Best Western Opens Hotel in Medellin, Colombia

MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA | The World’s Largest Hotel Chain®, announced its first property in Colombia: the Best Western Cyan Suites, located in the popular Poblado area of Medellin.

“Best Western is known all over the world as a brand that offers friendly service and terrific value. We are excited to bring Best Western to Colombia,” said David Kong, Best Western president and CEO. “South America – especially major cities like Medellin and Bogotá – are important markets for the brand, and we look forward to attracting more properties and customers to Best Western.”

The hotel chain has 35 hotels currently open on the continent, with 50 planned by 2009. The brand’s strategy has been to develop hotels and brand recognition in major markets and popular travel destinations, especially Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia.

The Best Western Cyan Suites is owned and operated by Colombia-based By Collection. Owners Emmanuel Jean and Jorge Londoño are respected leaders in the local community.

The newly-built Best Western Cyan Suites features 34 guestroom suites with 32-inch plasma TVs and free high-speed wireless internet access. Guests also are treated to a free full breakfast.

Guests of the Best Western Cyan Suites can also earn points through Gold Crown Club International, Best Western’s free rewards program. The program is one of the industry’s most generous programs and one of few that is truly international, allowing customers to earn and redeem points at Best Western’s 4,000 hotels in 80 countries.

ABOUT BEST WESTERN INTERNATIONAL | Best Western International is THE WORLD'S LARGEST HOTEL CHAIN®, providing marketing, reservations and operational support to over 4,000* independently owned and operated member hotels in 80* countries and territories worldwide.

An industry pioneer since 1946, Best Western has grown into an iconic brand that hosts 400,000* worldwide guests each night. Best Western's diverse property portfolio, its greatest strength, stems from a business model designed to give owners maximum flexibility to address market-specific needs.

Equally committed to the business and leisure traveler, Best Western recently embarked on a five-year mission to lead the hotel industry in customer care.

For more information or to make a reservation, please visit www.bestwestern.com

*Numbers are approximate and can fluctuate.

ORGANIZATION
Best Western International, Inc.

www.bestwestern.com
6201 N. 24th Parkway
USA - Phoenix, AZ 85016
Phone: 602-957-4200
Fax: 602-957-5916

No Reservatoins: Taste Of Colombia

Anthony Bourdain exposes the new Colombia.



WARNING: Do not watch videos on an empty stomach, it will only make you hungry.



Fresh lobster on the island to fried tripe in Antioquia.

"Yo quiero pig ears."



Aguardiente, Colombia's traditional drink for celebrating life in Colombia.



Taste the new Colombia.

A supernatural change in the hearts of all Colombians, good times are here again.

The Dark Knight Invades Medellin

The Dark Knight review by Roger Ebert

“Batman” isn’t a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we come to care about. That’s because of the performances, because of the direction, because of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of the entire production. This film, and to a lesser degree “Iron Man,” redefine the possibilities of the “comic-book movie.”

“The Dark Knight” is not a simplistic tale of good and evil. Batman is good, yes, The Joker is evil, yes. But Batman poses a more complex puzzle than usual: The citizens of Gotham City are in an uproar, calling him a vigilante and blaming him for the deaths of policemen and others. And the Joker is more than a villain. He’s a Mephistopheles whose actions are fiendishly designed to pose moral dilemmas for his enemies.

The key performance in the movie is by the late Heath Ledger, as the Joker. Will he become the first posthumous Oscar winner since Peter Finch? His Joker draws power from the actual inspiration of the character in the silent classic “The Man Who Laughs” (1928). His clown's makeup more sloppy than before, his cackle betraying deep wounds, he seeks revenge, he claims, for the horrible punishment his father exacted on him when he was a child. In one diabolical scheme near the end of the film, he invites two ferry-loads of passengers to blow up the other before they are blown up themselves. Throughout the film, he devises ingenious situations that force Batman (Christian Bale), Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to make impossible ethical decisions. By the end, the whole moral foundation of the Batman legend is threatened. (continued)

The Dark Knight invades Medellin in Espanol.


"El Caballero de La Noche" - The Dark Knight as it is known in Español.

Theatres in Medellin showing the Dark Knight: El Tesoro, Centro Comercial Puerta del Norte, Monterrey, Las Américas, Los Molinos, Oviedo, Vizcaya y Unicentro.

Check local listings for locations, time, and dates.

To be continued... more information to follow.

Marc Anthony LIVE In Medellin, August 6th

Marc Anthony LIVE In Concert during the "Feria de las Flores."

Where: Estadio Atanasio Girardot
Address: Carrera 74 # 48-21
Date: Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Tickets: 444 - 4446 / 236 - 8888 in Medellin.

General US$15.00
Preferencial US$25.00
Butaca US$55.00
Butaca US$80.00
VIP US$100.00
Premium US$150.00



Atanasio Girardot Stadium was named after Atanasio Girardot, a Colombian revolutionary leader who fought alongside Simón Bolívar.




MARC ANTHONY "TU AMOR ME HACE BIEN" LIVE In Bogota, Colombia.



Estadio Atanasio Girardot is a multi-use stadium in Medellín, Colombia. It is currently used mostly for football matches by two local teams, Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín. It is part of the Unidad Deportiva Atanasio Girardot, which also contains other sports facilities. The stadium was built in 1953 and has a maximum capacity of 53,000.

Festival Of Flowers / August 1st - 10th, 2008

The Festival of Flowers Starts August 1st - August 10th, 2008!



Schedule of events for the flower festival (click here)



The Paisas, as Colombian's in Medellin are called, are some of the friendliest people on the planet!



The Industrious Paisa have worked hard to make Medellin one of the greatest cities in all of Latin America.



Bienvenidos a Medellin's Fiesta de las Flores.



The antique car parade is a crowd favorite during the festival.



A great video from previous "Feria de las Flores" in Medellin.

For those who are lucky enough to be able to make the trip to Medellin for the flower festival next month, I'll see you all there. For those who can't make the trip, I'll try to report back from Medellin.

Voy a Medellin!

Colombiamoda Fashion Show In Medellin

Colombiamoda in Medellin celebrates 19 years of fashion July, 2008!

Colombia's Fashion Week closes with the highly anticipated show of Spanish designer Custo Dalmau. Colombia's fashion week closed on Thursday night, as local and international designers displayed their latest collections on Medellin's catwalks.

The Colombia Moda, one of Latin America's top fashion events, attracted over 700 buyers from 24 different countries throughout the week.

Wednesday's (July 30) highlight was the show, put on by the underwear and beachwear brand 'Leonisa'. Its sexy, lavish creations pointed out the fashion trend of the upcoming summer season in Colombia. The bright coloured red, pink and yellow lingerie embroidered with laces and glitter seemed to match perfectly the show titled "Latin Furor".

But it was the celebrated Spanish designer, Custo Dalmau, who stole the spotlight in the Colombian Fashion Week. His brand, 'Custo Barcelona', widely known for its t-shirts, closed the last and final night of parades with a show that mixed outfits from both winter and summer collections.

Dark colours and the blending of fabrics - another Custo Barcelona trademark - prevailed in Thursday night's show. Some tones of green, blue and yellow also showed up on the catwalk.

The fashion event claimed that from January to April 2008, the Colombian clothes industry generated sales worth $879 million dollars. The main engine of exports comes from dressmaking and tailoring, and in the same period, it grew 42.2 percent jumping from $325 million to $476 million dollars.



Colombiamoda scheduled from July 29th to 31st 2008 in Plaza Mayor Convention Center in Medellín.



Colombiamoda the place where you can find the new trends and fashions in formal, casual, jeanswear, and sport collections fashions for women and women.



GENERAL INFORMATION
Date: July 29th to 31st, 2008
Schedule: 9:00 am to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday - Wednesday
Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Place: Plaza Mayor, Medellín - Colombia.

IMPORTANT: Tuesday July 29th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., the trade show will only be open to buyers.


Colombian Sweethearts, click photo to enlarge.

Colombiamoda Fashion Show in 2007 on Youtube....

Juanes "La Camisa Negra" Lyrics

"La Camisa Negra" (The Black Shirt) is a rock in español song written by Colombian singer-songwriter Juanes for his third studio album "Mi Sangre" which was released in 2005.

I LOVE THIS SONG!



Juanes "La Camisa Negra" sing-a-long.

Tengo la camisa negra
Hoy mi amor esta de luto

Hoy tengo en el alma una pena
Y es por culpa de tu embrujo

Hoy sé que tú ya no me quieres
Y eso es lo que más me hiere
Que tengo la camisa negra
Y una pena que me duele

Mal parece que solo me quedé
Y fue pura todita tu mentira
Que maldita mala suerte la mía
Que aquel día te encontré

Voy beber del veneno malevo de tu amor
Yo quedé moribundo y lleno de dolor
Respiré de ese humo amargo de tu adiós
Y desde que tú te fuiste yo solo tengo:

Tengo la camisa negra
Porque negra tengo el alma
Yo por ti perdí la calma
Y casi pierdo hasta mi cama

Cama cama cam'on baby
Te digo con disimulo
Tengo la camisa negra
Y debajo tengo el difunto

Tengo la camisa negra
Ya tu amor no me interesa
Lo que ayer me supo a gloria
Hoy me sabe a pura miér...coles
Por la tarde y tú que no llegas
Ni siquiera muestras señas
Y yo con la camisa negra
Y tus maletas en la puerta

Mal parece que solo me quedé
Y fue pura todita tu mentira
Que maldita mala suerte la mía
Que aquel día te encontré

Voy beber del veneno malevo de tu amor
Yo quedé moribundo y lleno de dolor
Respiré de ese humo amargo de tu adiós
Y desde que tú te fuiste yo solo tengo:

Tengo la camisa negra
Porque negra tengo el alma
Yo por ti perdí la calma
Y casi pierdo hasta mi cama

Cama cama cam'on baby
Te digo con disimulo
Tengo la camisa negra
Y debajo tengo el difunto

Tengo la camisa negra
Porque negra tengo el alma
Yo por ti perdí la calma
Y casi pierdo hasta mi cama

Came on came on baby
Te digo con disimulo
Tengo la camisa negra
Y debajo tengo el difunto