Travel Log: Medellin, Colombia

Happy New Year! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that my husband and I recently visited Colombia for the first time. Colombia has been on my travel list for a while, and the stars aligned in November for us to visit the week of Thanksgiving. Since we only had one week, we initially planned to only visit Bogota and Cartagena in order to minimize the number of flights and hotel moves needed. However, multiple friends talked us into visiting Medellin--saying that we could not visit Colombia and skip this city. I am so glad that we took their advice! We squeezed in two nights in Medellin, enough to try a variety of restaurants, take a tour of the city's most well known neighborhood, and get a taste of the nightlife. Please read on for more photos, details, and travel tips from our visit to Medellin, Colombia.

First, I must talk about Medellin's coffee culture. I love that we were able to start every day with a cup of coffee from one of the local coffee shops, made in our method of choice: chemex, espresso, french press, pour over, siphon, etc. My favorite was Pergamino, a family run coffee shop that has successfully grown to sell their products internationally through their website. As someone who insists on starting their day with a good cup of coffee, I must say I was impressed.

We stayed in the El Poblado neighborhood, which is a great area for first time visitors as there are so many great bars, hotels/hostels, restaurants, and shops within walking distance. El Poblado is also a very pretty neighborhood to walk around and explore with its tree-lined streets and outdoor spaces. It doesn't hurt that the weather is so perfect--Medellin is known as "The City of Eternal Spring" because of its pleasant, warm weather all year round. When we were there in November it was in the low 80's and sunny both days! We had the pleasure of meeting up with dear friends from Seattle while in Medellin, and we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Alambique also in El Poblado. I would absolutely recommend Alambique if you are visiting Medellin.

Another must-do recommendation from friends was a tour of Medellin's Comuna 13 neighborhood. This area that was once the most dangerous neighborhood has taken a complete 180 degree turn after recent transportation investments in the 1990's and early 2000's. A metro cable car system extended the existing metro system, and a set of escalators made it easier and safer to navigate the hillside that Comuna 13 sits on. Think children gaining better access to schools, elderly residents gaining safer ways to get across the city, and working residents gaining shorter commutes to their jobs. All huge wins for the community. There are also thriving street art and hip hop communities, which you can see by walking through on your own, but I recommend touring with a local guide to learn more about the neighborhood's history and transformation as you go.

The community has made sure to create safe spaces for children to play, like these slides. Our guide told us to go ahead and take a turn, so of course we did!

As you climb further up into Comuna 13, you really get a grasp for how big the community really is and how far up and down the hillside it extends.

Sections of Comuna 13's concrete walls are granted to artists to create and maintain art for the community. It is incredible to walk through and see all of the colorful pieces, and even better to walk through with a local guide to gain insights into the meaning behind each piece. The below is titled "Obrero" and symbolizes the workers who built the community.

This adorable piece says that "There is no problem that can't be fixed with an avocado." Too cute!

This mural was one of my favorites! The colors definitely caught my eye, but I also love the fact that the lion symbolizes the strength and authority of the women leaders of the community.

If you look up "#comuna13" on Instagram, I am pretty sure the below mural will come up as the most popular shot.

I failed to take any photos of the escalators other than placed in the corner of the below pic. It is worth mentioning that these escalators turned a ~45 minute trip up or down the hillside into less than five minutes!

After our tour of Comuna 13, we took a combination of the metro and Uber to cross the city back to El Poblado and reach our dinner destination: El Cielo. Sidenote: we were going to Uber the entire way, but traffic was at a standstill partly because J Balvin was filming a video nearby. We saw his SUV drive by but didn't get a good visual...maybe next time. The metro trains were clean, cheap, and good signage made them very easy to navigate. But back to El Cielo. This restaurant was definitely the most expensive meal we had in Colombia, but was a twelve course meal and an experience designed to take you on a journey. The meal started by pouring a mixture of liquid chocolate and ground coffee over our hands and ended with coffee and aged rum. I absolutely recommend El Cielo if you want to indulge in a wonderful meal experience on your visit to Medellin.

We truly enjoyed our visit to Medellin and I would absolutely love to return to spend more time in this pleasant city. This fun final photo is one of the murals in Comuna 13 that is designed for couples--allegedly if you take a photo you surely will stay together. It was too cute to pass up!

What do you think of Medellin now that you have seen a small peek? Is this a city that you would like to visit? If you have been to Medellin, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know your favorite memory! Thank you for visiting my blog today, and I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Linking up with Curly Crafty Mom, Doused in Pink, Elegance & Mommyhood, Nancy's Fashion Style, Not Dressed as a Lamb