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We woke up early to do a day trip to Guatape.  Guatape is a common place where locals buy second homes for weekend getaways to get out of the busy city.  We first hiked the Stone of El Penol.  It was 740 steps up the overpriced tourist trap, but the view was nice.





Then we went into town and roamed the streets and took in the colors and the artwork on the side of the buildings called zocalos.  













Our lunch was pretty awful.  I had the worst burger of my life and Bart ate the worst nachos of his.  The dog at my feet was pretty happy about the situation though.  We went for another stroll around the city and then decided to go back to Medellin early.  We were happy we only did a day trip because we ran out of things to do.  We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant and relaxed for the night.
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After breakfast we took the metro to meet Laureles, our guide through Communa 13.  We tried bunuelos and liked them very much.  They are dough balls fried with cheese mixed in.  It tasted like a savory donut.  So far we are loving the street food here.


Formerly Communa 13 was the most dangerous part of Medellin.  There is a lot of history and the people have been through a great amount of pain and loss.  Laureles did an amazing job as our guide.  It was our favorite part of Medellin so far.  She lived through the entire thing and was very proud of how far the community has come.   She even took us to her house.  The government built escalators through their community to help them the same way the cable cars help other areas.  We couldn't figure out what the guy was doing to his dog, but the dog was so mad about it






















We had lunch at Don Brosty and then went to the public outdoor gym.  Then we had some amazing Italian good at Opera Ristaurante Italian.







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So far we are enjoying Iris hostel.  It is small and quiet and a nice break from the usual backpacker's hostels we typically stay at.  The breakfast is included and is WAY better than the usual DIY pancakes.
 We signed up for the free walking tour of Communa 13 for the next day.  We took the very clean and efficient metro system to the cable cars that take you to Parque Arvi.    
 











We heard the park itself wasn't anything special so we just stayed on and did it for the view.  The city built these cable cars so that the locals who live on the hillsides of the city have access to everything.  In return creating economic equality throughout the regions.  It was an awesome way to see Medellin.  Then we went to Plaza Botera to see some of Fernando Botero Angulo's sculptures.  I think they thought I stole a camera because I was stopped and they checked the serial number of it and called someone else to verify.



The walk here was disturbing.  So many homeless looking people selling what we would call garbage.  Medellin in general is a very busy and hectic city.  It is loud and densely populated, but feels very safe compared to other cities of this size.  








After that we grabbed some lunch and then walked to the Memory House Museum.  This museum exhibits the violent history of the city.  Unfortunately for us it was almost all in Spanish so we didn't get the best experience.  
Then we took a taxi to a part of the city called El Poblado.  This is the main tourist area and is often called gringolandia.  We had some delicious Colombian cappuccinos at Pergamino Coffee.  Good Colombian coffee is hard to come by here since it is all exported.




We also went to Restaurante Mondongo's to try the famous local dish called bandejita paisa.  It was a fun food experience, but it tastes better at La Taguara in Madison, WI.  If you haven't been...you should go ;).  

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Bart and I are about to embark on a great world adventure! After many long months of saving, we have finally bought a one way ticket to Belize. Over the next year or so we will work our way through Central America, South America, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

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