Monday 23 January - Medellin

We had another busy day today. We had a drive to a park (the point where the city was first founded), then we dropped by and looked at one of Pablo Escabar's homes (LOTS of talk about him here) which is still unoccupied and guarded to stop people going in. Then we went to a viewpoint to look down on the city which is kind of in a bowl, there are lots of hills, next was a walk around the squares which contain city hall, both local and regional, the old railway station. After lunch we went to a park where there were many outdoor bronze sculptures by the artist Fernando Botero. Lastly, we took a Metro Cable up to Santo Domingo which was once a notorious area of gang violence. The Colombians are very proud that their city of Medellin, which was once one of the most dangerous places in the world, is now a cosmopolitan city, with a staggering drop in crime. There are still areas that are not so good but visitors are coming and are being welcomed.