VENEZUELA and T&T 2009

Well, contrary to popular opinion, we are safe and happy in Caracas. We have probably never been more nervous about visiting anywhere, but as soon as we met the lovely Nelson, who we are staying with, we knew we would be ok! The apartment he has provided is far more luxurious than we expected for the price, and he welcomed us by taking us for a night time drive around the city with his niece and girlfriend. It was great to get some idea of the layout of ths huge city, and he took us to get traditional cachapas, a corn pancake stuffed with a Venezuelan cheese called queso de mano, delicious... He also drove us up out of the city to where there are million dollar mansions, and a brilliant view of Caracas glittering amongst the hlls. It is also so interesting to hear Nelson´s refreshingly non-polemical views on Chavez (he explained that the reason we had unexpectedly entered a new time zone is because live on air, Chavez decided on the spur of the moment to change Venezuela´s time zone by half an hour so it would be sunny when he got up...)

This morning we got up eager to explore, and set ourselves up with a breakfast of arepas - a slightly different kind of stuffed pancake! Then we got the very efficient Metro to Capitolio, the old centre of the city, where we sat in the Plaza Bolivar surrounded by religious visonaries and socialist demonstrations amongst the fountains and tall trees. We also went into the Catedral, a fascinating sort of caricature of a Spanish church, with everything made slightly more melodamatic. Alice also endured McFlurrygate.

Then we walked towards Parque Central - I am really enjoying all the srt of conrete, brutalist architecture interspersed with tropical plants, which I´m sure many people hate but I love. Lots of places seem to have a suitably socialist Barbican-style setup, with galleries, museums, theatres, shops, restauants and homes all in the same building. We have also enjoyed finding litte parks and plazas, sudden moments of calm in an incredibly busy and exciting city.

We also managed to get a Venezuelan sim card! So if you want to phone or text us, the new number is (0412) 9358453

We will write again soon - we have two more nights in Caracas before we head off to Ciudad Bolivar and Angel Falls. But, just to reassure you, we have not found Caracas frightening in the least so far! Love Hannah and Alice