Phew! What a day!
Monday was a great day... very busy. We started with a taxi trip to the local train station and then a train trip to the north to catch the sky rail. Note to CityRail: Come to Medellin, Colombia to see how a REAL train system runs. We were so impressed with the railways - stations are clean and spacious, trains are clean, modern and spacious, fares are very cheap, people are polite. The sky rail is a new thing they've built which travels through the poorest northern suburbs. It is hard to describe but you sit in small, glass enclosures which hang on cables and travel up a very steep hill, stopping at a few stations up to the top and then back again. We passed over what Vicky described as the poorest suburbs of Medellin. While they were poor they weren't at all depressing. People obviously have a lot of pride in their homes and their area. The homes might be odd looking and lopsided but they are spotlessly clean (we saw many houseproud residents sweeping, mopping, washing and gardening). The streets are also clean and children play in small parks and in the streets. The government is building parks, playgrounds and gardens underneath the sky rail path.
After this very enjoyable trip we stopped at the infamous Black Markets. Let's be blunt there is a lot of stuff and it's cheap.. but it's too much for me. I just can't cope with the crowds, the amount of choice and the pushy salespeople. As anyone who has been to a restaurant with a long menu with me knows - I just can't make a decision. When there are 20, 30, 50 shops selling gold and silver jewellery how am I to know which is good, what I want, or what the hell is going on. I just go into meltdown mode. My brain frazzles. All we ended up with was a bottle of Dolce & Gabana's Light Blue (which Vicky recommended and I liked very much) for US$35, a pair of Timberland shoes for Jason and a pair of gold hoop earrings for moi and a tiny pair of gold and emerald earrings for Mariana (when she is older).
Very much overheated and overloaded we went back to the hotel for a quick cooldown and clean up and we were off again. This time we went to San Diego (probably my favourite shopping centre) for a very nice lunch upstairs. Then some souvenir shopping (t-shirts, Christmas ornaments, etc). Then, as we were on our way to the supermarket a quick stop at Bosi, with Jason coming away with two more pairs of shoes. Insanity!
We had Mariana's photo taken for her passport (and a cuter passport photo you've never seen!). We stopped at the supermarket for some supplies and some things for La Casita. Then we were off again, this time to the notary (not sure what these papers were but Vicky said they were important). Then our last stop - the private hospital for Mariana's Yellow Fever shot. Considering she was overtired, hungry and very hot, she handled it beautifully - one small cry of surprise and then she was over it, back to her happy self.
Overall it was a very busy day but we got a lot done and saw a lot of Medellin. It was fantastic.
After this very enjoyable trip we stopped at the infamous Black Markets. Let's be blunt there is a lot of stuff and it's cheap.. but it's too much for me. I just can't cope with the crowds, the amount of choice and the pushy salespeople. As anyone who has been to a restaurant with a long menu with me knows - I just can't make a decision. When there are 20, 30, 50 shops selling gold and silver jewellery how am I to know which is good, what I want, or what the hell is going on. I just go into meltdown mode. My brain frazzles. All we ended up with was a bottle of Dolce & Gabana's Light Blue (which Vicky recommended and I liked very much) for US$35, a pair of Timberland shoes for Jason and a pair of gold hoop earrings for moi and a tiny pair of gold and emerald earrings for Mariana (when she is older).
Very much overheated and overloaded we went back to the hotel for a quick cooldown and clean up and we were off again. This time we went to San Diego (probably my favourite shopping centre) for a very nice lunch upstairs. Then some souvenir shopping (t-shirts, Christmas ornaments, etc). Then, as we were on our way to the supermarket a quick stop at Bosi, with Jason coming away with two more pairs of shoes. Insanity!
We had Mariana's photo taken for her passport (and a cuter passport photo you've never seen!). We stopped at the supermarket for some supplies and some things for La Casita. Then we were off again, this time to the notary (not sure what these papers were but Vicky said they were important). Then our last stop - the private hospital for Mariana's Yellow Fever shot. Considering she was overtired, hungry and very hot, she handled it beautifully - one small cry of surprise and then she was over it, back to her happy self.
Overall it was a very busy day but we got a lot done and saw a lot of Medellin. It was fantastic.
posted by deepkickgirl @ 12:26 PM
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