In brief, Las Lajas Sanctuary is a Gothic revival basilica located in the Colombian town of Ipiales, just a few miles from the border with Ecuador. Built between 1916 and 1949, the church lies at the bottom of a canyon spanning the Rio Guáitara. There are some purported miracles/sightings of the Virgin Mary that inspired … Read more
Driving From Medellín to Cuenca
October 9th, 2013 | Posted by in Colombia | Ecuador | The Places We've Been - (6 Comments)We haven’t had a long-haul like this one for quite some time. Actually maybe never. We’ve driven longer distances in one go, but time-wise this one takes the cake (at least until next month). Moving through Mexico and Central America, we’d gotten quite used to single-day trips or a single night in a hotel before … Read more
Border Crossing: Colombia / Ecuador
October 8th, 2013 | Posted by in Border Crossings | Colombia | Dogs | Ecuador - (5 Comments)We cross borders by land in a CR-V with US passports and our two dogs. We do not carry drugs or weapons or disallowed fruit (usually). These articles are not a definitive guide to crossing borders nor should they be used as a sole source of information. They are our experiences. When, Where, and Which … Read more
Medellín Studio
October 6th, 2013 | Posted by in Colombia | Lodging | The Places We've Been - (2 Comments)The studio apartment that we rented in Medellín for the month of September is just about perfect for us. It is small, open, airy, and bright and with everything that we need. Bar seating separates the nearly full kitchen (everything but an oven!) from the living room, and a small closet area further delineates the … Read more
Three Random Things from Downtown Medellín
October 3rd, 2013 | Posted by in Art | Colombia | The Places We've Been - (6 Comments)Our first metro ride in Medellín took us north through the center of town before dropping us to catch a connection on a cable car to Biblioteca España. Aside from our neighborhood, we hadn’t seen much of the city in the daylight before and one stop after another we found ourselves excitedly getting each other’s … Read more
A Day in the Life: Medellín, Colombia
October 2nd, 2013 | Posted by in A Day in the Life | Colombia | The Places We've Been - (3 Comments)This is an installment in an ongoing post series detailing a typical day in one of our destinations. Not everything in this schedule might happen on any given day, but it should give you a good idea of our usual activities. 5:30 AM – Because Medellín is in a valley, dawn lasts a long time here. … Read more
Everyday Essentials: Medellín
September 26th, 2013 | Posted by in Colombia | Everyday Essentials | The Places We've Been - (4 Comments)This is a series detailing some of what appear at first to be more mundane details of a place, but will hopefully be illuminating as insights into the grind behind the “glamour.” Our Building and the Porteros As I will discuss in more detail in my post about our studio apartment in Medellín, we’re staying … Read more
Riding the Rails (and Cables) in Medellín
September 25th, 2013 | Posted by in Colombia - (6 Comments)One of the major reasons Medellín was named the 2013 Innovative City of the Year is its sparkling Metro system. Used by 500,000 people each day, the Metro provides cost-effective and rapid transportation for this city of three million, creating a main transportation artery running north-south — Medellín has a narrow, “tall” layout, following the natural … Read more
Medellín, Colombia: An Introduction
September 24th, 2013 | Posted by in Colombia | The Places We've Been - (0 Comments)The city of Medellín sits in the Aburrá Valley of Antioquia, split down the middle by the Medellín River and surrounded by the green peaks of encircling mountains. Despite its location just 430 short miles from the equator, Medellín is graced with year round average temperatures in the low seventies, a relatively consistent state which has … Read more