We took the metro from down in the south of the city in Poblado up to the Universidad, where we visited the Botanic Gardens, which showed just how many dfferent plants, trees and flowers thrive in this country at the nexus of the North and South American Continents. I´ll post some pics from there soon.
After a pleasant walk through the park with Matty, who was familiar with many of the varieties of plants we saw an a great person to be visiting with, we went into the center of the city to visit a museum and just walk around. Despite the image most of us have in our heads, this a great, safe place to visit, and we cruised the street without any problems. The police are helpful and while there is some corruption (a taxi cab driver who was waiting for me while I ran an errand got out of a COP190,000 parking ticket by paying a COP10,000 bribe), the overall sense is that it is safe and orderly.
Here are some pics.
The city center, filled with Botero sculptures, street vendors and beautiful cathedrals:
A view of Poblado from our hotel rooftop:
The Medellin Valley:
The city at night:
Holiday preperations are just begining, but the whole counry supposedly lights up on December 7th with light displays adorning almost every public building and even overlaying the the river that runs through the city center.
