Sunday, October 30th, 2016

Teresa and I, on our way to noon mass, saw a huge crane maneuvering a large tree into its new location at the park nearby Wilson’s bar.  I estimate it was about 30’ high.  On our way back, after mass, they had it in place and were covering it with dirt.

Laura was now up and I learned that she went to Las Palmas last night, not Parque Lleras and she got back to the apt at 2am.

I asked Teresa if she wanted to go see the Ouija movie today or tomorrow and she said tomorrow.

I went to Frisby and picked up fried chicken for lunch.  They were so busy I had to wait 30 minutes for my order.

Teresa told me the toilet in the 2^nd bathroom is broken.  I took a look and the innerds don’t look like anything I’m familiar with from the States.  Since you push a button on the cover to flush it, it almost looks like you would break the flushing mechanism by removing the cover.

Teresa had bought corn on the cob for me and I ate 2 of the 3 pieces with butter and salt and the ladies shared the last one.

I watched the Cleveland Indians lose to the Chicago Cubs 3-2 so the World Series now returns to Cleveland on Tuesday.

T-shirt of the day: Coach.

Saturday, October 29th, 2016

Well, I had trouble getting to sleep last night so there will probably be a nap in my near future.

It rained some overnight.  I left the apt about 10am, walked in a slight drizzle, added 50mil to our cell phone, had my SS annual Benefits Letter copied to my memory drive as a .pdf file at the paper store, and bought a small bag of rice at the corner store.

I took a little nap from 11am to noon.

I sent a new email to the US Embassy in Bogota requesting a certified SS Benefits Letter.  I attached pdf files containing a completed Release of Information Letter, Passport, and old SS Benefits Letter along with my apt address in Envigado.  We’ll see how long it takes to get here and if this is any help (money wise or time wise) in obtaining a new Visa come December.

Among new US movie releases, there isn’t anything I want to see.  Locally, I want to see The Accountant (8.0), Ouija: Origen of Evil (6.7), and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (6.4).

I watched a couple movies in the afternoon – mainly killing time until World Series game #4 starts at 7pm.

This week’s close was 2,961 Colombian Pesos to the Dollar.

About 8pm Laura came back from the beauty shop with her hair braided and some special makeup.  She left about 9pm for a Halloween party in Parque Lleras with her girlfriends.  Very cute!

Laura in her new boots

With Halloween makeup

The Cleveland Indians spanked the Chicago Cubs 7-2 to go up 3-1 in the World Series.

T-shirt of the day: American buffalo.

Friday, October 28th, 2016

I got up at 7:30, had my usual breakfast (scrambled eggs, buttered arepa and coffee) and we left the apt at 8:30.  At Euro in Mayorista I helped Teresa find some necessary things and then I had a café con leche for 2,000 pesos while Teresa picked up the meat and vegetables.  For a full shopping cart the total bill came to 372,702 ($125).  We took a cash car (effectivo) back to the apt for 10mil.

I received another email from yahoo that someone attempted to access my account again this morning from Russia.

We left just before noon and Teresa and her mother participated in the noon exercise class.  I was doing a tricep weight exercise with 40# when Jose asked why I was using so little weight (he was using 80#).  I told him I’m 70 years old, half his age.  He said don’t think about the numbers and I told him he’s the one who started talking about numbers – 40#.  Lol. They finished at 1pm and headed back to the apt to make lunch while I finished up at 1:20.

About 3:30 we had a thunder storm come through that set off a lot of the car alarms.  It only lasted about 20 minutes and then we had a rain storm that lasted another 20 minutes.  After that I walked over to the paper store where I had the information page of my passport copied to my memory drive as a .pdf file.  That cost me 1,000 pesos.  On the way back to the apt I saw these large fresh churros in a bakery so I bought 2 for 2,600 pesos.  I also noticed that along the main street (Avenida Poblado) they have dug around some small trees that are now tied in burlap.  I think they are to be moved in anticipation of the new express bus line going in.

I ate one of the churros right away when I got back to the apt.  They were large and fresh but it seems the taste could be better somehow so the search for the perfect churro continues.

Teresa informed me that Guillermo, our finca neighbor, was robbed last week.  I know he was poor but I understood they took his TV and other valuables from his house.  She also said something about them taking his dogs in order to rob him; not sure exactly what that means.  It’s a good thing we’re out of there.  Later, Teresa told me that the woman that currently is renting her finca wants out.  She has a one year contract that ends next May so Teresa will have to find another renter.

I watched the Chicago Cubs lose to the Cleveland Indians 1-0.  J

T-shirt of the day: I’m more than just a pretty face.

Thursday, October 27th, 2016

I’ve been sleeping well lately mainly because, for some unknown reason, I’ve been able to get to sleep quickly after lying down.

At 11am Teresa sent me to the corner store to buy a couple small packages of hair rinse but they don’t sell it there.  She told me she’s not happy with the hair rinse the lady in Fedco sold her the other day.  I thought we were going to Mayorista to buy more food, but now with her hair catastrophe, I understand we’re going back to Santafe mall.

Teresa showed me a letter for the building and if I understand correctly someone from Une is going to come and for 47,000 pesos check our gas connection.  I think this might be an annual thing. 

We left the apt about 1pm for lunch in the garage restaurant.  Today the main course was beef.  And, as usual, it was too tough for me to chew so I had a second helping of salad.  I think they have the same thing every Thursday so I have to remember not to come on this day of the week.

Back at the apt Teresa said she was too hot and tired to go to Santafe now, maybe later.

I understood Laura had another job interview today – this time it was in Envigado.

I took screenshots of the US Embassy page that I click on and the result I get and emailed them back with an explanation that it doesn’t work on my laptop, my iPad, Laura’s laptop, her Samsung tablet or an internet café in Envigado.

I watched Abba: The Movie from 9-10:30 on Direct TV.  I like about half their music like Fernando, Waterloo and Mama Mia.

T-shirt of the day: Shut up and kiss me.

Wednesday, October 26th, 2016

I did my hour and 20 minutes at the health club.  It seems there are more people there every day.

I left the apt at 1pm and caught a bus after only waiting for a minute.  On the metro I saw a sign in one of the stations for starting your own business with Amway.

I was 20 minutes early when I was a block away from Dario’s store so I took the opportunity to go to the upper levels of the Aventura mall.  I saw that they have a 5-screen movie theatre but all the movies are probably dubbed in Spanish.

At Dario’s store we played our 2 games.  I had White in the first game and was attacking his king relentlessly but couldn’t find the moves to put him away and I eventually lost on time.  In the 2^nd game with the Black pieces he attacked my king and I lost on time probably just before he was going to checkmate me.

He informed me that he wouldn’t be available to play chess next Wednesday at the store but he said he has a brother who lives in the El Dorado neighborhood of Envigado and he invited me to play him there.  I told him I would call him.

Teresa and I walked down to her mother’s apartment where I was supposed to help her understand how to work a blender who’s instructions were in English.  The light is so bad in the apartment (one small overhead bulb) that it was difficult to read the instruction manual.  And there was no light over the appliance itself.  Talk about challenging.  I got it to work once but when I went to show them how it worked it wouldn’t start again – supposedly because the top wasn’t on correctly.  I did translate a couple buttons from English to Spanish for them.

While there, MT took my blood pressure with an automatic device and it registered as 134 over 70.

Laura went to the embassy website using both her laptop and her Samsung tablet and both gave her the same error as I’ve been getting.

On Direct TV I watched the Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1.  Now the games move on to Chicago where the Indians will have to win at least one game to return to Cleveland.

T-shirt of the day: I love me to the moon and back.

Tuesday, October 25th, 2016

I got up as usual about 8am.  I received another email from Yahoo:

Hi Terry, 

Someone attempted to sign in to your Yahoo account (terryandresen) from an app that doesn't meet Yahoo's security standards. We blocked this sign in attempt, which was made on: 

Tue, Oct 25, 2016 7:02 PM GMT+4 from Russia. 

I watched the first hour or more of the Today show.  Laura got up and had a sandwich for breakfast.  Go figure.  About 9:30 she walked me to a shoe repair shop at Calle 33B #43A-29 where I dropped off my gym shoe and the owner said it would be ready today at 3pm.

I walked with Laura a few blocks more towards the gym and then said goodbye and headed to the internet café.  There I went online to the US embassy and “click here” again resulted in the same error message.  Drats!  I’m going to check again later on Laura’s laptop.  While there I printed a copy of the Authorization for the Release of Information Under the Privacy Act form so I can request an official SS Benefits letter.

Back in the apt I filled out the form.  I heard that mail here often doesn’t get delivered unless it has a postal code on it.  I asked Teresa if she knew what it was and she said she didn’t.  I did an internet search and it appears there are different codes for different areas of Envigado.  I thought we were in one area but Teresa believes we are in another area.  Anyway, my area has two codes and I couldn’t find her area on the list at all.  I looked at our bills that are delivered each month and they don’t have a code on them either so maybe it isn’t that important.  A few minutes later I realized I left my USB drive at the internet café.  Drat, I hate when I do that.  I went back and it was closed.  It was 12:45 by then and she was probably closed for lunch.  When I got to the corner I saw I had 45 seconds or so before the pedestrian light would change to green so I took that opportunity to check out a few of the local stores.  There was a Bimbo (local brand of bread) store, a liquor store, a bakery and another store selling empanadas and other fried local snacks.  I saw a young man (twenties) with disheveled hair sitting alone.  He looked like a gringo so I asked him where he’s from.  He said he’s from here.  He said he knows he looks like a gringo but he’s Colombian.  I apologized and he asked what he could help me with.  I said I was going to ask if I could help him with something.  We both chuckled and I said goodbye.  Walking back to the apt I started to feel a little pain in my hip.  I know old people often experience hip problems which is why I hold back on those exercises that might aggravate it.

Back at the apt I took half an Exedrin Migraine tablet for my hip pain.  I also filled out the form for the embassy.  Teresa was ready to go to lunch.  Today she wants to go to the garage restaurant because she believes they are serving Bandeja Paisa – the typical Colombian meal.  Just as we were about to leave she realized that Laura would come back from the gym and she didn’t take her keys.  Luckily we only had to wait about 5 more minutes before she returned but it was obvious Teresa was mad at her for not taking her keys. 

On the walk down to the restaurant my hip was still a little sore.  On the way I saw 5 motorcycles with PM decals parked outside that VIP home that the soldiers regularly are guarding.  You might be able to figure out what PM stands for if I switch that to the English version – MP.  Yes, I believe they are military police.  At the restaurant Teresa found out that Monday is the day for the meal she was looking forward to.  Today we each got soup, salad, 2 good sized pieces of pork in a nice sauce, a dab of mashed potatoes, a glass of fresh juice and a small dessert that I’m pretty sure was rice pudding, all for 10,000 pesos (about $3.50).

On the walk back to the apt, about halfway up the hill, I stopped and started laughing.  Teresa asked me what’s going on.  I told her the pain in my hip is gone but now I have a pain in my hamstring.  Lol.

Back at the apt I took a 30-minute nap.  I left the apt and went back to the internet café.  The lady there gave me my memory drive and I asked if she wanted a tip (I don’t know the Spanish word for reward).  She said something about a man finding it so I guess she thought it was fairer if I tipped him.  The café was very busy so I left and walked a block away where I had my completed form scanned into a pdf file and put on my USB drive.

I walked a few more blocks to the shoe repair shop where I picked up my repaired shoe for 4,000 pesos (about $1.25).  That probably would have cost me $20 back in the States.  On the way back to the apt I ran into Teresa and her mother on their way to where she was going to get a pedicure.

Correction, tonight was the final of Desafio.

I watched a new episode of El Socio from 7 to 8pm and then World Series game 1 after that.  The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs 5-0.

T-shirt of the day: Madness party.

Monday, October 24th, 2016

Teresa left the apt a little early so she could make the health club payment for the month – 41mil (about $14) per person.  I did my usual hour and fifteen minutes at the gym with Teresa and her mother.  My weigh-in today was at 67 ¾ kilos.  Today I noticed my right gym shoe is coming apart; the sole is separating from the rest of the shoe.  I think I recall catching it on a piece of sidewalk recently.

About 2pm in the apt we heard thunder and Teresa said we should leave early so we’ll be able to catch a taxi.  I changed clothes, we left the apt at 2:15 and walked a few blocks where we caught a taxi.  Again we had the driver drop us off at Carulla behind Oviedo.  First we went upstairs to the theatre, there was no line and we bought 2 tickets to the 3:15 showing of Inferno for 25mil (about $8.50).

Teresa thought there was a Fedco in this mall, she was looking for some special shampoo, but they didn’t have one so she window shopped a little.  At 3:05 we headed upstairs where I bought a medium popcorn, 2 medium sodas and a bag of some type of onion ring-like chips for her for 25,000 pesos.  In the theater we saw a coming attraction for another Tom Hanks movie A Hologram for the King (6.1).  (I saw later that it was released back in April.)  I had read the Dan Brown book Inferno some years ago but of course I don’t remember much of it.  The movie was good and by the way there were only about 8 other people in the theater.

After the movie we went across the street to Santafe mall where we quickly found the Fedco store.  I wandered around while Teresa was talking to a saleslady about some products and was pleasantly surprised to find the Arm & Hammer antiperspirant deodorant I used to buy at Walgreen’s back in the States.  It cost 14,300 pesos (about $5) probably close to twice as expensive as in the States but I love these personal products that I used to have.  (Before this I used Speed Stick which is pretty decent and most recently Dove for Men which I don’t really care for.)  At least this 26oz container is almost 50% larger than the others.

Teresa went into Zara to check out their sales and I looked at a display for some type of coffee maker that makes different kinds of lattes.  While waiting for Teresa come out I saw an attractive middle aged woman with a nice figure walk by.  With a waist that small I’m sure she’s had some work done.  Teresa soon came out and we took a taxi back to Envigado.

I understand tonight is the final episode of the latest Desafio (Challenge) show she watches each night at 8pm.

Laura doesn’t work until 3pm tomorrow so she said she would go with me to the shoe repair shop we visited last time.

I finally started eating some of the nacho chips I bought a week or more ago.  They’ve already started losing some of their freshness.

T-shirt of the day: Oh, you’re a prince, but I’m a queen.

Sunday, October 23rd, 2016

At 1pm it started raining but it only lasted about 20 minutes.

I watched some football on Direct TV’s NFL Red Zone.  It switches between each of the football games in progress and it’s in English.

Teresa told me Laura wants something from Santafe mall so we left a couple minutes earlier than planned – at 5:20 – for the 6:15 show at Oviedo.  We had to walk a couple blocks to catch a taxi.  I asked the driver if he knew the Carulla supermarket behind Oviedo and he said he did so I asked him to drop us off there.  He headed in the right direction I just had to stop him from turning too soon a couple times.  While the ladies did some window shopping at Bon Bonite I went upstairs to buy tickets for Inferno playing at 6:15.  I changed my mind when I saw the long line for tickets.

I told Teresa about that but said that the same movie is playing across the street at Santafe mall at 6:30.  We walked across the street and I left the ladies at Forever 21 while I went downstairs to buy another bottle of Ginkgo Biloba.  On the way I saw a Saint Bernard that was getting a lot of attention.  Today in the lobby they had a children’s forest with tall plastic trees and the ground is like a trampoline.  I was a little surprised that the price in Fedco was the same as El Tesoro - 68,000 pesos.

The ladies were waiting for me when I got back to the store.  They said they would go with me to buy tickets.  I led them to the elevator because I figured that was the quickest way to get to the theatre on the 5^th floor.  Teresa got on the elevator even though it showed it was going down and that’s when I learned that while there are 5 levels of stores, there are 6 levels of underground parking.

There was a short line for tickets but when it was our turn all that was available were 5 seats in the front row.  I didn’t go for that.  Teresa said no problem we’ll just come back tomorrow.  I told her only if it’s in the afternoon.

The ladies did some more shopping in Bershka.  Laura asked me if I would buy her a pair of boots for 200mil and she would give me 100mil when we got back to the apt and the other 100mil when she got paid for her job.  They cost 199,000 pesos (about $68) and came up over her knees.  I can’t understand why they would wear something like that in this warm weather but that’s fashion for you.

We stopped in J&C Delicias where we all had a very tasty dinner with fresh juice for 110,200 (about $38) including tip.  While sitting in the restaurant I observed a pretty young lady in the shortest skirt I’ve ever seen, going up on the escalator.  If it was any shorter it would be scarf.  Lol.  Have I mentioned that there are some good looking women here?

We caught a taxi back to the apt where Laura gave me the 100mil that she promised.

T-shirt of the day: Shoes speak louder than words.

Saturday, October 22nd, 2016

The Colombian Peso closed for the week at 2,929 to the Dollar.

I have a leather chess wallet I’ve had for years but the plastic pieces are cracking and some have broken.  I’ve glued and taped several of them back together.  Each month I do an internet search looking for replacement pieces.  I got real excited today when I found this:

http://www.terapeak.com/worth/leather-pocket-chess-set-by-chess-era/351590534473/

But I can’t get any further towards purchasing it.  L

MT arrived at the apt at 9am and we all jumped into a taxi.  On the expressway there was an overhead electric sign that said traffic ahead was very slow at Calle 30.  The driver should have immediately gotten off on Calle 10 and taken Avenida 80 but he didn’t.  Traffic was very heavy in and around Calle 30 and the driver didn’t even get off at Calle 44 which is the east-west street nearest to where we want to be.  Traffic wasn’t moving on the entrance and exit ramps there so I understood why he didn’t try to exit.  Traffic eased noticeably after that and he exited at Calle 50.  We had to backtrack a bit but we still arrived at Mall Laureles with 15 minutes to spare.

Four other ladies joined us in our van and traffice was also heavy on Avenida Ochenta as we tried to exit the city.  We saw a few soldiers with their semi-automatic rifles standing on the side of the road giving us the thumbs up signal.  Traffic was backed up again to pay the toll to enter the tunnel.  That gave locals the opportunity to advertise their wares on the side of the road.  Teresa bought a small bag of 5 mandarin oranges for 2,000 pesos.  We shared a couple and they were pretty sweet.  The van stopped at the usual restaurant but, because of all our delays, only long enough for everyone to use the restroom.

We still arrived at the “resort” by noon.  I found out right away that their wifi zone wasn’t working so I asked someone to turn it on.  I swam in the pool a bit while MT and Teresa worked on their tans.  Back in the wifi zone I found it working so I played 1 games, a draw, on chess.com before it was time for lunch.

We had a nice lunch of soup, salad, meat (pork for me, fish for the ladies), potatoes, fresh juice and a small piece of tiramisu for dessert.  Remember lunch is included in the trip all for 60,000 pesos (a little more than $20) a person.  After lunch the wifi zone wasn’t working.  We all took a little siesta (a Spanish word all Americans know).  I swam in the pool some more and the ladies worked on their tans.  About 3pm we heard thunder in the distance and I saw dark clouds in the same direction we saw last time we were here.  By 3:30 it started raining.  We all changed back into our street clothes and had an ice cream snack a little later.

At 5pm the wifi was working again, I played a few more games and got caught up on my emails, etc.  I paid an extra 18mil for our extras like towels and drinks and we left just before 7pm.  We stopped at the restaurant and I had 2 almojabanas with a cup of café con leche.  The ladies each had an arepa with cheese on top.

Back on the road we returned to Laureles by 9pm.  Because the mall was closed we had to wait about 15 minutes for a taxi.  We were back at the apt by 10pm.

Laura showed me a $20 bill that her grandmother gave her and I gave her 60,000 pesos for it.  I’m not going to exchange it here, I’ll wait until I return to the States to use it.  (I know, $20 in the US doesn’t go far.) 

T-shirt of the day: Who gives a hoot?

Friday, October 21st, 2016

I did my usual hour and twenty minutes at the health club.

Among new US movie releases I would like to see Ouija: Origin of Evil (7.0) and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (6.7).

Locally, I would still like to see Inferno (6.5) playing at El Tesoro at 6:15pm and Oviedo at 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 8pm and Santafe at 6:30pm.  Ouija: Origin of Evil is playing at El Tesoro at 6:35pm and Oviedo at 1:10pm, 3:50pm and 6:30pm and Santafe at 3:10pm and 5:35pm.

In the afternoon I stopped at Bancolombia but I didn’t see anyone withdraw cash from an ATM, just a piece of paper, so I went to Citibank for my withdrawal.  I stopped at a Gana store and waited in line for 10 minutes while 3 women in front of me bought their lottery tickets.  When it was my turn the clerk told me that the Claro connection wasn’t working.  She tried again 5 minutes later with the same result.  She told me to go to another location – she pointed across the street.  I didn’t understand until a man standing next to me told me in English that she wanted me to go to a standalone kiosk.  I did and he used a cell phone to add minutes to my cell phone number.

Teresa and MT went out and got their nails done.  After they came back Teresa went to Exito and bought some Fab laundry detergent.

The plan is to go to Santafe de Antioquia tomorrow if it’s sunny here in the morning.

T-shirt of the day: I want to k--- you.

Thursday, October 20th, 2016

How much lost productivity is there when you have to spend so much time unsubscribing from unwanted emails?  I don’t know who gave them my email address but I’ve gotten about a dozen each day for the last couple weeks.

Teresa went with her mother to her apt and I went to the park to play chess.  I walked around the area once and then a game finished and I asked to play.  Over the next 2-3 hours I won 2 games and lost 3.  Afterwards I felt quite stiff to be standing up for the first time in hours.

On my way to Exito I saw they have reopened that street that has been closed for the last month or so.

In Exito I picked up 2 bags of milk and 2 packages of arepas and then had to stand in line for 10-15 minutes to check out.  I don’t know why that process is so slow here.

I watched my Bears lose to the Green Bay Packers 26-10 and we lost our 2^nd string quarterback to a broken arm.  I got a good Slingbox connection.  The only problem was during halftime my son turned on the Al Smith dinner with Clinton and Trump and he was a little slow getting back to the game.  For some reason I was unable to get to the screen where I could change the channel myself.  I disconnected and reconnected and that didn’t help.  I sent my son an email asking him to change the channel back to the game.  In the meantime I shut down my laptop and restarted it and by the time I got my Slingbox connection back the Bears had scored a defensive touchdown and I had missed it.  :(

T-shirt of the day: I love to run.

Checklist: Medellin, Colombia - Medellin Living

Checklist: Medellín, Colombia

By Claire Volkman  |  October 17, 2016  |  12:00pm

Photo below by Ivan Erre JotaTRAVEL LISTS CHECKLIST

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Medellín is no longer run by Pablo Escobar (unless you’re still watching Narcos). The city, which is quickly growing and now Colombia’s second largest, has become one of South America’s most vibrant, inspiring, artistic and innovative cities. Sure, there are still the sad reminders of Escobar’s reign—like bombed out apartments or his face painted over the façade of the barrio he built—but there’s far more progression to make up for it. From El Poblado’s hipster restaurants and high-end boutiques to Calle 52’s chaotic, vendor filled markets to Medellín’s iconic cable car, a visit to this misunderstood city will, in itself, showcase just a taste of the entire country’s renaissance.

1. Metrocable

Photo by Claire Volkman

A testament to the city’s revival is the above ground Metrocable —a string of gondolas created in 2004 that work as an addition to the public transportation—which soar above the city’s Northwest underdeveloped barrios. Board at Estación Acevedo and try to get a window seat so you can get a humbling view of how many of the residents live in brick houses with crumbling metal and tin roofs. Hop off and transfer to the Santa Domingo line, which will take you past the sprawling barrios to Parque Arví, a 4,300-acre nature preserve that sits on the slopes of the Aburra Valley. This local favorite provides much needed refuge from the busy city streets and offers an array of activities, from zip-lining through the lush, pollution-free trees to exploring the 1,500-year-old pre-Hispanic constructions, which sit on the Camino Cizeo de León trail.

2. Pablo Escobar Tour

It may seem counterintuitive to the city’s progression to take a tour that dwells on its dark and turbulent past, but the Pablo Escobar tour is actually the best way to see just how much the city had to overcome. Medellín City’s two-hour tour takes you to legendary landmarks in Escobar’s history while a guide regales you will tales of his fascinating reign and the terrifying aftermath it had on the city. You’ll visit the bombed out Monaco building, where assassination attempts were made on him and his family, his gravesite (which might be decorated with a letter from former hit man Popeye, who is known to visit weekly), the small and humble home he died in and the barrios he built, which still bear a painted mural of his face.

3. The Museo de Antioquia and Plaza Botero

Photo by Claire Volkman

Located off Calle 52, a bustling street filled with vendors, food carts, barber shops and other hole-in-the-wall eateries, are two of Medellín’s most notable landmarks, the Museo de Antioquia andPlaza Botero. Paying homage to Colombia’s most famous artist, Fernando Botero, the larger than life sculptures are as unique as they are eye-catching. Known for his depiction (and fascination) of plump historians, Botero’s coveted collection can be seen inside the Gothic museum that flanks the square. Free to enter, the museum provides a respite from Colombia’s rainy (or humid) weather, and gives you a rather inspiring look at Botero and many other local artists’ life works.

4. Plaza Minorista

Photo by Claire Volkman

For an authentic look at real “paisa” life, spend a few hours wandering through the overwhelmingly chaotic Plaza Minorista, a large undercover market off Calle 55. Home to over 2,500 vendors selling everything from fresh produce to fish to loaves of fluffy pan blandito (Colombian soft bread), it’s also a great place to grab a bite of truly local eats. Bring your camera, as the sights and colors will make for some incredible shots. Pro tip: Go with a guide to ensure you don’t get peddled or sick from a subpar vendor.

5. El Poblado

Photo by Claire Volkman

Arguably one of Medellín’s most “hipster” neighborhoods, El Poblado feels like a city unto itself thanks to a picturesque creek running through the center, thick clusters of towering oak trees and bamboo, and brightly painted murals decorating the parks and restaurants. Noted as Medellín’s most wealthy neighborhood, it’s also one of the most popular, with nightclubs, high-end eateries, outdoor parks, salsa clubs and bars surrounding Parque Lleras. For innovative cocktails, spice-filled empanadas or their gourmet take on bandeja paisa (the blue-collar dish that fuels the working class) head to Park Bistro, which features a trendy upstairs deck and outdoor seating complete with strung lights and flags. More than just food and drink, El Poblado is also a mecca for shopping, with malls like Santa Fe, Oviedo and El Tesoro selling custom-made Colombian jewels, clothing and home goods.

6. Sip and Salsa

Medellín’s passion for salsa dancing is seen all throughout the city in the numerous high-energy, music-blaring nightclubs. In Laureles, another young and trendy neighborhood, Son Havana is a Cuban themed club that millennials and salsa fanatics frequent on a nightly basis. Even more lively and eccentric is Cien Fuegos Cabaret, a venue decorated with hundreds of photographs of salsa stars and home to all levels of dancers, from professionals to novice tourists. Last but certainly not least is El Tibiri, a sweaty basement club that beckons the most dedicated of dancers. If the vibe is too intimidating, grab a local brew (Club Colombia), sit and simply enjoy the mural of dancers in front of you.

7. The City’s Inspiring Fare

More than just empanadas, Medellín is a foodie hot spot on its own, with a collection of highly regarded restaurants all throughout the city. Mondongo’s, which has two locations, serves up hearty portions of genuine cuisine—like crispy fried plantains and arepas (Colombian corn cakes) served with chorizo and cooked over an open flame. For something a little more high-end, visitCarmen, owned by an American/Colombian pair trained at Le Cordon Bleu. The menu has a strong Colombian foundation with a fresh California twist, so expect to find dishes like pig and gnocchi confit and home-cured salmon with mashed chontaduro (native fruit) on the menu. For a taste of France in the middle of Medellín, make a reservation at La Provincia, a casual yet romantic eatery spattered with white tablecloths and freshly plucked flowers. The food is just as beautiful and locals swear by the black risotto and mango-stuffed chicken breast.

8. Biblioteca España

Photo by Nothing Major

Built into the sloping mountainsides above Medellín is one of the city’s most recognized landmarks: the Biblioteca España. This gigantic library sits next to the Santa Domingo metrocable stop and provides sweeping views of the neighboring barrios and the hillsides. Although the structure, which resembles three sloped rocks with artistically layered windows, is a point of contention for some locals, others believe it’s another positive sign of the city’s new era. Regardless of how you feel, you have to stop in, if only for the panoramic views.

Claire Volkman is a seasoned writer and photographer with a passion for food and travel. She has spent time in more than 40 countries and hundreds of cities.