Pics of the Week: Tropical Flowers

September 26th, 2011

Thanks to Medellin’s tropical climate, we are constantly seeing bizarre tropical flowers that look as if they came from some fantasy world.  Most of them can be found in the city’s fabulous Botanical Gardens.  Here are some of our favorites; our apologies in advance for not knowing what any of them are called!

This crazy flower looks like an artichoke on an acid trip.

We're convinced that these flowers are straight out of the movie Avatar.

.

We don't even know where to begin in describing this flower!

Same goes for this guy, we think they're related.

This electric pink flower is certainly appealing to the butterflies.

These fuzzy flowers come in just about every shade of red, pink, yellow and orange. They are happiness in flower form.

Feria de las Flores Day 5: Orchids, Birds, and Flowers

August 25th, 2010

We are in the middle of the Feria de las Flores (Flower Festival) Medellin’s biggest annual festival, and one of the most popular in all of Colombia. Everyday we’ll be bringing you multiple blogs and videos about the events we’re attending, such as concerts, parades and exhibitions. Viva la Feria!

The event everyone recommended we checkout during the feria was Orquideas, Pájaros y Flores (Orchids, Birds and Flowers) at the Botanical Gardens.  We beat the crowds by attending in the early afternoon on a weekday but still had to compete for space to see the thousands upon thousands of gorgeous flowers.  I never realized how many varieties of orchids existed, but I’m sure I saw just about every single one of them after an afternoon at the gardens.  In addition to the orchids there were tropical flowers, roses, lilies, gerbera daisies, chrysanthemums, and I could go on and on.  Take a look at some of our favorite flowers and don’t forget you can see more on our Picasa page.

Check out our Picasa albums to see our Feria de las Flores gallery as well as pictures from our other adventures in Colombia.

Read more about Feria de las Flores here.

Day One with the San FranTastic Four*

July 26th, 2010

*We hosted our first official guests at Su Casa Colombia this past week: Haileigh, Ashley, Joanna and Colleen.  All four live in or around beautiful San Francisco.  Haileigh and Ashley arrived four days before Colleen and Joanna so technically they were the San FranTastic Two at this point, but let’s not split hairs.

Haileigh and Ashley arrived late one stormy Saturday night.  They’d backpacked around Bogotá, Villa De Leyva, and San Gil before they showed up on our doorstep, sick of rain and long bus rides.  Our first order of business the following morning was to do a load of laundry so they could stop wearing their underwear inside out.  For fear of rain, we draped their unmentionables on our banister instead of the clothesline outside, which made quite the festive birthday decorations for Noah who was turning 28 the next day.

We wasted no time in showing the ladies around Medellín and took the Metro to the Botanical Garden.  While exploring the butterfly habitat several young Colombian girls took a liking to Ashley and Haileigh, mistaking them for celebrities and asking them if they were on TV.  Of course, they had to take a picture with their adoring fans.

During a bathroom break we found an unexpected source of entertainment when we discovered a tiny, tiny toilet.  Perhaps our photo shoot wasn’t sanitary but it was well worth it.  Later, by the lake were enthralled by the odd habits of the wildlife; first by the double-decker turtles, and second by the mating rituals of couplous enamorous.

Our next stop was Parque de los Deseos (Park of Wishes) a free attraction which lures young children in with water fountains then tricks them into accidentally learning about physics and stars.  We watched the children play as we stuffed our face with some of the healthiest food available: delicious mini donuts, kettle corn, and hot dogs.  You’ve gotta watch your figure, even when you’re on vacation.

Before heading home we made a quick pit stop at Plaza Botero where posing with Fernando Botero’s rotund sculptures is a must.

Somehow we were blessed with a day without rain–something that’s happened only a handful of times since April–and a gorgeous cotton candy colored sunset to boot.  Thanks to the favorable weather we were able to enjoy dinner, wine, and a game of spades on our rooftop terrace. The ambiance and company were splendid.

Tune in tomorrow to read about how we celebrated Colombia’s 200th anniversary and Haileigh’s confrontation with her fear of heights.  For more pictures from Ashley and Haileigh’s first day in Medellín, check out our Picasa album or our facebook page.