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My Medellin Report

Before this trip it had been about 20 years since I went to Medellin last. I was quite impressed.
Medellin is a modern city and it's people are very friendly and helpful.
I stayed at a five star hotel in El Poblado and the service was excellent. Most people would say yeah, right, of course it was excellent, it was a five-star hotel. Well, I've stayed in many five-star hotels in Vegas, and other places and there's no comparison, except maybe Japan. Colombia will give you the same service without the bowing.
New York, Chicago and L.A.'s subway system should learn from Medellin's Metro. It's very clean, (actually spotless), no graffiti anywhere on the stations or cars. And how about the MetroCable? Impressive how smooth it works.
I was in Medellin for the Harley event (Bike Week--Medellin), hundreds and hundreds of bikes. Paul Sr. from Orange County Choppers was at hand to judge Colombian Customized bikes. The funny thing was that I think he was afraid to come down from the stage to judge the bikes. He chose the best one pointing it out from the stage saying "Uh, they'll all look very nice, but I think that one (pointing out there with his index finger) out there is the best. I've never seen so much security around a guy who is not a politician or the Pope. Still he was afraid to come down.
We drove from Bogota, it was a very loooooonnnnnggg drive and the roads are well-marked and in very good conditions but still it was a long drive.
Bogota is still under construction, the transmilenio, the new airport, congested streets, etc. but it has some excellent restaurants and shopping malls everywhere.
I noticed that there were people from many countries and I heard different languages being spoken.
In one shopping center I was people watching and noticed quite a few unnoticed blonde-blue-eyed foreigners as well as Colombians shopping. I checked to see if anybody was staring at them and had to chuckle at the thought that a friend who lives in California is blond and blue-eyed and thinks that if he goes to Colombia everyone is going to stare at him for being American.
Well, those are my thoughts. Good trip, it was short, could've been longer but duty calls. Paisas, you should be (and I know you are) proud of your city, it's beautiful, it's modern and they make you feel welcome.

By mrgizmo on Jul 8, 2009, 08:22 in Friendly Talkzone.

Pappassito (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jul 8, 2009, 08:52:

Great report!!

"A wise monkey never monkeys with another monkey's monkey."

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dwmte7 says on Jul 8, 2009, 15:56:

gizmo....twenty years ago..........that's when i came to medallo.

tell me a bit about your take then..i arrived in the late 80's............waaaaaaay different. the metro was just a rusting hulk and had been that way for about 10 years. and of course the shootings and bombings. poblado had dirt streets and absolutely none of the lleras scene.

patriarch

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mrgizmo says on Jul 8, 2009, 16:07:

20 years ago I stayed downtown at the hotel where the Fernando Botero park is now in front of the Museo de Antioquia (Gutivara?) the metro was just a structure and a lot of talk of "that's where the metro is going to be running....'' I was there only about a week, and Tango was being played everywhere you went from taxi cabs to stores. There was no violence while I was there but soon after I left, I heard that a bomb blew up near a park where I had been. There was no Zona Rosa or Parque Lleras scene. I didn't think much of Medellin back then.
I go to and escalated the Peñol all the way to the top, it was a beautiful view.
Medellin has come a long way in those 20 years.

Behind every successful man, there's a nagging woman

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dwmte7 says on Jul 8, 2009, 16:29:

what took you to medellin then? you didn't get into the city....it was one hell of a place. i came and never left.

patriarch

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dwmte7 says on Jul 8, 2009, 16:31:

some of those boteros are on the plaza in front of bank de la republic....i used to have to go down there in the middle of all that to get money we had transferred here for our business. real scarry, comin outta the bank with grocery bags of pesos............the peso then was about 400 to one dollar, maybe a little more.

patriarch

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Haddeman says on Jul 8, 2009, 17:41:

Mr Gizmo,
You're going to make our resident good news person,Simon, very happy with your report.

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mrgizmo says on Jul 8, 2009, 19:05:

The first time I went, I went because at the time I had a girlfriend who thought it would be a good idea to go there for "Semana Santa'' and I was visiting from L.A.
The main reason I went back now was because of the motorcycle event, mostly. I want it to cover the event for the motorcycle magazines I work for.
I combined work and recreation. It was well worth it.

Behind every successful man, there's a nagging woman

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dwmte7 says on Jul 9, 2009, 01:05:

there's a guy in medallo who owns a boutique in san diego, who has a collection of period bikes....last count i knew of was about 18 of them in mint condition. bsa's harleys, triumphs, moto guzis and many more. all original. back about 1990 i offered him 12,500 for a 29 harley and he just laughed. his bikes used to be kept in a commercial section behind san diego. there were some posters here on pbh that knew the guy.

d

patriarch

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mrgizmo says on Jul 9, 2009, 07:58:

It wasn't Jay Leno, was it?

Behind every successful man, there's a nagging woman

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dwmte7 says on Jul 9, 2009, 10:33:

a cousin. you'ld be very impressed. if you havent left yet, if you walk in that commercial condo section on the south side of san diego, you'll see them in the window of one of the shops.

d

patriarch

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dwmte7 says on Jul 9, 2009, 10:36:

i can just picture that blowhard from tv standing up on the stage pointing at a bike. shit. what a waste of personage, bringing that guy to colombia. they have better in colombia than him. 'mr tough guy' gimme a break.

d

patriarch

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mrgizmo says on Jul 9, 2009, 10:49:

And he got paid 500 million COP. (around 250 thousand dollars) to do that. There must've been at least 10 soldiers with submachine guns below where the bikes were, and still he was afraid to come down. I checked the custom jobs on these bikes and there's no way you can choose a bike from upstage. Even Colombian bikers who were around me were saying what a moron.
I'm already in L.A. sorry I missed those bikes. Next time.

Behind every successful man, there's a nagging woman

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mranderson says on Jul 9, 2009, 12:20:

250.000 dollars to come on stage for 10 minutes?? I was standing right next to where the bikes were and was hoping he would come down to see them.

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mrgizmo says on Jul 9, 2009, 12:37:

I was standing almost next to the Blonde chick with the Jack Daniel's shirt and cap. I had press credentials. I feel sorry for the people who had to pay VIP prices.

Behind every successful man, there's a nagging woman

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dwmte7 says on Jul 9, 2009, 12:55:

two hundred and fifty thou? what colombian set that up? he musta got a kick back. always, ALWAYS follow the money.

they autta follow that jerk back home and jack him up for that money. ja ja. he's such a buffoon on tv i'm really amazed that folks tune in and watch that rubbish. much less drag his miserable ass off to medallo. you figure.

patriarch

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mrgizmo says on Jul 9, 2009, 13:08:

Well, for a guy who charges anywhere between 10 to 25 dollars for an autograph here in the states, it doesn't surprise me that he would ask for $250,000 for an international appearance with of course nothing less than a white hummer to drive him around.

Behind every successful man, there's a nagging woman

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whitewidow says on Jul 9, 2009, 13:20:

just what medallo needs........ overrated chump wanna-be celebs

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

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mrgizmo says on Jul 9, 2009, 13:49:

I have some pictures but it's been a while. I forgot how to load them on to the site, any ideas?

Behind every successful man, there's a nagging woman

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Miguel_Clavo says on Jul 9, 2009, 17:18:

i heard he got paid about that much.....i have been told that he is the nicest guy, but what a pussy that he would not mingle with the crowds....what kind of biker is he????? needless to say i dont care for him, but i have been told he is good people.....must be the camera personality vs real life personality.....

RVW orderded me to remove my tagline congratulating the PBH Mods New Golden Boys. Lame.

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mranderson says on Jul 9, 2009, 18:46:

"I feel sorry for the people who had to pay VIP prices."

Yep, I paid for a general ticket and as soon as the bikes stopped drag racing I just walked right up the side of the strip (inside the barracades) up to the stage. They were setting up for the cars but it started to rain so they cancelled that and there I was....standing pretty damn close to the stage. As close as I could get before security stopped me.

Vip was a complete ripoff for this event.

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mranderson says on Jul 9, 2009, 18:54:

"what kind of biker is he????"

Good question. I wonder how much he even knows about building bikes. Anyway, I don´t dislike him or anything....

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mranderson says on Jul 9, 2009, 18:59:

Also I wasn´t very impressed when he was judging the bikes....

Why did you pick my bike? Err ummm..I picked it becuase my first bike was a triumph and it looks nicely done...

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Miguel_Clavo says on Jul 9, 2009, 19:03:

my thoughts were like, in my experience, most bikers are not the sissylala pussy types...guys that really enjoy riding and make it a lifestyle.......a HD lifestyle....PeeWeeHerman types dont fit in well....afraid of Colombian bikers and fans of his?? puhleaseeeee.....he needs to grow a set.....

RVW orderded me to remove my tagline congratulating the PBH Mods New Golden Boys. Lame.

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dwmte7 says on Jul 10, 2009, 02:42:

don't forget, miguel......pee wee rode a schwinn beach cruiser.

patriarch

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mrgizmo says on Jul 13, 2009, 07:59:

I didn't mean they should learn from the engineering point of view, I meant on how people take care of their city. The metro stations are spotless clean in Medellin, and there's no graffitti anywhere in the stations or metro cars. People are very polite and friendly. Also they are well patrolled by the bachilleres police.
Even Bogota being the capital doesn't take care of the city like Paisas do in Medellin.
I've heard people say Bogota belongs to no one, Medellin is owned by the Paisas.

Behind every successful man, there's a nagging woman

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