Itinerary for Friday 7/7/23
2. Travel from MDE to our Airbnb apartment located at Cra. 63B #42-60, Laureles – Estadio, Medellín, Laureles, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia
3. Find a place to eat and explore the neighborhood.
Getting to Medellin from Charleston is straight forward. We got on the 6 am American Airlines flight 3434 to Miami. After a roughly 2 hour layover we boarded AA flight 1127 to Medellin. Total travel time airport to airport was around 7 hours.
Upon arriving in Colombia, the immigration process took around an hour but proceeded smoothly and uneventfully. The officials simply inspected our passports, asked no questions, and warmly welcomed us into the country.
After gathering our belongings and getting $1,000,000.00 from the green ATM, we began to figure out how to get to our apartment.
There are 3 main ways to get to the city of Medellin from the airport
- Uber. This was our preferred method of travel. One odd thing about Colombia is that Uber is not supported. (whatever that means). As such they cant pick you up where the normal pick up place is. Our driver, Alejandro, picked us up in the airport parking lot. It actually was fairly easy but if arriving late at night I would have been wary of this.
- Yellow taxi. These are readily available at the normal airport pickup spot. But they require cash, the drivers are unlikely to speak English, and they are small and usually dirty.
- Rent a car. Readily available but you have to know how to drive “crazy”
The trip from the airport to our apartment took about 45 minutes and cost $106,320.00 (equivalent to $26.70 USD)
A point of interest along the way is the Tunel de Oriente. At 5.1 miles, it is one of the longest tunnels in South America. Coming out of the tunnel, you get your first glimpse of Medellin. From this elevated position you get quite a spectacular and panoramic view of the city.
Our Airbnb apartment at the Torre Zion building was located on the 9th floor. It was clean, spacious and modern. It had balconies on both the front and back side of the building offering great views, especially at night, when the hillside neighborhood lights twinkled like little stars.
There were a few quirks with the apartment though. One, the Bosch tankless gas water heater maxed out temp wise at 30.C (86 F). This is a little colder than we like but we got used to it. Its possible it had a wireless control that the owner could have adjusted but we did not bother with it. The second quirk is there is no way to exit the building without opening a lock with a key. Its not a problem unless you trying to get out in a hurry, like in a fire, or you forget the key and have to go back to your apartment to get it.
After getting in and oriented to the surroundings, it was time to venture out.
Our first destination was Mondongos, a restaurant nestled on Carrera 70, a vibrant street adorned with a delightful array of eateries, bars, shops, and lively street vendors.
Mondongos is renowned for serving authentic Colombian cuisine. So naturally we decided to indulge in the Tipico Antioqueño/Antioquian, a dish that reflects the region’s culinary heritage.
After an enjoyable meal, we managed to walk back to the apartment without getting hopelessly lost.
Another helpful point: watch out for holes in the sidewalk, they are everywhere. It would be very easy to get a severe sprain or fracture by unknowingly steeping into one.
