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  • Day 13

    Colombia Day 12

    August 7, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    A bright sunshiny day in Medellin. Temperature projected to get to 85 today. :-( Out by 11 after an AM of planning and relaxation. Off to see the first of the Medellin flower festival venues - North Park, which is also an amusement park. Also decided to take experience the Colombian rapid transit system. The city has a metro that is above ground. Wander from our hotel to the closest metro station about 3/4 mile away. Stations and trains are very clean and orderly. No transfer or day tickets available so, as a tourist, you need to buy a new ticket for each ride. A 20 minute ride North to the University area and North Park. In its "real" when it is not a venue for the flower show, life North Park is an amusement park. The flower displays are intertwined with the park rides and in the open spaces. A stop for cervezas for Robert and me, a walk around a large lake in the middle of the park - lots of birds and egrets nesting in the trees on an island in the middle of the lake.
    Next off to a park up one of the mountains surrounding Medellin. Medellin is in a basin/valley with mountains all around. The "suburbs" of Medellin are built up the sides of those mountains and many people live there so public transportation to those areas is essential. We took the elevated metro further north in the city. The main train artery runs North-South through the valley with a river alongside. We needed to transfer to a line that runs east and goes up the mountain, turns out that line is a cable car!!! Quite the experience going over all the housing that spans the mountainside. There are 3 stops on this line until you get to the top where we transferred to another cable car line that went another 15 minutes across the top of the mountain to get to the park!! Quite the ride. The park was wonderful - lots going on - focus as a nature preserve - you think you are in the middle of nowhere and then there is all of the very well planned park setting with tours, restaurants, more flowers on display and lots of trails to walk around. Quite fun and a highlight of Medellin for me.
    Back via public transport to our hotel and a walk across the street for dinner - Fiorella's, a cute outdoor restaurant, Italian with pastas and great eggplant parmesan. Loving the Argentinian white wines. After dinner I walked up to the main thoroughfare about 1/4 mile away to find some ice cream and watch some kids dancing in a park. A good travel day.
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