South of San Antonio I immediately walked into the industrial supply district of town. Like Mexico City, there was a block of drywall supply places, then a block of painting supply houses and so on. This is also how Bangkok is laid out. I have always been fascinated by this. A local in Mexico City explained shy it is a good idea. He said that it is so hard to get around in the city that comparison shopping is a lot better if all of the same type of stores are in one location. No one is going to drive around town in brutal, congested traffic just to save a few pesos. So business thrives in a way that is exaclty opposite of the way it is done in the US.
Heading steadily South I wandered past pool halls, auto mechanics grabbing a bite on the sidewalk, a cop arguing with a street person, not the usal tourist sights but the stuff that makes up the real meat of a city. While a lot of this was not what one would call scenic, for me it was wonderful and real and it never felt dodgy.
I slipped out of the industrial area and into the motorcylce and car dealerships and then up popped a mall. Third world malls are good for two things. They often have real espresso bars and there is usually a nice banos if one is in need. I needed both. The other thing this mall had was Christmas elves. Oh yeah, the holidays. Buzzed and drained, i continued South as the neighborhood grew more upscale.
Colombian Elvves confer with the Boss Lady
A wonderful thing about Medellin is that the city is laid out on a grid system with numbers for Calles and Carreras. Carreras run North-South and Calles run East-West and the address of a place matches the cross street. This makes finding new addresses a dream because they actually mean something, unlike Bangkok of Lisboa, for example, where they are just made up fantasies. I ws headed for a certain address, 10A-20 Carrera 38. Find Carrera 38 and Calle 10A and you will be within a block of the desired location. And thus it was. By now, things had goten positively posh.
The sister store to my puro store in Cartagena. Guess what they sell here, hmmmm?
Hey, this one is for the US State Department and their stupid embargo.. Viva Cuba!!
I whiled away some tie with my puro and then ventured back out through the Barrio. This is the fine dining, fine drinking neighborhood. Lots of fancy stores and very very pretty Colombians. I even heard a few foreign voices in some of the outdoor cafes. But for me, it was walkies back to the Metro and a train North during the full on rush hour. Not quite like the scenes in the Tokyo Metro, but close. Therewas a good bit of frendly pushing onto the train and some serious jostling to get off. Back in San Antonio, I strolled through the bustling market streets, elbow to elbow with the Colombians pouring home from their jobs.
I was now ravenous and done with walking. I found a great platillos typicos at a small Ostra Cafe.
Sopa, ensalada, aguente, arroz, carne, yam-things and fresh cocnut jugo, all for a whopping 6600 COP. That's $ 3.30 US. Done and done. On the way back to the hotel, I met my Queso Cake stand kid and bought a walking desert. This is the only guy I know in Medellin so he is my Primero y Solo Amigo.
No comments:
Post a Comment