Meddling in Medellin — Someday Sherpa

Welcome to Colombia's second city. One with a chequered past containing fear, blood and plane loads of drugs; now it's all about hope and forward thinking which in part is to reinvent Colombia's image in the eyes of tourists.

Nestled in an Andean valley and cut off from the rest of Colombia for years, Medellin offers a different take on the classic Latin American city full of churches and chicken buses. Here you'll find the country's only metro system, pockets of upmarket coffee shops, bars and restaurants that would fit into any western city, and even 3 separate gondola routes connecting the barrios and a National Park.

Soaring over Medellin in one of three gondolas

We'd decided to treat Medellin differently. After 5 months on the road Team Sherpa wanted kick off the trekking shoes and singlets and stay put for a few days. Travelling is life changing but packing a bag every two days and riding buses does wear you down; we checked into an AirBnB complete with balcony, 2 bathrooms (oh the bliss), and even a juicer! Time to explore at a leisurely pace while catching up on admin, learning Spanish, and eating food that isn't deep fried. I mean seriously, if you need to test the limitations of your gut or ticker then eat some classic Colombian dishes.

Highlights of the city would definitely include a walking tour of the city - we had a truly passionate local as guide that makes all the difference -, rising high above the barrios and favelas via gondola to visit National Park Alba, and sitting in cafe Velvet to learn Spanish from Carla, a local sweetheart with patience even for us two hopeless cases. I mean it's got to be painful teaching the alphabet to 35 year olds 😫.

Our resident cafe with favourite barista working hard

Interestingly you still feel the shadow of Pablo Escobar's time as Patron / Dictator hovering over the city and region. A violent, arrogant and greedy man, he was feared and worshiped depending on your situation. The Museo Casa de la Memoria highlights just how many deaths occurred during his reign - we're talking thousands, many of which and with a reward -, while our walking tour guide refused to refer to him by name in case locals overheard and thought she was glamourising him.

Carla our Spanish teacher...and we promise the wine was helping

Our teachers creative poster jumped straight out at us

This city had a delicate past more so than many - but it's their desire to keep moving forwards that significantly contributes to Medellin's appeal.

Well worth a visit, here's our favourites from Medellin.

SLEEP:

We spent 2 nights at La Campana Hotel Boutique prior to our AirBnB. Quiet neighbourhood, friendly staff and good breakfast. Oh, and parent-friendly!
AirBnB. A lovely little 1 bed flat 15mins walk from the cafes and bars

DO:

City walking tour with Real City Tours. A little long at 4hrs but informative, entertaining and free; guides survive on tips approx. AUD$10-15 pp.
Ride the metro. Cutting through the city top to bottom it accesses most areas. Buy a pre-loaded card from a ticket booth with any number of rides on it for ease approx. AUD$1
Catch a gondola from Santo Domingo to National Parque Arvi. At roughly AUD$5 pp. you sore over the forests feeling disconnected from the city.
Learn Spanish. There's multiple schools but we preferred the coffee shop and a local approach. Carla was great and we're now only mostly useless.
Go the the gym. Having 10 days of stability we opted for routine and found a gym running functional and spin classes. Nothing like getting your sweat on while understanding 0% of the instructions - most entertaining for coach and classmates alike 🙄. Gimnasio Santillana worked out at AUD$5 pp per day!

EAT:

Where to start! After finally finding good food again - Cartagena felt so long along - we decided to make the most of it.

Carmen. 'The' restaurant in town. Everything was perfect, from the ... G&T's with dry ice effect, to the pineapple and pumpkin soup as an appetiser. Expensive but worth every penny. Make sure you reserve to not miss out.
Ole Ole for tapas. Possibly the best tapas this side of San Sebastián, Spain. Looking down on our favourite coffee shop it serves mouth watering dishes in a lively, friendly atmosphere
La Bicyclette does a good burger and has cycling pictures on the wall which instantly wins my approval
Insane guacamole was snacked on in Burdo. It does a stirling Mojito and can get pumping later on if you're keen.
Indulge your healthy side at either Mundo Verde or ... Both offer salads and bowls brimming with goodness, and ideally topped with perfectly cooked salmon. Needed after some of Medellin's bars lead you astray
Coffee at Velvet. This is where I finally started to appreciate it as a worthwhile beverage.

DRINK:

There's endless options. We often found ourselves grabbing a beer from the nearest venue simply because it was close, and this never left us disappointed.

Park is unsurprisingly alongside a tiny little woodland park, turning an otherwise average bar into some cross between Alice in Wonderland and Mario Kart thanks to miniature mushroom stools, and fairy lights strung throughout the trees.
As mentioned above Burdo will cover all cocktail and atmosphere needs
Hiding in plain sight ... is on a corner block but finding the entrance ensures only in-the-know people enjoy glamourous cocktails, al-fresco dining and funky beats.