A Surprisingly Good Time at a Hole In the Wall Bar

Saturday Night – Fonda de la 65 with San Juan (44)

Many places that have been reviewed are joints that can be considered “hot spots”.  Clubs where you can find attractive women, salsa dancing, fancy food that tastes OK, but costs a fortune and listen to live music.

But this is where the upscale locals go, or the Colombians who are trying to be upscale, seen, heard and picked up.

Sometimes though, you just want to go to a little hole-in-the-wall bar where not everyone feels the need to dress to impress, spend a fortune for nothing or is trying to get a date (or a husband).  Sometimes, you just want to toss back a beer in your jeans and t-shirt, and then another and another and still spend less than a metro ride (maybe that was a bit of a sarcasm).

Last Saturday night I did just that.  My boyfriend and I were with a few of his friends from college in Laureles.  We were driving around looking for somewhere to go since none of us like to frequent Parque Lleras, or spend time in Poblado.

Then, Fede suddenly screeched the car to the right, and passed over two lanes to land in front of this hole-in-the-wall bar, literally a hole.

We climbed out and while I was curious as to the sanity of these people, I followed them to a small table right outside one of the two entrances.

The place was so tiny, it only had 3 tables inside in order to make room for an even smaller dance floor.  The outside walls were bright green with a painted brick decoration, and the interior walls were bright blue.

They had no food, so Fede and Aleja went next door to the street vendor and brought back massive bowls filled with French fries, potatoes, hot dogs, salami, chicken and any other type of meet you can think of.  Of course we were able to eat it there since they weren’t offering any food, just booze.

Then Fede invited me for a dance, as Porro came on, and everyone else who was sitting outside drinking and getting drunk got up to dance as well.

In between DJ-ed songs that were poorly mixed and sometimes stopped abruptly in the middle of a song when no one was responding to it, people went back to their tables to drink some more.

At most, there were 12 people there and everyone was relaxed, enjoying themselves and un-concerned about those around them.

We constantly requested songs which not only my table but everyone around us sang with sheer delight into their beer bottles.

For once, I felt like I was in an environment where people were there just to enjoy themselves and their present company.

Not to mention, I had a better time there then anywhere I have been so far in Medellin.