Medellin Free Walking Tour

Medellin, Colombia is in the “micro-country” of Paisa. At the start of my free walking tour through Real City Tours, we were provided a brief overview of the history of Medellin. We also learned why Paisas tend to think they are not only different than the rest of Colombia, but that they are also better.

This stems from the abundance of coffee and agriculture and the introduction of railroads, which lead to a quicker economical and industrial transformation.

My guide, Pablo, spoke with honestly and was not biased in the stories he shared. He spoke about the transformation of the city after all the conflict and the peace treaty that was signed.

He kept referring to the fact his name was one of the most famous Colombia’s (Pablo Escobar) and was not afraid to answer questions.

This picture below is of a statue that was bombed in June of 1995 during a concert with a plaque of all those who died. On it, was a girl who was 7 years old. Pablo was living in Medellin as a 7 year old boy on that day. Instead of taking the statue down, the artist rebuilt one exactly the same so people would not forget.

One of the mayors of Medellin after the conflict in 2002 ended began various transformation projects. This park full of tall pillars that light up at night was created over a part of town that had become quite “sketchy”.

FAVORITE TOUR STORY! Some fancy architect came to Colombia and was going to build this beautiful black and white building near Park Berrio. The people of Medellin kept complaining about the lack of color. Eventually, the architect got so frustrated he left the country. Being the proud Paisa´s that they are, the Colombian’s said they would finish the building themselves.

Well, unfortunately they could not figure out the blueprints. So, they just added a wall.

Check out the differences: plain, white, and simple windows vs the beautiful black/white top and stained glass windows. I thought this story was great because Pablo discussed how lazy the Colombian people can be.

We went to this shopping center known as the Palace since it used to be the Palace Justice. Pablo noted you could easily get cheap products here because they are all counterfeit.

ed on and off during our tour, which I came to know as typical Medellin weather. We ducked in and out of shelter throughout the 4 hour tour. I love taking the free walking tours in every city. I thought the Real City Tours of Medellin did an extremely good job.

Some other photos from the tour: