"My second home" a Barranquilla Travel Page by Lodestar

This city was my home for six months and i loved it. wonderful people, amazing party places, fantastic culture - colombian culture at it's best.... This is the la tierra loca Gabriel Garzia Marquez talks about. Th Caribbean coast is the most amazing are in Colombia. It is relatively safe compared to the interior of the country. It is also full of gorgeous, friendly, helpful, fun and nice people. The nature is beautiful, the culture is colorful.
although b/quilla is not among the top tourist cities in Colombia you just have to visit the city to get a real feel of Colombia.

Although Barranquilla is in most cases described as a large industrial city, with no real tourist attractions, then there is a certain event in b/quilla, which draws hundreds and hundreds of people together from all over south america and the etire world. This event is the Barranquilla carnival - the second largest and famous in south america after good old Rio. The three days of carnivals that take place usually in the beginning of february, are an event filled with colorful costumes, dancing, drinking, music, parades, sunshine, water and maizena (corn starch) throwing and general fun and boning between all the people there. This is definately something everyone should see and experience first hand.

As I lived and worked in Barranquilla for ahlf a year, i got to experience the Colombian life first-hand. I went to places few tourists even go, ate at 'restaurants' the typical visitor would never set foot to, met people you will not normally talk to - and that made me truly love the country and the city. I spent time at the nighclubs, bar, beaches, universities, market places, churches, supermarkets, the crazy public transport, cafes, park benches - everywhere a local person goes to, and I can say - there is so much to see and do in Barranquilla, if you just have the time and if you bother to look. Unlike most people, i'm convinced, that this is a unique city worth discovering and eventually you will find the crazy, chaotic, friendly, loud, hot heart of the country that so many people before you have fallen in love with!