A WEEKEND IN MEDELLÍN
This past weekend some exchange students and myself decided to book a cheap flight to Medellín for some adventure, new sites and of course, la fiesta.
We stayed in the Galería Hostel in El Poblado, a very popular area both tourists and backpackers. I’ve never stayed in a hostel before and oh my god, one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had! I shared a dorm with 11 other people and met people from all over the world, including another Canadian! The first one I’ve met since I’ve been in Colombia! He had the coolest stories about solo-backpacking, swimming in the Amazon and many more. On the first day, we spent the day exploring the city and checking out some typical sites (stayed tuned for a video) then went to a great spot for dinner before chilling in the hostel with some of the cool people we met.
Saturday was most definitely the highlight of the weekend. We took a tour bus to Guatapé, a town about 1.5hrs outside of Medellín. The tour included a typical Colombian breakfast, some statue sites, lunch and exploring throughout the colourful village. The last stop of the day was El Peñón de Guatapé, which is essentially a huge rock. Once you climb all 659 steps to the top and of course a few more through the tower located on top of the rock, you become witness to the 2nd greatest view in the world (the first being in Rio de Janiero). It was absolutely breathtaking and I recommend to EVERYONE that if you ever go to Colombia, you need to put this spot on your bucket list!
On Sunday, we ventured out for a delicious hangover breakfast at a nearby restaurant before jumping on the metro. The city is very modern and has a metro (similar to the subway system you would find in NORAM), but one added bonus: metro cables! In either direction, people have the opportunity to jump on the metro cable that will take you up the mountain to various neighbourhoods and parks. It’s similar to a ski-lift that you would find at bigger ski hills. The funniest thing about this day though was the people I met along the way. We bumped into a group of 4 guys on the train, turns out we were heading in the same direction so we ended up spending the day together. After some casual conversation, it came to my attention that these gentlemen were in fact, TKEs. Crazy right? We bonded over the fact that my last weekend in Canada consisted of RCB (cc: Snaps to Mathew Clancy for being a great date!).
Now despite Anne and I experiencing what seemed like a fast and furious movie as we ran from the train station to catch a quick cab and make it to the airport on time (all was good, we made our flight), Medellín was a great escape from school. A vacation from my vacation I guess you could say. Now that I’ve lived out of a backpack and stayed in a hostel, even if only for a weekend, I can confidently say that I’ve been officially bitten by the travel bug.
Looking forward to my next adventure!
Charlotte
