More Festivities!

Throughout the week I met up with some friends from Miami that also went to Medellin for the flower festival. We went to a Vallenato concert. Vallenato is folk music of Colombia mainly listened to in Colombia’s Caribbean region. We also went to Vicente Fernandez’s concert, a Mexican singer that sings Ranchera, which is a genre of traditional music from Mexico. Ranchera varies today but it originated with one performer and a guitar. Today, many instruments are involved and many people associate it with Mariachi’s, a group of people that sing the folk music from Mexico.

 

Piedra del Peñol Monday, August 6 - rise and shining for another adventure! I grabbed a taxi to the south bus terminal from my grandmothers’ apartment to hop on a bus that took me to the northern bus terminal. I met my friend Jose there who had been waiting with other people but my bus took longer than expected to arrive so they left him. Him and I waited for the next departing bus to the city of Guatapé. It took about an hour or so to arrive so we had lots to talk about. Our friends were waiting for us to head to the rock. We did a 5-minute horse ride (or at least that is what it felt like) and a 10-minute walk to the entrance. We paid the entrance fee and trotted up the 740 steps! Argh so tiring! Once you finally reach the top, it is such a relief and so worth it. The view is beautiful!

After the hike back down the rock we went on a boat to see the flooded city. The city was purposely flooded and relocated. Today, a cross stands where the church once stood. We arrived at a museum that used to be the town’s hospital. It was up in the mountain so it survived the flood. We got an amazing tour about the towns history and what used to be the hospital.

Hacienda La Manuela. One of the many homes of Pablo Escobar, named after his daughter.

Where the old city once stood. 

The old church.

Dr. Demetrio was the local doctor who travelled the world. He was an atheist. The people from the town knew of this and when he passed away, he was buried outside of the town cemetery because of his beliefs.

After the boat ride we also went zip lining! It was so much fun!