Hi from Medellin,
Monday, I took my son to see Museo El Castillo in El Poblado. I did the tour of the inside of the castle back in March, so my son was gracious enough to do the guided tour on his own. I sat by the gardens enjoying the gloomy weather. Yes, that’s right, I was enjoying the overcast because it made it less hot than every other day here. Don’t get me wrong, I would take the weather in Medellin over the Buffalo winter any day any time.
Two hours of gorgeous scenery, a tour, and done. We hopped in an Uber to El Tesoro mall.
Now, I know what you are thinking. A mall, seriously, why? Well, I had told my son that people here in Medellin like to parade their dogs inside the mall. So, for shits and giggles he wanted to see that. Hey no judgement. I did say it was for giggles. Part of me also wanted him to see what they have built here. Massive fancy ass malls you don’t see in NY these days. I mean they have an area that looks like a pool full of bubbles which are matte plastic balls kids can throw themselves in and a mini amusement park with rides. That’s right folks, made in Colombia.
So, we strolled into El Tesoro and no joke for the first hour we didn’t see a damn dog. Not a one. Listen the kid is here on vacation. I was going to get a chuckle out of him no matter what.
We walked to an area called Sunset El Tesoro. Best described as a compact dining zone with several independent kiosks and common seating areas. The view of the city from here is spectacular. And when in Rome you get tempted. I said, “Fuck it, let’s grab some quick appetizers”. FYI my son never says no to food.
We sat by Bodega Wine Bar & Tapas. Overindulged and ordered more tapas than we intended. Plus 2 sodas saborizadas, juice flavored seltzer on ice.
But if I had seen the reviews for this place, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. A couple of good tapas and some meh ones.
We finished eating and asked the waiter that had been serving us for the bill. A bit pricey compared to other places in Medellin but it’s a mall. Get the bill and noticed it had the tip included at the bottom. Waiter didn’t bother to ask if he should include it. Now hold on. I’m not being petty. It’s a law here that they have to ask. Yes, a ridiculous law but a law. More on that in a future post.
I had quickly glanced at the bill without my glasses; I know, huge mistake. I paid it and based on the total price I assumed everything we ordered was included. Nope!
We get up and walk to the bathroom which was literally to the left of the food area. You could see it from where we sat. My son of course is out of the bathroom before I am and was waiting outside for me. A waitress had walked over to him and in Spanish told him we had not paid for the sodas. My son shared later on.
Now my son’s Spanish is not great. He understood but didn’t know how to respond other than “mi mama esta en el baño”, my mother is in the bathroom. I walk out and was about to tell him I had a piece of spinach stuck on the side of my tooth but stopped myself as I noticed a woman next to him.
She proceeded to tell me we hadn’t paid for the sodas. I replied with “I paid the bill the male waiter gave me”. At that moment I realized another stupid mistake. I was so distracted that I hadn’t noticed the waiter did not return the receipt when he brought my change.
So, I tell her let’s head over and ask the waiter. He tells me in broken English “you paid the bill for this place but the sodas were from that restaurant over there”.
Seriously! Deer in headlights here. It took me a second to respond in Spanish and asked why he hadn’t told me that when I asked for the bill. I mean do I look psychic to people? Am I supposed to know they intermingle in that area and bills are separate regardless of whom you order from.
You sit near one restaurant kiosk and apparently can order from all of them. I had no fucking clue. After I go off, the waiter finally says “I should have told you that” and then used the stupidest analogy in English, “It’s like walking into Louis Vuitton and paying them for a Gucci bag”. Let me tell you, if the expression on my face didn’t speak for itself, I don’t know what would. I was a royally pissed off Latin woman.
Is it me or did that make sense to anyone reading this?
WTF! That was the stupidest analogy I had ever heard.
First of all, I am not the type of person to walk away without paying. This situation had me seeing red, nothing else.
Why not just fucking tell me bills were separate and stop being fucking lazy scrolling on your phone while you were working and walk yourself to the other waitress for the bill after I asked for it?
I can’t tell you how many times this guy was on his phone while we were eating. It was hard to miss in such a small area and he was very tall.
I paid for that bill and we headed to the first floor to leave the mall. And then we see them. The parade of dogs my son wanted to see were on the first floor. Sat on a black leather couch and after 15 dogs had passed by the novelty wore off. My son turns to me and says “okay ready to leave now”.
And that was out 2 1/2-hour trip to El Tesoro mall in Medellin.
