Me and my three suitcases are now in Medellin!

[DennisLevy]

Many of you know me from previous posts and I lived in Bogota from September 2008 to July 2010.

I ve moved...to Medellin!

I arrived here two weeks ago and am renting a furnished apartment in Velodromo, a Strata 5 barrio across the canal from Obelisko. Im taking courses at the languages center (downtown) of the University of Antioqua.

The things that made me move.....I found a terrific paisa, I needed a change of climate and I was tired of Bogota!!!!!.

I hope to contribute to the new gringos board and stay in touch with all of you....

Have a great day everyone!!!!

Dennis

[JMitch1959]

Hey Dennis,
Good to hear from you. Keep us posted on life in Medellin. I'm curious how it compares to Bogota. I know I'm not crazy about what I saw of Bogota. Medellin sounds good, but I've never visited there.

You and Micky ought to have a cup of coffee...let us know who pays. I hope Micky's back with his family.

[Ricardo]

Dennis,

Great to see a post from you! You are one of many people I was wondering what happen to them. Good luck with your relocation. I have never been to Bogota but spent about three days in Medellin a couple years ago. I really liked the city, enjoyed my time there, and could see living there myself. Also, I met several ladies while there and they were all extremely likable. Hope you continue to post and keep us up to date on what is going on with you and give us some insight about life in Medellin. Good luck!

[Benjio]

Hey Dennis,

Welcome back. Hope you've been well. I never understood how you lived in Bogota so long. I can't stand that city for more than a day. Keep us posted on your move.

[rivardco]

after you have some time on the ground, I would be interested in a comparative contrasting Bogota and Medellin. Good luck Dennis.

[Lone Wolf]

Dennis; Bogota is fun to visit. Love the restaurants and of course the women. Great for a long weekend. But, not to live. To big,cold and polluted.

[rpcv]

Nice to see u back on here Dennis! Enjoy the Flower Festival this month; I wish I could be there for it. However, I will be returning to Medellin again in Sept so we might meet... Bogota was nice for me too but every morning I was short of breath because of the altitude (and I don't even smoke, lol).

[Micky10]

DL -

Tell me where and when, any time after 1130, that is when Mateo leaves for school.

Love - Micky

[DennisLevy]

Hello to all

I appreciate the welcome back!

I ve been in Medellin for three weeks as of today and I can make some obervations and how it compares to Bogota,

but its not an expert comparison.

And obvioulsy I dont know Medellin the way I knew Bogota.

Bogota is a very big city...there are parts of North Bogota that are the equivalent of any big city in the US or Europe, with glitzy stores, elegant shopping malls and great restaurants The air quality does really suck and it can be cold and rainy for days on end. Women (at least those I ve met and dated) tend to be focused on theIr careers and families and professional in some of their attiudes.

Medellin is much smaller and more manageable and the outlying municipaliites Envigado, Itagui, Bello, etc can be easily reached by metro.....

Transportation is so much cheaper and easier then Bogota if you use the buses and the metro system. The metro system has maybe 30 stops on 3 or 4 lines, its elevated, fast clean and efficient, tickets are 1550 pesos, call it 80 cents and includes tranfers from one line to another. .

Im living on a tree lined street in a Strato 5 barrio called Velodromo on the 9th floor of a 14 story building with 4 apartments on each floor. There are two three bedroom plans, call them 600 square feet and two studio apartment plans call them 350 square feet each. it is actually a small 1 bedroom plan, with a decent sized bedroom, elegant but small bathroom with a walk in closet, and a tiny liivng room and small kitchen and a small balcony. My apartment is furnished, with a washing machine and 24 hour doorman and I m paying 1,200, 000 pesos a month.

I have spent some time in Parque Lleras and can recommend a great small hostel there owned by a terrific American guy Tom Winter, who some of you may know. . A lot of Americans hang out in Parque Lleras and have a daily ritual of lunch together. Parque Lleras is one of the red zones of Medellin chock full of restaurants and bars, I ve had some good meals there and on weekend nights the bars, clubs and streets are lined with kids.

Overall I m apalled with the quality of everyday restaurants here,,,,,comida tipica Antioquena is full of cholesterol and grease and I ve had to scout around for good and reasonably priced restaurants, but Im still discovering the city. Last night, I was at a J&C for the first time, very good pasta, my girl had an Oriental salad.

I like bakeries that serve good breakfasts, finding a good bakery here is hard.....bread products are more expensive and I don t like arepas at least the ones you buy.............. the other type I love !!!!!!!...Some of you will get the joke!

So far the only things that have made Medellin less expensive then Bogota is

with a washing machine..... I don t have to send my laundry out...and its more expensive to do that here....3,000 pesos a pound as opposed to 2,200 in Bogota but I got the laundry delivered to my hotel here.....

I don t take taxis as much as I did in Bogota, but taxis are more expensive here.

Deals that I ve found
ceviche for 5900 pesos in any Carrefours, the same as in Bogota

The movie theater in the Careffours on 65th sells tickets for 7,000 pesos for all shows

The vegetable and fruit markets...

And the obvious question how do the women compare? It seems to me that paisas are more up front.....they show a lot more skin beacause of the hot weather and a paisa walking by with a breath taking bust and a butt jammed into blue jeans can cause whiplash...but there are a ton of siliconas here.....if you like plastic surgery.

The weather has been hot buT also quite a BIT of rain and I ve teased my girlfriend that Medellin is not the city of Eternal sPring, its the city of Eternal Rain!!!!!

And I am in an exclusive relationship....I moved here and one of my reasons was to be with one woman....so for now I not in dating mode.

OK thats the preliminary report....if you have questions ask!!!!!

Have a great day, everyone

Dennis

[JMitch1959]

Thanks for the report Dennis.
Nice get some inside information on Medellin.
That Metro sounds great.
That apartment sounds nice; at $650 monthly, it sounds rather expensive for a 1 bedroom. It's nice it's furnished. Strata 5 sounds like a nice neighborhood.

The dollars really been dropping the past few months hasn't it.

Keep the reports coming. I really enjoy hearing about your adventures.