Tag: Photos

Great Walking Tour of Medellin – in English!

Yes, I am tired from the day of touring the city of Medellin, but more than that, I am really impressed by this sprawling and interesting – and beauty filled – city of 2.5 million people. I am even more impressed because we did a great walking tour of Medellin in English.

This morning I woke up at 8:45am! I haven’t slept this late since sometime in July in Toronto, maybe. I don’t remember. After all the action of yesterday, I slept late today.

Real city tours

After our morning self-guided tour, we spent yesterday afternoon in a walking tour of the city with Pablo, the founder and owner of Real City Tours. The day was a mix of rain, clouds and sun, and Pablo always found a place with shelter or provided us with umbrellas and rain ponchos so we were comfortable. The tour is advertised as “free” and you provide a tip at the end based on how good you thought it was. After 4 hours of learning so much about Medellin, its people, sights and culture, we thought the tour was great!

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Touring Around Medellin

Our first day in Medellin and we saw a lot! This morning we did a self-guided tour of Medellin’s fancy metro system, including the cable cars (more cable cars!). This city is sprawling, and the cheap metro system is a great way to get around. Here’s what we learned and saw in our first day touring around Medellin.

What They Say About Medellin

Things I have heard about Medellin from Colombians: It’s the best climate; the people are very impressed with themselves; they love their subway; they like plastic surgery. Things I’ve noticed: the climate is pretty good!; the people are very nice (like everyone across the country); their subway is very nice and clean!; I have not noticed plastic surgery. It’s certainly not like Beverly Hills where you can’t avoid it.

Riding the Medellin Subway

We started the day on Medellin’s impressive and cheap subway system. Less than a dollar gets you a fare anywhere on the metro line. And most of the route is above ground so you can take some cool photos of the views!

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The Coffee Tour

After a 3 hour tour of Hacienda Venecia today, I am impressed by all the labor that goes into one cup of coffee. Here’s my take on the coffee tour at Hacienda Venecia.

Lots to Learn

We learned a lot about coffee today!  I admit, I didn’t know very much to begin with so anything is added knowledge for me!

Colombia coffee production is high because the region isn’t troubled with seasons. They have sun and rain all the time in the coffee zone and the plants need both elements so it works out in their favor.

The Coffee Farm

We got to see a lot of the production at the farm: from little seedlings to a walk through the growing plants and more. We saw the flowers and fruit and got to watch as the farmers unloaded the day’s pickings.  The guide also showed us where the fruit gets sorted. Interestingly the premium beans are reserved for export and the worst/3rd level stay domestic as cheap coffee in Colombia. The foreigners pay a lot more than they can afford to pay here. Which explains why my host family in Cartagena drank instant coffee!

Different stages of coffee: fruit, green beans and roasted beans
Different stages of coffee: fruit, fermented beans, green beans and roasted beans
coffee fruit
The fruit on the tree: ripe and unripe

Colombian Coffee

Colombia is the 3rd or 4th largest exporter of coffee – I had no idea Vietnam was so big! – and Juan Valdez is a great story. He’s not a real person, but made up to give Colombian coffee more clout! They use Juan Valdez as a collective of Colombian coffee growers to get marketing and selling power, and to fund their farms and workers.

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