magicalwonderlandcarnivalco

Salon Malaga.  Built in the mid 1940´s in Medellin, Colombia. We stayed at a prostitute Hotel around the corner several days. We stumbled onto this classic saloon one night. Slice of history. Pics of Alfred Hitchcock dancing there back in the day. Mario Luna sang for us, working the crowd with his crooner magic. Loni got into a converstion with Colombian mafia characters. Hundred of pictures of singers, actors, affluent Medellin high society in the days before internet & cell phones.
We talked about our Grandfathers.
A wall of 78 lp´s filled the wall.Between performance breaks an old timer spun lp tracks on ancient turntables. Heaven. Music was amazing. Loni cracked me up...what was she talking about with those thugs? I saw the smiles coming from their weathered, expression filled faces.
We stayed in old town to save $. It was filled with addicts, prostitutes, cops, hustlers, vendors,  live salsa bands in the park. Cumbia music coming from every store. The Krishna temple kept us fed on veggie eats rarely seen in South America. Early morning passed out men covered random sidewalk lanes, survivors of rough, hard night of paralysis & lucky to have lived till morn.  A unforgettable place.
We took the Metro to the North Bus Terminal. Off to Santa Fe & eventually Turbo, Colombia taking a boat to Panama via the San Blas Islands.