For nearly five months, we have been exploring Medellin, Colombia. We have toured different parts of the city, explored neighborhoods, discovered exciting events, tasted new food and drank many cups of Colombian coffee in trendy coffee shops. Medellin has become very familiar to us and feels like home. We know many of the customs and idiosyncrasies that make Medellin a unique and popular city.

We have ventured outside of the city to explore some popular pueblos including Guatapé and San Rafael and described these trips in previous blog posts.

A few weeks ago, we decided it was time to see a few more typical small towns (pueblos). With the help of our native friend Angela and our own private taxi driver, Javier, we set out early one Saturday morning to explore some of these small towns near Medellin that are popular destinations.

We visited the mountaintop towns of El Retiro, San Antonio de Pereira, and El Carmen de Viboral.

We discovered that each pueblo was similar while retaining its own character. Each had a central square at the heart of the town. with a beautiful and unique church anchoring one side of the square. The town’s administrative offices anchored another side of the square and on the two remaining sides of the square were shops, restaurants, bars and coffee shops.

Vendors sold fruits and vegetables, clothes, handicrafts, food, drinks and personal services such as shoe shines, clothing repair, and personalized tours from carts in the square. Each town was alive with activity.

Although these towns were typical Colombian colonial towns, each of these towns had its own charm and often its own local delicacy or handicraft that gave it its own character.

The drive through the countryside offered beautiful landscapes and scenery. Along the way, we saw many fincas, which are former farms or country houses. Medellin residents often leave the city for fincas on weekends and during holidays because the fincas offer a respite from the fast-paced, noisy city life.

We also saw many small cattle farms and flower farms.  (Colombia is one of the world’s top flower producers, second only to the Netherlands and 70% of all cut flowers imported into the United States come from Colombia.)

Medellin is located in a valley 4,000 feet above sea level and as we traveled up the mountain to these small towns we climbed to over 7,000 feet. It was suggested we bring a jacket because at higher altitude temps are cooler but the weather was warm and mild during our tour.

EL Retiro

Our first stop was the town of EL Retiro (The Retreat) with a population of 19,500 people. We stopped in the town square, took a quick tour of the church, and found a coffee shop where we sat outside drinking our morning cafe latte and watching activities in the square. Vendors were selling their goods as people strolled through the square.

After fueling ourselves with delicious Colombian coffee, we walked down several streets leading to and from the square. One street we called “Furniture Row” because furniture stores lined the street. El Retiro is known for high quality, handcrafted furniture, made from local wood. Shop owners told us that people from all over Colombia come to this town to purchase furniture.

Not far from El Retiro is a waterfall called “The Salto del Tequendamita”. It is a small natural waterfall with a 60 feet drop.

San Antonio de Pereira

Our next stop was San Antonio de Pereira, known for its sweets and desserts. So naturally this had to be a stop on our trip and we were not disappointed with the quality of the desserts.

This town also has a central square with a church and municipal buildings anchoring the square. There are plenty of sweet shops surrounding the square and like, El Retiro, the square was filled with artisans selling their wares. Upon our arrival, we took a quick tour of this church and then strolled through the square admiring its beauty and charm.

After a short time, we headed off to find sweets. Our native friends were well aware of where to go. They directed us straight to the sweet shop called  “Dulce Contigo” (Sweets with You) located on the square.

As we walked inside, we were greeted with several staff people eagerly waiting to show off their sweet treats. The inside of the store resembled one large sample room. There were many choices and they all looked decadent. There were dozens of glass cake pans (the 9×13 size) lined up in cases with flavors like Brownie, Chocolate, Lemon and many other fruits that we had never heard of. The deserts tasted similar to refrigerator cheesecakes each with different glazes on top!

We formed a team and spread out to sample the desserts. We had a rule that each person had to buy something different so we could share (as the name implied, “sweets with you”) and get the most from this sweet shop. There were so many sweets it was hard to decide. Finally, I just went with the store’s recommendation and it was fantastic.

After our purchases, we all just stood there in the middle of the store, eating and sharing our four desserts.

El Carmen de Viboral

El Carmen de Viboral is a colonial town of about 46,000 people. This town also has a central square and a church anchoring one end of the square.

The town specializes in handcrafted floral ceramics and pottery dating back to the 19^th century. The soil in the region is rich with feldspar and quartz which are basic minerals for making ceramics. People from all over Colombia and South America come to this town for its unique ceramics and pottery and there are approximately 27 ceramic shops in town.

Ceramics were incorporated everywhere in town. There is a special street in town called “Paseo del Angel” where ceramics are incorporated into the street and sidewalk. The street is lined with small shops and artisan vendors and at the end of the street, there is a large mosaic façade.

Our first stop was the square and a tour through the church. The original church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1962. Three years later, a new more modern church was built at the same location.

The highlight of our visit to this town was the tour of the “Museum of Ceramics of El Carmen de Viboral”. Our guide talked about the history of ceramics and pottery of the area and showed us the step-by-step process of fabricating ceramics. The last part of the tour showcased some of the unique ceramics designed and fabricated in this area.

Heading Home

Our initial plan was to also visit the town of Rio Negro. Rio Negro is by far the largest town in this area with a population of over 76,000 people. However, we ran out of time and had to head home. We hopped into our cab and came back down the mountain to our apartment in Medellin. Along the way, we stopped for a meal consisting of traditional Colombian food which was good and plentiful.

As we made our way back to Medellin, I thought about the beautiful country towns that we visited. Entering the square in each town is like entering a Colombian pueblo of the past. Beauty and charm open up to us, allowing us to experience the warmth and friendliness of each town. Before we depart Medellin, we hope to visit more small towns and experience their special charms.