a not so pretty city?

Before i arrived in Medellin i wasn't expecting much and here i quote the guidebook, "Perhaps not a top travellers destination....temperature pleasant....any colonial architecture has disappeared in the frenzy of recent growth....dotted with a forest of skyscrappers". so i arrived expecting a dirty city, but i'd heard, with some good nightlife (which is never a problem)- i headed straight to the hostel without seeing much of the city as it was already dark. Almost as soon as i arrived i was heading out to sample the local nightlife with a group of english boys, i was not disappointed, and from what i remember it was lots of fun. The following morning on waking with a slightly fuzzy head (its the altitude not the alcohol you know) and the sun shining i decided to explore the city and set off to the metro station. The train journey gave me good opportunity to look at the city as it whizzed past the window, the guide book was correct, there were hardly any colonial, pretty buildings and the majority of the city is built from red bricks. Beyond the city, the green mountains that mark the beginning of the coffee region rise up and are only partly covered by the outer edges of the slum areas of the city, the red and green together, however do look rather pretty and autumn like and i had a good first impression. Once in the city i found myself in a large plaza surrounded by huge pieces of public art, the most famous colombian sculptor (Fernando Botero- if you're interested) lived in Medellin and as a result Medellin has more public art then any other columbian city, i wandered around the city but soon realised it was too hot for my hangover and retreated to an art gallery (which incidently is the pefect place to go- cool, shaded, peaceful) and spent the rest of the morning there.
The following day i headed out of the city to a tourist attraction called El Penol, or The Rock- which is really just a huge lump of granite (really really huge though) that you can climb and then have a spectacular view over the surroundings. What i could see from the top was lots of lush green hills and hundereds of small lakes continuing as far as the mountains allowed mw to see. This is quite a popular tourist attraction for columbians too although at the top i became quite a novelty myself, as almost everyone coming to the top wanted to know where i was from and two families even asked if they could take my photo?!
One more night of partying and i decided to head for the more peaceful location of Salento, deep in the coffee region.