Medellín has gone from being known as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, the “drug capital”, and the “murder capital”, to being one of the safest cities in Latin American in a ridiculously short time. Today it’s one of the most popular and heavily hyped cities in Colombia among tourists. Four and half months in Bogota and all we ever heard from other travelers was of the magical land called “Medellín”. So our first night there, we decided to put the town to the test with a night of bar hopping.
Several bar hopping/pub crawl attempts had been made in Bogota, rather unsuccessfully. With our goal being to drink in as many locations as possible, we always seemed to end up in one good one and never leave. But in Medellín we determined to stick to one drink per bar, then move on. Here’s proof that you can do anything you set your mind to.
#1 – First we kicked things off at the Medellin Beer House a nicer, pub-ish place with a decent selection of international beers as well as the local micro-brew, 3 Cordilleras. Amber Ale and good times were had by all.
#2 – Next was this place. 3 for 1 cocktails were their specialty, but to start cocktails this early would be a rookie mistake. We opted for cheap national beers and moved on.
#3 – Upon entering this steak house (directly across the street from bar number two) we realized it was a bit beyond our price range. Paid slightly more for the same national beers.
#4 – With a name like Mr. Cocktail there was no way we could pass this one up. And that was before we even knew what they had…alcoholic ICEEs.
That’s right. Your favorite flavored frozen carbonated beverage with your favorite liquor. I had a “Superman” (essentially a RedBull with 30% whiskey) Andrea a “Mango Biche" (mango flavored with 30% clear liquors), and Brendon the interestingly named “Mongolian Motherfucker” with the words “Ni pregunte!!!” (“Don’t ask!!!) in the ingredients list.
We didn’t ask. We just enjoyed. Other menu items included variations of popular drinks like Strawberry Daiquiris, Long Island Iced Teas, Margaritas, and Piña Coladas.
#5 – Next we found a Scottish pub (tragically, no Irish Pub our entire stay in Medellín). Again, a good selection of foreign beers and liquors, but we restricted ourselves to the more affordable micro-brews again, this time trying the American Pale Ale and Wheat Ale.
Andrea showing signs of sleepiness, Brendon quickly ran off to get her a RedBull. Unable to find any, he instead came back with this energy drink containing something named “Horny Goat Weed”.
Your guess is as good as ours.
#6 – This place too was chosen for it’s name. We can now say we drank rum at “Ay! Caramba”.
Yes, moved on to rum.
#7 – Back to beers at the local quickie-mart. Interestingly, it had more people than several of the bars, as well as a sushi menu with 13 different items on it.
#8 – Another beer. Not that memorable.
#9 – Returned to rum. At $2 a shot, why not? One-drink-per-bar rule was broken here.
#10 – Double digits, Woohoo! Between this bar and the last, we attempted to enter several clubs, all of which denied us access as Brendon was wearing shorts. Suck.
It was at this point that Brendon gave in to Andrea’s request to dance in the bar, as clubs had been ruled out. We had a couple more rums here as well. Perhaps that helped.
Awwwwwwww.
#11 – Time was running out. A quick beer at this seemingly nameless place.
#12 – Drunk food and another beer at “Mario Bros.” which had the bathroom doors pictured right. I’ll let the picture of Brendon below speak for itself.
#13 – We ended on lucky 13 with a beer at our hostel, around 5:30 in the morning. Thank you, Medellín.
