Medellin on bike

Today was an absolutely spectacular Sunday. The first full day in 2 weeks that I had completely free. I woke up around 8:30 and walked to the market. The stands were bursting with fruit and I just couldn’t stop myself - by the time I came home my bags were overflowing with fresh pineapple, papaya, granadilla, mango, banana, guava, ... enough to keep my mornings juicy for the rest of the week. After unpacking all the goodies I got at the market, I started to play around in the kitchen and wound up 2 hours later with a tasty lunch of grilled chicken, vegetable sesame noodles, a fresh mint/cilantro chutney, and a big green salad, accompanied with some hot ginger tea. That knocked me out for the next hour. I tried to read a book in my hammock but couldn’t keep my eyes open. When I woke up, the afternoon sun was starting to soften so I jumped on my bike and headed to Cerro Volador - an ecopark near my house with a gorgeous panoramic view of the entire urban valley. It’s a little baby mountain in the middle of Medellin where families, joggers, contemplators, and bikers like to hang out, especially on Sunday afternoons. As I rode to the top, I passed families walking their dogs, children playing soccer, couples cuddling on benches. It was so wonderful to see all these people out enjoying nature and breathing fresh air. I parked my bike at the top and hiked up to a green mound and stretched out under the blotched shade of a tree. Kites were fluttering above me, criss-crossing the light blue sky. I couldn't have asked for a better day, it was so utterly relaxing and warm and full of beautiful energy... just what I was dreaming of after such a busy week. I did some yoga on the grass for a while, then meditated in the delicious breeze and soaked up the last warm rays of sunshine. As the sky was beginning to turn a deep blue I cruised back down to my house. Now I’m looking over the glittery city from my balcony. Looks so different once the sun sets. I just love this place.



Medellin is not known for being particularly bike friendly, but dotted around the city are little bike routes and residential neighborhoods perfect for exploring. Traffic on the weekends tends to be milder as many people w/ cars clear out for their country homes. Last night the air was just so sweet and tempting and irresistible so a few friends and I, including a visiting Argentinian couch surfer, decided to hit the city on bike. We weaved through quiet side streets until we reached the Museum of Modern Art where there was a live out door concert. From there, another friend joined us on long-board and we continued onward to a popular music joint. At the entrance, we linked up a with a few others but collectively decided the cover was too high, so we rerouted to Medellin’s zona rosa “Parque Lleras” - a conglomerate of bars, restaurants and clubs where many young folks go to party on the weekends. The streets were full of nicely dressed people, street food vendors, and a thumping mix of reggaeton, hip hop, salsa, vallenato, cumbia. We chilled out in a 2 floor lounge bar - switching off between salsa on the first floor, and house music on the second. It was a lovely time of just dancing and conversing and enjoying Saturday night energy. I hadn’t been out to Parque Lleras for quite some time. At the end of the night we hopped back on our bikes and made our way home to the other side of the city. What normally takes 40 min in metro or 15 min in taxi, took us about a half hour because the city was empty. There is something so special about being in a big metropolis on a bicycle at night - all the streets that are normally busy with cars, buses, taxis and motorcycles were desolate and quiet and wide open for us to glide through. I got home around 2:30 and collapsed into bed. What a beautiful 24 hours!


Tomorrow it’s back to work...