Returning on Monday afternoon to Medellin was a pleasure although we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Boyaca and Bogota, mainly thanks to the friendly Eslava family. Mario picked us up and we checked back into the Novelty Suites Hotel in Poblado. This time we rented a two bedroom, two bath mini-apartment to accommodate Nedret and Zeki who were arriving from Bogota the next evening.
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| Our living room at the Novelty Suites on the sixth floor - we requested the fan to help with air flow. There are AC units only in the bedroom. |
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| View from the living room |
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| Another view from the living room |
An "official" dinner was hosted that night by the EAFIT department for Andres Carrano, also from Auburn, who was teaching this week at EAFIT. He teaches additive manufacturing to undergraduates and had arrived Saturday night. The meal was at a nearby hipster restaurant with very good food. We shared the dishes and passed everything around. It was a late but festive evening.
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| Alambique was the venue for our welcome dinner for Andres |
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| Ana Maria and Mario |
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| Carlos and Sandra (who works with Ana Maria at Avon) |
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| Andres and me |
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| Juan Gregorio and me |
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| The dried ants (really!) to sprinkle on one of the dishes. I did eat one of them for research's sake |
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| One of the pretty and delicious dishes we all shared of this fusion food |
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| Eating the ants |
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| Olga and Sergio |
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| The whole crew at the very cool wood table |
The next day began our typical routine at the Novelty Suites. Do some email early in the morning drinking some instant Starbucks decaf. Shower and dress and eat breakfast (omelet and fruit mainly) then work out for 20 to 30 minutes to one of the Jazzercise workout videos. Then, get on with our day.
For Tuesday, Randy and I took a taxi to the Medellin Botanical Gardens. This garden, on the other side (north side) of downtown is free and exceeded expectations. We walked through the extensive gardens, mostly tropical but one of desert plants. There is a small pond with ducks, turtles and iguanas! In fact the large iguanas roam free. Very cool. We fed the ducks with some food bought at the garden shop.
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| At the Medellin Botanical Gardens |
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| The map shows the extensiveness of the place |
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| With the lush vegetation |
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| One of the ducks we fed on the sidewalk |
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| One of the free roaming iguanas |
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| A bunch of ducks enjoyed our feed near the lagoon |
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| Another sun bathing iguana |
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| A colorful lily |
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| One of the very pretty little red squirrels found in Medellin |
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| They are so much more attractive than our larger fully gray version in Alabama |
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| The House of Butterflies |
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| This big moth loves watermelon |
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| A monarch |
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| A good close up |
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| A nice two toned butterfly |
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| An iguana in the lagoon eating lily leaves |
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| Joined by a younger friend (or child) |
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| Randy checks out the cacti at the desert garden |
After seeing everything, we had a stylish and relaxing lunch at the upscale restaurant in the garden, In Situ. We were fortunate to be seated at a primo table. Randy has consomme soup and a smoke salmon appetizer while I opted for a creamed mushroom appetizer followed by a salad with asparagus and smoked salmon (and a glass of white wine). Really, really nice. Hope we can return on the next trip.
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| Go here if you visit Medellin - open for lunch and dinner |
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| Our table was so relaxing |
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| My rich and very delicious mushrooms in a crusty cheese basket |
We found a taxi back to the hotel easily and we walked to the EAFIT campus (about 10 minutes downhill) for my first class of the week. I have 37 students, all studying for a masters in logistics. Nearly all work and many are industrial engineers. The class is exceedingly long (5 PM to 9 PM) but I gave them a break in the middle and adjourned class by 8:30 PM.
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| With my 37 lively students |
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| Working hard on an in class exercise |
Randy met me at the entrance and we walked to the Oviedo Mall for dinner at Cafe Le Gris, a favorite restaurant from our visit in 2014. We drank a half bottle of good Malbec from Mendoza and I had asparagus and a spinach/cheese crepe. Randy chose a fried chicken salad. Then, to bed.
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| We ate here a few times on our 2014 visit to Medellin - located in Oviedo Mall |
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| Randy thought he was ordering light by selecting a salad with chicken |
Randy left the latch on our room door so Nedret and Zeki could not enter at midnight when they arrived. This involved some phone calls and getting Mario and me out of bed. But they got in the room and to their bedroom and we all went to sleep.
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