the Most Dangerous Cities list and Medellin is NOT on it. And look at the bucket lists of magazines for travel in 2018.. There you WILL find Medellin, Colombia.
Love, Beatriz, Andrea and Larry
Your itinerary sounds like a perfect fit for me. Can I be your friend ?
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