Bowling Anyone?

We were riding our bikes on a Saturday afternoon, when suddenly the skies opened and it began to rain and we needed somewhere to take cover and quickly.

Luckily, Itor remembered a place where his dad used to take him and his sisters more than 18 years ago and we were only a few blocks away.

We questioned its continued existence, but not for long.  It turns out the bowling alley has been open since 1981, and it still going strong.

When we got to the entrance of the bowling alley, we thought, this is going to be dead.

Who is going to be here on a Saturday afternoon?  It was quiet, a bit creepy and very isolated in barrio Floresta.

As we ascended the stairs, we started to hear some voices here and there, and then as we got even closer, we were in complete shock.  The noise was deafening, the alley was jam-packed with people in all sorts of sobriety levels, and the alley was huge.

I guess we got lucky and unlucky.  We came on a tournament day, which meant that there were hundreds of people in different teams, all wearing crazy Halloween style costumes.  As a result, there was no space for us to bowl.

But there was a 15-piece band, dressed in army uniforms, playing amazing music.  There were 5 horns, 3 drums, 2 pianos, 2 guitarists and 3 singers.  It felt like I was in the 1920‘s for a moment.  Unfortunately, I don’t think that part happens every day.

Besides bowling, they have air hockey, billiards, ice cream, a bar and a restaurant.

They are open 7 days a week, and bowling costs 5,500 COP (3 USD) a game. To rent shoes costs only 1,000 COP (.55 USD).

In other words, if you’re looking for a break from the usual routine in Medellin, it’s cheap fun!