Santa Fe

When we arrived in Santa Fe de Antioquia, we headed straight for the town's well-known hotel where we had lunch. The hotel is called Mariscal Robledo, and it has accommodated many important, international people, like the German Ambassador or an Austrian business man. Each of the hotel rooms has a different motif, and we got to peek into few.

The hotel collects and sells vintage items mostly related to movie making; cinematography and photography. Santa Fe hosts yearly an international movie festival, Festival de Cine de Santa Fe de Antioquia, with a different theme. In December, 2012, the 13th movie festival introduced North American movies from the 1970s.

Do you ever wonder what happened to Sony Discman? Lukas found it out: the grandfathers in Santa Fe are listening to them while passing time on a regular Saturday afternoon. ;)

As it turns out, also in Santa Fe a Saturday is a popular day to get married.

While admiring the church Santa Barbara and having a chat with our colleagues, teeny, tiny mosquitos where having their lunch hour on the European flesh. Minutes later, it started to rain, so we decided to wrap it up in Santa Fe and drive back to Medellin.

The tradition is that a horse and carriage brings the bride to the church. This time, they where also prepared to take the couple to celebrate.

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In the evening we went to have dinner at an Italian pasta restaurant, Il Castello, ranked 2nd best restaurant in Medellin according to TripAdvisor. And delicious it was!

The next morning, new adventures in the region of Antioquia waited for us, but more about that another time...

Bridge of the West

Colombia's second largest city, Medellin, is fondly called the City of Eternal Spring. Located in the department of Antioquia, Medellin is also a city known internationally for one of its most infamous residents, Pablo Escobar, but also for being the beauty operational hub, and for being so far the only city in Colombia with an underground public transportation system.

Medellin has, however, plenty of other things to offer, too. It is also known for its textile industry and many fashion designers, diverse nature and the Colombian artist, Botero.
The flight time to Medellin is only about half an hour, and dozens of daily flights unite the city with Bogota, so it is within easy reach.

On our first night in Medellin we met up with some colleagues and went for a nice dinner at an restaurant called Carmen. In addition to delicious international cuisine, the lovely atmosphere, cute furniture and tranquil inner patio with a garden make the place even more enjoyable.

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The next day we visited one of the nearby weekend getaways for Medellin natives, Santa Fe, and its most important site of interest, el Puente del Occidente. The hanging wooden Bridge of the West is a national monument.

The bridge crosses over one of Colombia's most important river, Rio Cauca.

After getting to know the national monument, we started to be a bit hungry, so it was time to drive to the centre of the municipality of Santa Fe. More about that another time...

Recipe For Happiness?

Recently, Huffington Post published an article stating 21 Reasons why Colombia is the happiest country in world.

Some of the reasons that were mentioned include:

Megadiversity. Colombia is considered the second most biodiverse country in the world after Brazil. 

"The Door of the Americas". Colombia has coast line both with Caribbean Sea as well as with Pacific Ocean.

Beautiful Women. Yes, Colombian women are known to be among the most beautiful women in the world. Needless to say, it's true.

Climate. The country's close proximity to Equator keeps the temperatures rather constant all year round, yet allows different kind of climates prosper depending on the geological location, for instance.

The Best Coffee in the World. Because it's just yummy!

Spanish spoken especially in Bogota is said to be the clearest in Latin America, if not even in the world.

Fashion. There are lot of local designers that contribute to the fashion world.

Public Holidays - 18 public holidays and an average of 15 paid vacation days a year make it easier to get through the long work weeks.

Ciclovia - active habits and exercise equal happy mind in healthy body.

Tamal is mashed corn that contains meat, e.g. chicken, wrapped in a banana leaf.

Colombian Cuisine - fresh ingredients every day of the year.

Botero's babes are luscious and hilarious.

Fiestas and Festivals - it's always a good time to party!


Of course these are just a few reasons why Colombians are a happy folk... yet, how many reasons does one need to be happy?

In my opinion, these reflect one thing: living in the moment. And that the world's happiest people sure can!