36 Hours in Medellín
The city’s situation — set in the Aburrá
Valley, surrounded by green mountains — is ideal, its weather springlike
year-round, and its people outgoing and proud of their city.
By Fritzie Andrade, Max Cantor, Chris Carmichael, Will
Lloyd and Sarah Brady Voll on
Publish Date May 13, 2015.
Photo by Chris Carmichael for The New York Times.
Colombia’s second city
is fast shedding its controversial reputation. With infrastructure
projects that are bringing architecturally exciting libraries and parks
to impoverished neighborhoods, and creative methods of transportation,
Medellín is one of the most progressive cities in Latin America. Its
situation — set in the Aburrá Valley, surrounded by green mountains — is
ideal, its weather springlike year-round, and its people outgoing and
proud of their city. A wave of construction is going on in most
neighborhoods, which are bedecked with posters proclaiming the
government’s dedication to innovation and education. After years as the
center of Pablo Escobar’s drug operation and decades of related
violence, the “city of eternal spring” is looking to the future.
Friday
1. 3 P.M.| Memories
Get
a sense of how far Medellín has come with a visit to the two-year-old
Museo Casa de la Memoria (free). A sleek oblong, it is just one of the
new, visually compelling buildings that are popping up all over the city
— and often appearing somewhat incongruous in neighborhoods that have
looked the same for decades. While many of the exhibits dedicated to
Colombia’s years of civil war between the government (and its
paramilitary groups) and leftist guerrillas are artistic rather than
explanatory, there’s a timeline that’s useful for putting events in
perspective. Riveting videos from victims and relatives of the
desaparecidos (victims of the armed conflict who were “disappeared” over
the years) offer powerful, firsthand accounts of what it was like to
live in the middle of Colombia’s internal war.
2. 4:30 P.M. | Vendors and Boteros
From
the museum, walk down Calle 52, a chaotic street packed with trinket
vendors, food carts and hole-in-the-wall empanada shops, to Hatoviejo, a
long-established restaurant serving typical paisa cuisine (paisas are
people from the Antioquia region, of which Medellín is a part). Order
the hearty mondongo, a traditional tripe soup that comes with rice,
avocado and a plantain (25,900 pesos, or $11.30 at 2,290 pesos to the
dollar). Then stroll over to Plaza Botero, a beautiful square filled
with the distinctively pudgy bronze statues of dogs, people and horses
created by Colombia’s best-known artist, Fernando Botero (more of his
work can be found in the Museo de Antioquia on the plaza). The
eye-catching black-and-white Gothic building in the center of the plaza
houses the Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe (free and worth a
peek for its art gallery and historical artifacts).
3. 7 P.M. | Craft Cerveza
Craft
beers are gaining traction in Colombia and you can sample them at
Cervecería Libre, a cheerfully unpretentious operation that sits behind
sliding garage doors in the up-and-coming Ciudad del Rio neighborhood.
The owners brew their own stout, IPA and more in the back, but at the
bar they also serve craft beers from three other Colombian
microbreweries: Apóstol, Bogotá Beer Company and 3 Cordilleras (beers,
5,000 to 6,500 pesos). Pull up a stool for a chat with the bartenders,
who will order you a taxi when you’re ready to go.
Saturday
4. 10 A.M. | Cable Cars and Libraries
One
of the most compelling signs of Medellín’s renaissance is the
Metrocable — a public transportation system of airborne gondolas that
cruise up the hillside like ski lifts. Hop on at Acevedo station (2,000
pesos; you can transfer from the aboveground Metro, Colombia’s only
subway system) and sail up the mountain over brick houses with
corrugated metal roofs. Transfer at Santo Domingo and get on the second
leg (4,600 pesos each way), a 15-minute ride during which the city
recedes, ending in Parque Arví, 4,350 acres that feel surprisingly
rural, down to the men on horseback or leading their cows. There are
extensive walking trails among the pine and eucalyptus trees; after
exploring, hop back on the Metrocable to Santo Domingo Savio, a colorful
shantytown that’s now home to the Biblioteca España — three giant black
slate monoliths designed by the Bogotá architect Giancarlo Mazzanti.
The library (one of a growing number) is free and open to all and has
become a center for a community that once lived in the middle of a war
zone.
5. 1 P.M. | The Glory of Gloria
Head
to Envigado, a municipality adjacent to Medellín’s El Poblado district,
for a lunchtime stop at La Gloria de Gloria, a casual corner restaurant
that serves up some of the best chicharrón in, quite possibly, the
world. These crispy strips of pork rind are deep fried and served with
hearty helpings of rice, beans, chorizo, plantain and more, in a bandeja
paisa — the Colombian dish that keeps field workers full all day
(32,000 pesos per plate, which is enough for two). The eponymous Doña
Gloria often comes around with a bottle of aguardiente, Colombia’s
throat-burning anise-flavored national liquor, pouring shots for
everyone — including herself — but order a pitcher of the lemonade as
well to help wash it down.
6. 2:30 P.M. | Modern Art
Stop
by the beautiful Museo de Arte Moderno, a compact, industrial-chic
space that presents exhibitions, which change every quarter, by
contemporary artists like Álvaro Barrios. Occupying a former steel
factory, the museum (8,000 pesos) is getting a new addition, designed by
the Peruvian architects 51+1, that will house a permanent collection of
mostly Colombian artists, including Beatriz González.
The gift shop is a good place to pick up Medellín souvenirs, like small
notebooks with illustrations of the Metrocable by the Colombian artist
Marcela Restrepo (2,000 pesos).
7. 4:30 P.M. | Colombian Coffee
It’s
surprisingly difficult to find good coffee in Colombia (most of the
best is exported), and locals usually drink tinto — a weak brew of
inferior beans. A few new cafes are trying to change this, though, and
the charge is being led by Pergamino. This chic cafe by Parque Lleras,
which uses single-origin beans from coffee plantations owned by the same
family, wouldn’t be out of place in San Francisco, with MacBook-toting
trendsetters filling the patio seats. After refueling, wander down Via
Primavera and nearby Via Provenza; both are lined with boutiques and
restaurants. Stop at Vida Augusta, which sells international and
Colombian-made housewares and gifts, like wooden eyeglass frames from
Lignum. The area around the park hovers between lively and tacky, but
stopping for a pre-dinner drink on the rooftop bar at the Charlee Hotel
is worth it, if only to enjoy views of both the pool and the pulsing
streets below.
8. 8 P.M. | Dinner at Carmen
Cross
Calle 10 to reach Carmen, a perennial favorite. The elegant three-part
restaurant (upstairs, downstairs and a gorgeous garden) lures the city’s
coolest crowds with its elaborate meals created by the husband-and-wife
team Carmen Angel and Rob Pevitts, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in San
Francisco. Each dish, like shrimp poached in butter infused with lulo, a
local citrus fruit, is a mélange of careful detail (even the tonic is
house-made). Book well in advance. Dinner for two, about 350,000 pesos.
9.11:30 P.M. | Salsa Stop
A
stop at one of the city’s numerous, high-energy salsa bars is an
essential component of any visit. Son Havana is a Cuban-themed salsa
joint in the trendy Laureles neighborhood, with a nine (or more) member
band playing on Thursday and Saturday nights (admission, 10,000).
Couples of all ages dance on the dance floor, by the bathrooms and in
the aisles. It’s a small place and not fancy, but the atmosphere is
electric, the music is sparkling and the dance skills are mesmerizing.
Settle in with an Aguila beer (4,000) and prepare to stare.
Sunday
10. 10 A.M. | Escobar Effect
Though
evidence of Medellín’s bright future is everywhere, it’s still
fascinating to get up close to the drug czar Pablo Escobar. Camilo
Uribe, owner of Medellín City Tours (medellincitytours.com),
drives visitors to the three Escobar landmarks ($95 for one person;
rates drop for more). First is the upscale cemetery where Mr. Escobar is
buried and where people still leave flowers (he remains a folk hero to
some of the city’s poor). The cemetery has views of the city and
surrounding mountains. See also the rooftop on which Mr. Escobar was
shot by police snipers while trying to escape on Dec. 2, 1993. His
penthouse is fascinating: a crumbling building with an enormous,
antiquated satellite dish in the back. Some scenes from “Escobar: El
Patrón del Mal,” a popular 2012 Colombian telenovela, were shot outside.
Mr. Escobar’s personal elevator is no longer working, but if you walk
up to the huge apartment you can step into his private safe, the size of
a walk-in closet.
11. 1 P.M. | Onward and Upward
End
your trip with an experience that’s exhilarating and inspiring. One of
the city’s most forward-thinking infrastructure investments was the
creation of outdoor escalators that run up the steep hillside leading to
Comuna 13, a gang-plagued neighborhood formerly isolated by its
position atop stairs equivalent to a 28-story building. The impoverished
area has been revitalized by the 1,259 feet of escalators, which cut
commuting times and enabled elderly and disabled residents, some of whom
never left home, to go much farther afield. Take the escalators
(staffed by security guards, many from the neighborhood) to the top,
where you’ll have excellent views of the city, as well as the riot of
primary colors and murals that were added to the buildings when the
escalators opened.
Where to Stay
Facing boisterous Parque Lleras, theCharlee Hotel (Calle 9A, No. 37-16; thecharlee.com;
from $200 ) is the city’s top boutique hotel, with plush rooms and a
gym where you can spot Colombia’s top models posing for selfies between
workouts.
Near the Charlee but in a much more peaceful part of the neighborhood is the Diez Hotel (Calle 10A, No. 34-11; diezhotel.com;
from 259,000 pesos, or $114, with breakfast). Each floor’s décor
references a different region of Colombia; the spa looks out over the
city.
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