We made it painlessly to Medellin! We were a little concerned as there were nation wide strikes today and a protest was happening outside our hotel (and 3 cruise ships showed up) given the uncertainty we left for the airport at 10:30 (2 1/2 hours before our flight left). I made a rookie mistake and forgot to establish a price before getting in the taxi so we paid double the cost 🤦🏼♀️
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We were at the gate in no time (easy to fly domestic) but had a minor hold up when my bag needed to be searched, then searched again by someone else….the culprit, cuticle cutters. The security agent held up her finger and moved it back and forth in a scolding motion. Crazy, I travel everywhere with those, hundreds of flights without issue, oh well – could have been worse.
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We got lucky again and did not have anyone else in our row so we could lounge out for the short 45 min flight. It was super scary, you could see the air conditioning cone on, it looked like gas was filling the plane!! It’s hard to see in the picture but here is a video
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The flight only had beverages and snacks to purchase, no free services. I loved the in flight magazine, I tried to see how much I could understand (not much) but I did look up some words for this advertisement, which is hilarious, you will never guess what it’s for!!
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I was able to cat nap a little and wake up to glimpse the first sights of Medellin.
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Beautiful!! We landed and something unique about Latin culture is they clap when the plane lands! I love it. We walked outside and it felt like Seattle!! I hope my clothes are warm enough 😬
We easily found a taxi and were prepared with the address printed out and knew the cost of taxi (or what it should be) – worked super well!
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We arrived at the hostel and its perfect!! Very trendy, lots of community and very unique!! Our room overlooks the cafe/community space and has a closeable roof – which closed as we arrived due to rain.
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I guess when there are protests no one can sell alcohol- interesting. We have until 8:00 tonight.
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We headed to a nearby Wings restaurant and had some of the best wings and fries.
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We then came back to the hostel to relax a little and get ready for our first night (and for our free shot at the bar at 8:00 which is aquardiente, Colombia’s national drink and considered super rude if you turn it down.)
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After some R&R we decided on a restaurant stared in Lonely Planet for dinner, only a block away.
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As we walked there around 7:15 no one was out – every restaurant was empty and we were the only ones at Tal Cual. We sat down and ordered. It was super charming.
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Derek was the ordering champ, again! I need him to just order for me, as once again mine was ok, but nothing compared to Derek’s.
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The menus were completely in Espanol. Luckily I figured out this Google app which you can take a picture of something and it translates it!!! Amazing!!!
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But once again, dessert made up for it!
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After dinner we went back to the hostel for the welcome party and roof top bar. It was an amazing view of the city!!
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We had a beer but the scene was very young and fiesta- we are definitely the oldest people at this hostel 😬 we noticed the other bar looked more chill and that they were playing the football game….so we ventured over
More our speed and feel … we hung out and had great conversations at the bar and with our first American!! Yay!!! She is from South Carolina and has been traveling for 3 months. Felt great to make some connections and have conversations- finally!
Excited to go on our walking tour tomorrow morning and get the lay of this beautiful land!!!
Postcards to Iowa 