So here I am once again not able to realize the permanent traveller ideal. So what do you do when your life hands you short vacations from "work"? You go on short trips whenever and wherever you can with whatever you have ...as long as it's away from the all inclusive and package crowd.

I had two weeks vacation time with my employer, so I promptly booked off three weeks. Who really needs that one week of extra pay anyway?


Looking at one of my last work projects before departure







Day 1: Saturday, February 1, 2020

Booorrriiing! Air Canada flight from Victoria, BC, Canada to Toronto, to Bogota. Only 12 hours total travel time and went off without a hitch. Landed and took a taxi to the City Express Junior Hotel near the airport. The locals were bundled up in their jackets and I stood out there in short sleeves in 16 degree temperatures thinking "aah, what nice weather we're having here in Bogota". It's a nice little business hotel about 5 minutes from the airport. It has a free shuttle but I had missed it by 2 minutes. Expensive by my standards but worth the cost for my first night. CAD 75.00 for one person. Plus CAD 4.00 for the cab.

Day 2: Sunday, February 2, 2020

Enjoyed the really nice free breakfast downstairs and went back up to my room only to realize I had left my little purse hanging on the back of my chair, complete with my wallet and passport. I was about to head back down when the phone rang. Reception was calling to let me know they had my purse, entirely intact.

I lazed around a little and finally took the shuttle back to the airport for my next flight. Bogota to Medellin on LATAM Airlines. Definitely an older plane but all good and reasonably on time. Whenever I looked lost, other local travellers would tell me which way to go.

The Medellin International Airport is actually located a fair distance from the city in Rionegro. The trip used to take at least 45 minutes over a winding mountain road but that's now been cut down to 20 minutes via the new Tunel Del Oriente (since August 2019) which goes 8.2km underneath the mountains. No motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, open buses, trikes, animal drawn conveyances permitted.


Tunel Del Oriente, courtesy of Government Website






I walked out of the airport, past the taxi drivers (not exceedingly aggressive) and found the lined up Medellin shuttles (Medellinguru.com has some really good information in English). They're small shuttles that seat about 12-20 people. I was asked to get on the first one in line. When I boarded I scratched my head trying to figure out where to sit since all seat were taken. The conductor directed me to a very narrow spot between the two seat rows at the very back. Not wanting to come across as some Prima Donna ninny I obediently went to sit down even though I knew my large gringa behind had no hope in Hades of actually fitting into the little spot. The metal from the adjacent seats unforgivingly dug into my padded behind as I sat down. Before I could get "settled" the young local woman beside me offered to switch "seats" and I gratefully accepted only to be asked by another Spanish speaking passenger to switch so his wife could sit with him. I now ended up with a nice aisle seat for the wild ride into Medellin.

Medellin is in an absolutely stunning location and the city itself is relatively modern. From where the bus dropped me off I enjoyed an even wilder taxi ride to my Airbnb/hotel about 5 minutes away. Hotel Parque Del Rio is located in a leafy, upscale residential neighbourhood and the staff are impeccably helpful and friendly. I had booked the room on Airbnb for CAD $36 and realized upon arrival that it did not have air conditioning. I handed the nice lady the equivalent of CAD $8 to move me to a room with A/C. The rooms are small and have no windows to the outside but it was sparkling clean and very quiet at night.

Since there was still lots of daylight left I decided to walk to the Metro station to visit Plaza Botero. Fernando Botero's art really speaks to me so I just had to go and see this plaza with his statues. He's a native of Medellin and a very well respected artist in Colombia and throughout the world.


Medellin Metro




It was Sunday so the traffic wasn't too bad. Pedestrians basically have no rights in Colombia regardless of what any theoretical laws might say. A little bit like Vancouver. They won't deliberately run you down but they also don't expect you to step into a crosswalk while they're approaching it. The Metro was busy but not overly packed.

Plaza Botero




Plaza Botero is in the centre of Medellin and was full of locals with their families all taking shots and selfies of themselves with Botero's voluminous sculptures on this pleasant Sunday afternoon. Most people seemed very aware of others around them and respected others' attempts to take pictures of loved ones beside the statues. We all basically waited our turn and made eye contact to ensure we were good to go without spoiling someone else's shot.


Plaza Botero




Botero Mural




On the downside, this is also a bit of skid row. There were people sleeping on benches and some obvious street hookers walking about. I might not want to be here by myself late at night.

Back to the Metro before sunset only to find that it was packed to the gills. A bit like Vancouver. I didn't let that deter me (I used to live in Vancouver) and pushed my way in, eliciting an expression of annoyance from one dolled up local senorita and smiling encouragement from an older gentleman.

I found a store and bought a small bottle of rum to enjoy at the hotel. The front desk lady was kind enough to show me some delivery menus and even made the call for me since I didn't quite trust my Spanish skills. I spent several hours on the front patio enjoying my rum and the best grilled chicken I ever had before turning in at the late hour of about 8:30pm.


In front of my hotel