Medellin, Colombia 🇨🇴 

I still managed to wake up early and Helen and Manuel were already at breakfast. We purposely stayed at the same hostel this time and it was lovely to see them again. After a leisurely breakfast we set off to walk some of the city. Our base in El Poblado is very safe but with all the bars and restaurants it feels a little touristy. We head down the hill to the Museum of Modern Art which is in a funky building and has a few interesting exhibits. My favourites are the vibrant watercolours by Debora Arrango and also a giant structure filled with cymbals that you can bash.

Next stop, I pushed for The Parque de Los Pies Descalzos, or barefoot park as walking barefoot sounded cool. It has huge bamboo, a sand area, and an area with water fountains but wasn’t as interesting as I hoped. On the positive side we walked through some interesting areas, including the palace of justice and Square of Lights.

We walked through a big area of street markets, Botero Plaza and also to a very dodgy park that Manuel wanted to see. Several ladies made a point of telling us to hold onto our things, so Helen and I kept the pace up. Our final stop was the Museum of Memories, dedicated to remembering the victims of conflict. I would have liked to have learned more about the conflicts themselves, but the museum was okay.  

We Taxi’d back to the hostel as we fancied the Sushi happy hour next door. However, the hostel guy said it was terrible so we walked a few streets and found a decent one. Tim, Claire and Amy joined us as we ate a massive sushi boat, it was really tasty. The heavens opened as we ate so we stayed for a few extra beers. Time went on, so we decided to dash for it through the rain to another bar. This one was busy, but a few beers and we forget the rain.  I made it home just before midnight whilst the others carried on.