Plan for the day is walking Tour and Dinner at Carmen.
A four hour Walking tour around Medellin’s El Centro. The tour was led by Caroline, a 25 yo English speaking native of Medellin. Our group had 1 couple from the US, another from Canada, several Germans, one Italian couple, a lady from Belgium, and a lady from Ireland.
The tour meets and starts at Cra. 51 #41-76, La Candelaria, Medellín, the street is also named Bolivar. Once there go up the stairs to the metro and then over the crosswalk.
Stops along the tour:
Gobernación de Antioquia. This is the Government offices of Antioquia.
Plaza Cisneros – Parque de las Luces or Park of Lights. A park with 300 light poles. We did not find it that attractive during the day but probably nicer at night with the lights on.
Centro Comercial Palacio Nacional. A large building with lots of shops. An art gallery on the top floor. The streets around this place were full of small shops and street vendors. We were there on a nice Saturday afternoon so the streets were packed with people, all speaking Spanish, except for our English speaking tour group.
Plazuela de la Veracruz – Despacho Parroquial Iglesia Veracruz. A small park and old catholic Church.
Plaza Botero. A park featuring 23 sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. Around the park is the Museum of Antioquia and Rafael Uribe Uribe Palace of Culture
Parque Berrío. A bustling place with these street performers. We decided to dance to see if we could get some tips. Sadly we did not receive anything except a few laughs.
Street Vendor selling Guarapo. This refreshing drink is made on the spot by taking raw sugarcane and limes and running them through a sugarcane press. The extract is dripped over ice into a big tub.. They charge $2000.00 COP (50 cents USD) . It can also be fermented into an alcohol drink
Parque San Antonio. A park with more Fernando Botero sculptures. Site of a 1995 bombing of the el pajaro sculpture. ( the bird) The bombed out sculpture remains as it was after exploding. This is where the tour ends. Even though its called a “free” tour, they make it very clear to leave your guide a very handsome tip. I gave Caroline $100,000.00 ($25.00 USD) and she seemed quite happy with this amount.
After the tour – a beer at Salón Málaga with our guide Caroline. She says it’s her mother’s favorite bar mostly because they have singing, dancing and big social gatherings.
The next big event of the day is dinner at Carmen. This restaurant, which is listed as one of the best 50 restaurants in all Latin America, is located in El Poblado Comuna. This district is considered the most affluent and nicest in Medellín. We called to make a reservation and were told they were booked solid, so we decided to show up anyway and to our surprise were immediately seated with the caveat we had to be finished in two hours.
The décor and ambiance was very upscale. One notable item was that virtually everyone there, including all the staff, spoke English, hardly a word of Spanish to be heard.
Our waiter suggested the seven course tasting menu with wine pairing, which sounded delicious, but it was more food than we could probably eat.
First some drinks. We had a regular vodka tonic and a Casao, one of their specialty drinks that included Bulleit mix, guava, coconut water, citric acid, and spices – very good. The most interesting drink is the B.C.E., which has tequila and ants, but we just didn’t feel up for an ant drink.
After studying the menu, we opted for Ensalda Carmen, Codero, and Solomito
Overall a great dining experience. Nice place, great service, great food. It felt like we were home eating in one of the many nice restaurants in Charleston. That is until we received la cuenta (the check). It was very un Charleston like. Total cost including tip came in at $525,241.00 ($132.00USD) – same night out in Charleston easily comes in at well over $200.00 USD
A street performer after dinner
The night sky from our Airbnb place.
