Gritty

We arrived in medellin today. A city nestled in a valley between mountains with flora reminiscent of San Francisco.

On the twisty winding 35 kilomter trip from the airport which kind of felt like a cross between a video game and Roller coaster, you see jaguar and ant-eater crossing signs.

Pretty though the scenery is this city has the look of the Latin America we know so well but have yet to experience in Colombia.

Although we are in a "good" neighbourhood, we were cautioned to leave the Centro by 6 pm.

It was a bit like the film The Omega Man where you have to get insideas before dark or the flesh eating zombies will get you.  We grabbed a cab back however it was an interesting journey to the Centre to hit the art museum.

First we pass a park/street on ramp. A man who looks like Christ, aged early 40s lies bare chested, staring at the sky on a filthy blanket. We passed just as a paramedic wearing gloves threw the remainder of the blanket over his face and proceeded to wrap him up in the shroud.

Whoa I said. Catherine looked at me her eyes like saucers. Did you see that she asked. Yes he's dead.

What a way to go she replied.

The taxi driver let us off at the metro station to walk to the museum warning me to be very careful and watch everything.

The station's enormous steps were covered in thousands of people, so thick and weird the crowd it looked post-apocalyptic in some way.

We arrived at the square behind an enormous art deco mansion that looks like the castle of a mad scientist, the doors all blocked by huge iron gates.

The square itself is filled with giant sculptures by Botero, the Colombian artist who makes everyone fat.

Once at the museum we went to the cafe on site overlooking the square to have a well deserved soda.

While viewing the area I saw Hotel La Grieff across the large avenue. It sported a hanging flag with the playboy bunny logo and a mispelled sentence: A GRIL SHOW, it advertised.

The hotel itself was the scuzziest dive. I haven't seen something the bad since New York in the late 80S.

Interesting to a spectator, you could see naked men, at least the top half, though I presume the bottom didn't have pants, peak out the windows and stare at the square then disappear.

One Man wrapped himself in a dirty curtain. Another man smoked Crack out his window.

A third man sat upright on what have must hAve been a bed next to the window and lowered down a bottle of something he was drinking and hid it on a ledge just below on the side of the hotel.

After the museum closed I met C outside as she stayed in a different gallery than I.

This is prostitute central she told me. Do you see them all? They are all over the place.

A man who was off his head on meth or glue stumbled by.

In the museum Bertolo's Death of Pablo Escobar hung in the Bertolo wing, symbolizing, the museum said, the rebirth of Medellin.