Bienvenidos a Colombia

It snowed. So we left.  

But our flight was from New York so we had an opportunity to visit some of our friends. 

The first night we met up with my friend Chris and caught up over a few drinks.

For the 2 nights we were in NYC we rented a room in a bnb. This is what you get for $35 per night. Can't compain.

The next day we did some touristy things. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and explored Chinatown and Little Italy. 

Then we met up with some of Camille's friends. Some that live in NY and some that were visiting from France. It was great timing that they we all there at the same time. 

Seeing Times Square at sunset was kinda cool.

Then more drinking.

Between the excessive drinking and walking around NY in the winter, Camille and I conveniently picked up some nasty flus which made our travel to Colombia quite painful.

Despite the struggle we made it to Medellin!

Day 1 was a wash. We stayed in bed for most of the day and extended our stay in the hostel another night for continued rest .

Day 2 we were at about 50% and explored as much as we could. Medellin, like Bogota, is known for it's vast display of street art. You can find it all over the city.

In the afternoon we visited one of Camille's friends who had just opened a cafe a week prior. There was much catching up to do .

She also recommended to us that we visit a barrio in the hills that is popular due to it's large collection of street art. 

It was an interesting experience as it's very popular with tourists but at the same time it's a very poor neighborhood. And there's also 7 sets of escalators that take you up and through the barrio. Seemed strangely out of place .

Either way it was a nice visit and the view of the city was pretty cool.

The following day we were ready to get out of the loud cramped city and get some fresh air.

A 2 hour bus ride got us to Guatapé. A popular town to visit as it's near a lake with many watersport opportunities and the home of a massive granite monolith that sits conspicuously by itself with no other bare rock to be found nearby. 

I don't actually have any photos of this monolith quite yet. We'll be visiting there tomorrow. But we've been exploring the town a bit. 

The town is known for it's colorful buildings where the residents will paint and decorate their front exterior wall with things that represent their family.

It feels really good to be out of the city and surrounded by animals and forest. The vibe at the hostel is much better too. More relaxed and fewer college kids travelling just to get wasted in foreign countries. 

Today we went on a little excursion to find some waterfalls nearby. The weather was perfect and we had the entire trail to ourselves.

Check out those elephant ears!

The trail had some fun scrambling. I'm happy to be back in a jungle again. The biodiversity is always mesmerizing and calming.

And then there were a couple waterfalls. Not too shabby.

And one more piece of art. Mona Lisa.

My favorite so far.

The hostel has a platform up the hill. It's great for watching sunsets. So here's a selfie with flowers. Maybe if we take enough selfies we'll figure out how to do it without feeling so awkward.

So tomorrow we'll go check out the big rock and then who knows!