Arrival at and day 1 in Medellin, The Pearl on the Crown!

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Day 1...About 'sleeping policemen', 'no gracias', Neiler's jail house, the marvelous Botero and much, much more. 

In Medellin the numbers of 'sleeping policemen' are uncountable. We, gringos etc. call them simply roadblocks but the romantic name reflects pretty well the relaxed atmosphere this city shows as soon you enter it after a ride through a beautiful landscape coming from the airport.

Good old Harold picked me up with a smile you never forgot after he quitted IHE years ago, to drive me to Neiler's jail house. Neiler, on a shit mission in Barranquilla, left me with a set of keys to make a prison warden jealous. The first fence is already a problem and Harold and I look rather two buglers than two descent people entering an edificio (12'). After the first hurdle being taken, we climb to the individual jail cells and behind the second fence the front door is decorated with several slots. Once the fence opened (another 5') the search for the right key in the right slot takes us at least again 5'. Seems most of the slots are simply decorative to discourage eventual thieves. I was never happier to see an open door than now.

Following Neiler's carefully written instructions (in Spanish - always thought this guy has a particular humor) we explore the house having a beer, connecting internet and making plans for the evening.

Harold quits and I'm writing my blog report about the weekend.

When Harold is back the key closing ceremony starts but we manage to escape and I can smell freedom from the surrounding hills viewing one of the most beautiful panoramas of all the city's I visited the last couple of weeks. A sober diner in an Italian restaurant, I have to avoid the all in beans recipes from the region, and a few drinks on a square full of light and music terminates my first day in Medellin. Harold manages to lock me up...

Tuesday. The hills surrounding the city are dark and grey and misty caused by a light rainfall. I don't want to see grey weather before I land in Europe! Later a mild sunshine will invade the streets, parks and squares of this magnificent Medellin. If you ever wonder why we don't have that many participants from here... who wants to change this city with a fantastic climate and joie de vivre for eighteen months in NL?

The Sculpture Plaza or Plaza Botero is probably the next world wonder on a UNESCO list. I didn't expect to see that many of Botero's sculptures here and they are so imposing by their beauty as by their volume.

Don't make the mistake to think that that Botero's figures are 'fat', they are his formal bid for expressing the sensuality of form, for exploring the possibilities of volume and to give monumentality to the protagonists of his pictional world.

A hat reseller is following  me and shows up after every possible sculpture bum, hiding when I take a picture but determinate to sell me a hat every time I walk to another Botero. I had to say as many 'No gracias' as there are sculptures on the Plaza.

In the old City Hall, now called Palacio de la Cultura "Rafael Uribe Uribe" (build by the Belgian architect A. Goovaerts) we visit a temporary exhibition about Rodrigo Arenas Betancur He was a Colombian sculptor, born on October 23, 1919 in Fredonia, Antioquia. At the time of his death in 1995 he was recognized as one of the most important sculptors in Colombia and Latin America. Most of the main cities in Colombia have monumental statues sculpted by Arenas.

I like this city, more and more. There is an atmosphere of permanent joy. People, even those who are working are completely relaxed. It seems everybody created his own little business. On the squares there are musicians, the streets and the parks are full of color at the image of the fruits that you can buy on every corner of every street.

The Iglesia Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria in Parque Berrío spits out hundreds of people on a mid weekday, a service is over, another prayer session already begun... Never seen such a lot of devotees nowadays. The future pope should be Colombian or at least Latin American...church is a living thing here.

The pigeons on the square in front of Iglesia La Veracruz, are prepared to give me a private show. They are as happy as the people of this city.

So many beautiful and interesting monuments and buildings from the past and new... The Coltejer Building in the form of a needle, the tallest building in Medellin, has become a symbol of the city. The La Raza Monument, a work in bronze and concrete by Rodrigo Arenas Betancur, 124 feet tall. It is located in La Alpujarra Administrative Center.the Central Rail Station... And too many places to visit... the Metropolitan Theatre, The Botanical gardens....There is only a beginning but no end.

After a quick lunch, no time to lose... we visit the Museo de Antioquia, in the center of Medellin on the Plaza Botero. Botero's finest works are on display here, a lot he donated and also a part of his private collection.

Other artists on display... Pedro Nel Gómez. Manuel Uribe Angel, Francisco Antonio Cano, Oswaldo Guayasamín, Picasso, Caballero, Grau... in spacious rooms with Botero's sculptures watching his other creations on the Plaza. At the end of the afternoon we quit the museum together with the staff through the backdoor... I would have loved to sleep there...

We spend the evening on one of those squares with bars and restaurants full of light and music drinking various lemonades, beer, Aguardiente and beer, waiting for Neiler, making plans for the next day and finally also thrown out there seen the late (read early) hour.