Colombia 2015

June 2015

The Honeymoon Trip Read more

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Traveler Colombia 2015
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- Jun 19, 2015, 4:00pm
- ☁️ 26 °C
- Altitude: 142 m
- United States Hawaii Honolulu County Liliha - Kapalama 21.348639, -157.8537621°20’55” N 157°51’14” W
Day 1
Prologue
June 19, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
Jeff was planning to compete in the Pan American Master's Diving Championship in Medellin soon after our wedding, so I decided to tag along and extend our trip to Cartagena and make a honeymoon out of it. I actually cringe at the "honeymoon" moniker as we have been together for almost 15 years and it wasn't as if we were embarking on a new life together, but regardless it feels good to have our relationship legally recognized now that Hawaiʻi has passed marriage equality.Read more
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- Jun 19, 2015, 7:00pm
- ☁️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 18 m
- United States Hawaii Honolulu County Mokumoa Island (historical)Honolulu International Airport 21.331474, -157.92001321°19’53” N 157°55’12” W
Day 1
Honolulu to Dallas/Fort Worth
June 19, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
American Airlines AA102 | HNL/DFW
Economy Class
Boeing 767-300ER | N357AA
ATD/2039 | ATA/0927+1

I initially had my upgrade confirmed, but I was downgraded back to Economy Class because my assigned seat was inoperable. American had already assigned all extra legroom seats by the time they downgraded me, and I was seated at a window seat next to a large person. Luckily for me, he was aware of his size and he positioned himself in a way that made the flight tolerable for me.Read more
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- Jun 20, 2015, 10:00am
- ☁️ 27 °C
- Altitude: 174 m
- United States Texas Tarrant County Minters Chapel Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport 32.897606, -97.04030632°53’51” N 97°2’25” W
Day 2
Dallas/Fort Worth to New Orleans
June 20, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
American Airlines AA390 | DFW/MSY
Economy Class
Airbus A319-100
ATD/1037 | ATA/1201

Unfortunately, this wasn't the most pleasant flight. Someone across the aisle was passing a lot of gas throughout the flight. The same aircraft was utilized for the next segment to Miami, and a surprising number of passengers from the DFW/MSY sector reboarded the flight. Mercifully, the flatulent passenger either disembarked at MSY or they took care of the issue while in transit.Read more
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- Jun 20, 2015, 1:00pm
- ☁️ 31 °C
- Altitude: 9 m
- United States Louisiana Jefferson Parish Rex Trailer Court Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport 29.995804, -90.25514229°59’45” N 90°15’19” W
Day 2
New Orleans to Miami
June 20, 2015 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C
American Airlines AA1073 | MSY/MIA
Economy Class
Airbus A319-100
ATD/1256 | ATA/1611
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- Jun 20, 2015, 5:00pm
- 🌧 30 °C
- Altitude: 28 m
- United States Florida Miami-Dade Virginia Gardens Miami International Airport 25.79508, -80.27960225°47’42” N 80°16’47” W
Day 2
Miami to Medellin
June 20, 2015 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 30 °C
American Airlines AA923 | MIA/MDE
Economy Class
Boeing 737-800
ATD/1702 | ATA/1922
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- Jun 20, 2015, 8:00pm
- ☁️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 2,116 m
- Colombia Antioquia Rionegro José María Córdova International Airport 6.171681, -75.427466°10’18” N 75°25’39” W
Day 2
Arrival in Medellin
June 20, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
I generally avoid arriving in a strange city after sundown, but the flight schedules did not facilitate a daylight arrival.

After clearing immigration and customs, I boarded the minibus service for San Diego Mall. Medellin’s main airport is located in an adjacent valley from Medellin itself, and it was a 45 minute drive into Medellin. The views of the city lights were spectacular as the minibus descended into the valley.

At San Diego Mall, I took a taxi to our hotel. Jeff had already checked in, and he had brought a doggy bag of leftovers from his prior dinner for me, which hit the spot. Unfortunately, the hotel wasn’t great, there was a fair bit of noise, and the aircon did not get fixed despite repeated calls. We checked out the next morning, squatted with his fellow master’s diver Susie at her AirBNB the next evening, and then we found our own AirBNB near the pool for the remainder of our stay.Read more
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- Jun 21, 2015, 1:00pm
- ☁️ 30 °C
- Altitude: 1,491 m
- Colombia Antioquia Medellín 6.252375, -75.5691226°15’9” N 75°34’9” W
Day 3
Museo de Antioquia
June 21, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C
A visit to Medellin is not complete without viewing Fernando Botero's art and sculptures. On my first full day in Medellin, after Jeff established a new world record in master's 3M springboard, we trooped out to the Museo de Antioquia with a number of his master’s diver friends.

We took the Metro from Estadio, where the competition was held, to Parque Berria and walked one block to the museum. This museum is excellent and it is the most fun museum I've been to. Not surprisingly, the works of Medellin's most famous (noncriminal) son take center stage at this museum. Many of Botero's works were on show. His signature visual is “gordo” or voluminous, and his paintings and sculptures featured proportionally large people, animals, and other figures.

The top floor of the museum featured a number of fun interactive exhibits, including one exhibit in which you to made your own Botero-inspired selfie and another which featured animations of Botero paintings.

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- Jun 21, 2015, 3:00pm
- 🌧 27 °C
- Altitude: 1,482 m
- Colombia Antioquia Medellín Villa Nueva Plaza Botero 6.251832, -75.568686°15’7” N 75°34’7” W
Day 3
Botero Plaza
June 21, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
Located next to the Museo de Antioquia is a public space called Plazoleto de las Esculturas, also known as Plaza Botero, with a number of Botero statues on display. Botero donated these statues, which are worth millions, to the city. It was really nice to see people hanging around the sculptures and enjoying them.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/plaza-botero

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- Jun 21, 2015, 6:00pm
- 🌧 23 °C
- Altitude: 1,485 m
- Colombia Antioquia Medellín 6.254466, -75.5916446°15’16” N 75°35’30” W
Day 3
Estadio/Laureles
June 21, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 23 °C
As it was a Sunday, we enjoyed people watching while walking around the Estadio area where as many people were out and about watching the Colombia-Chile football match in the bars and restaurants.

The highlight of our afternoon was our encounter with a street performer. He was dressed in Colombia’s national colors, and he was on the sidewalk entertaining restaurant patrons seated in the patio. I approached him to ask if I could take a photo of him, and he seized the opportunity to incorporate us into his act. He spoke English and he got us to wear some of his props. He then said some stuff in Spanish which made people at the restaurant laugh. They were probably having a laugh at our expense but we didn’t mind.

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- Jun 22, 2015, 10:00am
- ☁️ 22 °C
- Altitude: 1,937 m
- Colombia Antioquia Medellín San Antonio del Prado 6.180882, -75.6570166°10’51” N 75°39’25” W
Day 4
Pablo Escobar Tour
June 22, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
On my second full day in Medellin, I learned about a darker period in Medellin's history when I took a Pablo Escobar tour offered by Paisa Road. I booked this tour via a nearby hostel. I was aware that these tours are controversial locally because many Colombians just don’t want to talk about that period in history, and simply joining a tour like this is akin to promoting it. However, as an Urban and Cultural Geography major, I am always fascinated by the historical and cultural factors, including the shared traumas, that shape urban landscapes, so I went on this tour to learn more about what makes Medellin tick.

This tour was quite an eye opener. The guide, Paula, grew up in Medellin when the cartel was at its most active. Some Trip Advisor ratings of Paula weren't too positive, with people calling her cranky and opinionated. I definitely saw that in her, but what I also saw was a young woman who was robbed of a normal childhood. I cannot imagine what it was like to live through years of this violence and, as a child, being able to tell the difference between pistol and rifle fire.

Anyway, back to the tour itself. The majority of the sights were in the upscale El Poblado area. Paula showed us buildings that Escobar occupied, sites that his forces attacked, the building where he was killed, and a shrine where cartel members used to pray for protection. The last stop on the tour was Escobar's grave which was in a cemetery a little south of Poblado.

Along the way, we got insights into Escobar himself as well as life during the cartel days and its lingering effects. For example, in the past motorcycle helmets were banned as the police wanted to be able to recognize riders, and even today it is illegal for two males to be on a motorbike because in the past the pillion riders would fire weapons from their motorbikes (I guess the assumption is that women cannot shoot!).

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rosa-mistica
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pablo-escob…

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