I'm in Pobaldo district (last night and tonight). SUPER swank international hip district with gobs of cute international outdoor eateries. So cute.
For today (Wednesday), I bought a $20 guided tour of Medellin's Comuna 13 and Graffiti district which leaves at 9 this morning. It's a 4-hour tour that starts at the metro (10 minutes walk from here) and includes a history tour in English, a mirador stop (with a beer), street dance show, graffiti explanation, ice cream, metro and cable car...a touristy thing but honestly I'd pay $20 for someone to just show me the metro/escalators/cable car to get around the city!
Here's Comuna 13 (escalators). Metro to San Javier station, (which also has the cable car), then a bus to Comuna 13. So, from Poblado metro, take line A north to San Antonio (nearer to old town), then switch lines to go west to San Javier.
Hot tub on the roof and breakfast patio (!)
From Javier metro, take the cable car for a view
Communa 13...
Back down at San Javier station in Comuna 13
Coffee demo and tasting
After the ice cream stop, some bad assery street dance!
Graffiti galore! <3 <3 <3
The whole "GetYourGuide" group. People from Oregon, Chicago, Texas, Australia, France, and Finland. Our Medellin guide was Ezekiel (in blue), a civil engineer who likes to do these tours to meet people and practice (his nearly-perfect) English
Some history of Comuna 13. Read about Pablo Escobar in the 80s and 90s... and even more famous for operation Orion in 2002 - Uribe's government assult on the community - 'successful' in that it got rid of left-wing narcos/rebels... but really just displaced them with paramilitary ones... and community members disappeared, mass grave later found. Since 2011 when the escalators were installed, Comuna 13 has transformed completely.
Graffiti around every corner. Definitely touristy around the escalators with some shops - but still super edgy/pedestrian/local.
Australia, Finland, me and Ezekiel
Such a cool morning. This afternoon was a torrential rain so bailed on the 30-minute walk to the Pablo Escobar museum.
Tomorrow, I might try to get to Comuna 13 again... to stay a bit longer. Headed to Guatape tomorrow afternoon too!
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