Robert's Travel Blog

 

 Party bus!!!! Yep, you guessed it, it's a bus that drives around while you party, or par-tay.  Highly decorated, but no windows, which makes it interesting when it rains, which it did. Immediately upon arrival you're given a beer and a hot empanada snack, then everyone (including me!) dances. We stopped off for a snack: Third snack, another ceviche de chicharrón, delicious! After the party bus we went to Parque Lleras, well known for passport bros, sex-pats and, ahem, "working" women.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!   Every market has its place 😏 We went to a bar to finish the evening.  I had a surprisingly good porter and Andrés his first Moscow Mule, also very good.  But!  $33, welcome to tourist prices.

 It's "the Jet of the Bells," a waterfall outside of Medellín.  Uber to the meet-up point, then bus to the start of the trail.  This is in the mountains outside Medellín, so there were spectacular views. The first twenty minutes or so were easy, pathways or step.  Then . . . An hour of walking/ clambering up and down either the side of the river or across the river.  Finally! Andrés had a whale of a time.  He was almost the first and definitely the last in and out of the water. Ood da, regarde las nalgas!

 A "mirador" is a lookout point, and since Medellín is built in a valley, there are plenty.  Indeed, just the drive from the airport is pretty spectacular, but they don't stop 😥 A whole sort of mini-culture, including food stands (hey, it's Colombia!) springs up around them. Nice sunset, but those trees blocking the view of the city must be removed!! Andrés had a chocolate . . . with cheese.  It's fresh cheese and gets very melty in the chocolate, so you need a fork.

 It's a challenge!  First of all, there are (count'em) two TWO Asian grocery shops in Medellín, and they're tiny. Unlike most Asian groceries, which are jam-packed to the rafters, here the ingredients are carefully laid out against the walls, and there are no internal aisles.  Oh, and did I mention they're not very large? I have been craving fried rice.  You can get "arroz con pollo" (chicken with rice) here, but it's not the same thing.  You need oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil.  I bought three what I would call half-size bottles (the only size they had) for the magnificent sum of 103,000 or $29!!!! The rest of the ingredients plus chicken were Colombian-priced: My kitchenette isn't terrible, just bad. The gas burners are deficent so you can't get wok temperatures: Woohoo! Fried rice, delicious!

 Although I've learned to enjoy Colombian food, other than a handful of shaved lettuce, it's hard to find anything resembling a proper salad.  So why TF did I just discover "Cozy Ensaladas," just two blocks from where I live? The restaurant itself is beautiful: Welcoming smiles! Oh, the salad?  Delicious.  There's about two inches of lettuce below the plantain, pork, avocado and,cheese (hiding cherry tomatoes, corn and onions) but both dressings made the whole thing yummy. ($8.75).