Medellín's reputation preceded my arrival, as for months prior to last Tuesday I was constantly told by other travellers, "You'll love Medellín, you'll want to move there". Often I take these recommendations with a pinch of salt, yet I never once heard a bad, nor even a mediocre word about Medellín, and Colombia in general. They were all right.

The unique sculptures of Colombian artist Fernando Botero, in Botero Plaza

I made changes to my roughly planned trail through Colombia, as I wanted to spend Christmas in Medellín. I'll admit I was a little nervous about Christmas and New Year approaching - being a solo traveller around the festive period does make you miss your family and close friends, so I wanted to make sure I still had a good time. Luckily however, Sara put me in touch with Alecxa, a girl from Medellín (a Paisa) who was incredibly welcoming in not only making sure I had a great time during my stay here, but also inviting me to a Christmas party at her boyfriend Craig's house in the suburb of Envigado, the same suburb where the famed drug lord Pablo Escobar lived.

I flew in from Cartagena on the 22nd, and on the bus to my hostel I met a few other solo travellers from Melbourne and the USA. After checking in to our hostels, which were conveniently located next to each other in the upscale neighbourhood of Poblado, we shared a few pizzas, some travel stories, and our plans for Christmas and New Year's Eve.

It was going to be a little more difficult to fit in some sightseeing around the festive period, but before Christmas arrived I wanted to check out the Real City Walking Tour of Medellín. It's a little odd that a walking tour comes with such high praise, yet many people had urged me to do it. Again, their recommendations were spot on. We were fortunate in being assigned the owner of the company, Pablo, as our tour guide, and for the next 4 hours he proceeded to deliver an incredibly enthusiastic, engaging and heartfelt performance in telling us the story of Medellín, and it's transformation from one of the most dangerous cities in the world to a friendly, safe, culturally rich and diverse tourist destination.

Pablo delivering one of his many animated stories

The tour ended after sunset, where I braved the chaotic crowds of downtown to buy a Secret Santa present for the Christmas Eve Dinner at Craig's house. I made it back to the hostel in one piece and with all my belongings, so after a shower I took a walk around the nearby Parque Lleras. Often the starting point of many nights out, Parque Lleras is only a few minutes walk from where I was staying at the Purple Monkey Hostel, and surrounded by cafes, restaurants, bars and nightclubs and is often full of young people hanging out and enjoying many a cheap drink (less than AUD$1 for a local beer!). Funnily enough, I bumped into Alecxa and Craig there, so we hung out in the park for a while then shared a bottle of Rum at a nearby bar.

On Christmas Eve I first had a beer at the rooftop bar of the hostel with the owner Mark, who I met in Rio de Janeiro during Carnaval back in 2012. Then along with my Secret Santa Present, a bottle of Rum, some bags of ice and two take-away pizzas (my contribution to the pot luck dinner), I took a taxi over to Craig's house to spend Christmas Eve as it should be spent - eating, drinking, and as a bonus - making a bunch of new friends in the process. This continued well into the early hours of the morning where I waited until 6 a.m. to catch the Metro with Alecxa's friend Paula, back to Poblado, as the sun rose over Medellín on Christmas morning.

The first half of Christmas day was spent catching up on some much needed sleep. Then in the afternoon I hung out with Jehan (the guy from Melbourne I met on the bus) and some friends at the hostel BBQ with a bottle of red wine. I was also able to finally open the Christmas card from my parents that I'd been carrying around for a couple of months. I went to bed early to get some rest before the day trip out to Guatapé with Alecxa, Craig and a few others the next day.

With Christmas and Boxing Day over, I had a couple of days to do some more sightseeing. I visited Pueblito Paisa (a reconstruction of a typical village of Antioquia, the state in which Medellín is located), walked around and people watched in Parque Berrío, saw the Christmas lights in Plaza Mayor, took a ride on the MetroCable, visited the Museum of Modern Art, and treated myself to a traditional local dish - Bandeja Paisa. This plate will make your arteries quiver in fear as soon as it's put down on your table with a loud thud, as it's overflowing with all kinds of fried, but oh so tasty food.

A very hearty Bandeja Paisa from the excellent Restaurante Hacienda

Falling more and more in love with this charming city nested within a valley, it's delicious food, great coffee, incredibly nice people, year-round spring-like weather and unbelievable abundance of beautiful women, I wasn't ready to leave, so I decided to stay for New Year's Eve. The night started in it's usual manner - drinking at the hostel with friends and moving to Parque Lleras, then heading to a rave and finally ending by crawling in to bed with a bottle of water and a packet of jerky at 4 a.m.

I'm still not ready to leave, yet I don't think I ever would be. Medellín simultaneously lived up to and surpassed all expectations I had of this place, and I owe a lot of that to Alecxa and Craig, who I'm extremely grateful for having met, and who helped make it a Christmas and New Year's to remember. At times spent in cafés in Poblado, I found myself daydreaming of a life where I did decide to move here, get a job, learn Spanish (properly), and marry a Paisa. It might happen one day, but on the 10 month anniversary of the day I left home and with only 2 months remaining, I'm looking forward to delving deeper into this captivating country that's fast catching up to Brazil as my favourite.