Capitolio

This past weekend Lisa and Clara, a lovely lady from school, put together a trip to downtown Caracas together. We were scheduled to see some historical sites, eat lunch, and tour the military parade grounds. It was a great day and the history was quite interesting but what made it truly amazing was the bus we took. It was all just a little random, a little rock star, and a fantastic time with friends from ECA. Join us in the Capitolio.

The bus: thats right, a double decker. Nothing like going into the red zone while perched prominently in sight. It was either a naive or brilliant move.

Like me, Coy was a bit skeptical, but then we saw that the bus was a transformer and knew that it would all be okay.

As shown by her expression here, Lisa had at least one moment of panic when she saw all of us take our seat and she realized that she was in charge of a bunch of overgrown kids for the day. "I'm not in charge" she was heard to mutter numerous times.

that's a fly bus that has a tv and a microwave

 But the best part truly was getting to ride up top. The bus seemed to have just anchored in a bunch of old patio furniture benches and built up a protective wall around them. All day people watched us go by with an expression of "did I really just see that?" on their faces. We got waves, smiles, "bienvenidos" and cheers wherever we went. I can only assume that a busload of gringos was not an everyday experience in their lives.

Notice all of the foliage on the deck- this was caused by our frequent "cuidado!" warnings and then everyone getting low to avoid tree branches and overpasses.

Josh, Elka, Kris, Jess, Coy, and Lisa

Of course I had to sit next to Chris and put up with this all day- so immature.

More of the crew- you can just feel the wind!

Lisa making a very rookie move: never look backwards, especially with overhangs coming up!

 It was a unique perspective being up there, easily my favorite part of the day.

We also took in some sites, generally they had to do with honoring Simon Bolivar- the liberator. He is an interesting figure and very revered down here.

This man saw us touring around and get turned away from a small museum due to it being Sunday and closed. He got us in and gave us a tour and was just lovely. 

Here are a few more shots from various downtown churches, museums, and Bolivar houses.

A real pity this didn't turn out clearly. I feel the artist and model really captured what one would look and feel like if one was forced to wear a blue blouse for a portrait.

Wilder is very happy to be taller than her friend Elizabeth.

Lunchtime- a nice little downtown spot with the adult tables and the banished teenager table 

the postre man

Mike Simpson said "There is quite a lot of religious imagery I don't understand but I am pretty sure I get the meaning of this one."

 The national mausoleum was our first post lunch spot. It is an incredible structure that reminds me of Colorado in two ways: a ski hill and casa bonita.

The guard was changing over as we arrived.

Although the scale is much more grand- it is a bit casa bonitaesque you have to admit (Colorado people at least)

This is the "tower of david" an unfinished building that was claimed by people in need of housing- making it a high rise bario. It was also featured in "Homeland" we didn't go in.

 Our last stop was at the military parade grounds which was low key. I imagine on a day when they are showing off the tanks and weapons it is anything but!

Annie and Elka

very impressive statues

and then we were home, I'll have a few more pics and thoughts soon, but what a great day with a new perspective on Caracas

oh and we saw this guy as soon as we hit Calle la Cinta