Fun in Medellin and a Minor but Very Annoying Crime

Mario picked us up at the airport on Sunday evening after we breezed through immigration and customs.  Our hotel in Medellin is in the Poblado area, the upscale "best" area with hotels, restaurants, casinos, and lots of shopping.  The university, EAFIT, is a short 10 minute walk.  The hotel, Novelty Suites, was not quite as nice as we expected but we have a serviceable room with two queen beds on the 14th floor.  An essential, a wall AC unit, works well and we got a fan put in the room to further move the air around after the first night.

View from our 14th floor hotel room in Medellin - mornings were hazy

The other direction looking at the five star hotel we stayed at in 2015 (the shorter white building)

The Novelty Suites on right with the Affinity Aparta Hotel on left (where we will stay next week) taken from Poblado Avenue

Breakfast is a buffet of fruit (Colombia is famous for fruit), breads, cereal, juices, some hot dishes (some very strange like fried rice and chicken casserole) and an omelet/arepa station.  An arepa is a patty of corn or flour that is pan fried and eaten often in Colombia, mainly for breakfast.  It can be eaten with cheese, jam, butter or honey.  Coffee is offered with hot milk.

After a stroll around to re-orient ourselves (we stayed at a neighboring hotel when we were in Medellin in 2014), we went to the large Carulla grocery store and got some wine, nuts and guacamole.  We then walked to EAFIT and met Mario and his lovely wife Ana Maria to go to lunch as an upscale and delicious nearby restaurant, La Provincia.  The food and ambiance were spectacular and it was so nice to be with our very special Colombian friends again.

Fish display at Carulla

Plantains and roots in abundance at Carulla

With some of the lovely hibiscus flowers outside of the hotel

The crowded entrance to EAFIT full of lunch seeking students

I would eat at this restaurant anytime!

Mario and Ana Maria, our best friends in Medellin

My salad was so delicious!

Ana Maria got beef in sauce - the Colombians tend to eat their heaviest meal at lunchtime

I had the fish of the day - I don't know what it was but it was big and delicious

A great lunch to begin our Colombian adventure

Ana Maria left to return to work (she works at Avon as a regional industrial engineer) and we took a taxi with Mario to the metro station.  The plan was to take the metro downtown to see the Antioquia (the region/state where Medellin is located) Museum and then go, also by metro, to the botanical gardens.  The metro (an above ground modern subway system) was very crowded.  We crammed in and there was much jostling and pushing.  When we got off downtown, I found that my cell phone, my beloved pink iPhone 5C, was missing from its place in my purse.  It was in a closed (with Velcro) external pocket and was taken.  I was pick pocketed.  This was distressing, to say the least, as I depend on my cell phone for a lot especially when I travel.  We used Randy's phone to call Verizon who cancelled my service but said I could not get another phone or otherwise use my account until I returned to the U.S.  Mario, fortunately, had an old iPhone of his that we decided to fix up for my use.

The crowded Poblado metro station waiting for the train downtown

Rain was imminent so we ducked into the museum and spent a tranquil and interesting hour or two viewing the extensive collection.  Most of it was donated by Medellin native son, Fernando Botero, a famed sculptor and painter who "fat" images are immediately recognizable.  The museum is very large and had a lot of contemporary Colombian and Latin American art works.  I did not love most of them but it was still educational and thought provoking and a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon (a large thunderstorm raged the whole time we were in the museum).

The museum building is Art Deco and served for many years as a government building

The famed artist is still alive and keeps a home near Medellin but mostly lives in Europe

A small but cut statue by the master

I liked this modern Latin American painting (most, I did not care for)

Randy and Mario debate this mural

There was a small collection of historical paintings and artifacts such as this chair

Afterwards we took a few pictures with the assorted Botero sculptures in the plaza and then took a taxi  (two friendly police officers helped us find a taxi on this rainy rush hour) to the shopping mall (Oviedo) near our hotel and purchased a SIM card and some data and voice minutes for the loaned iPhone from Mario's cell provider, TIGO.  This proved pretty reasonable - only about $20.  We then drank a bottle of Chilean red wine at Casa Velez and worked on getting the iPhone set up (this took almost two hours).  We met the Velez cats - Lorenzo and Violetta - and reunited with sweet Antonia, the Velez's three year old.  We also met Ana Maria's mother, Diana.  The apartment is comfortable with a great view out over a park/school area from its 10th floor.  The apartment building is named Macadamia (like the nut).  With the cats, the wine, the view and the Velez family, happiness and harmony were restored.

Mario and Alice by the Botero cat sculpture

Looking down the wet main plaza lined with priceless Botero statues

An iconic view of the cathedral and a easily recognizable Botero work

My self effort with this classic Medellin view

I liked the fat horse too

Club Colombia beer at Casa Velez

Antonia enjoys the play dough I brought her from the U.S.

Randy chills with Miss Violetta

Ana Maria loves on Lorenzo

Randy gets some Lorenzo action

Violetta on the kitchen bar

We are all cat lovers!

We went for a late dinner with Mario and Ana Maria at a local Peruvian restaurant - Peru Wok.  Yes, a strange name but the food was pretty tasty.  Randy and I also had pisco sours - not as good as in Chile but still pretty easy to drink.

This place specializes in Peruvian food but also has versions of stir fry - South meets East, I guess

The iconic Peruvian pisco sour with egg white and bitters