Let’s go by parts before telling you about my favorite place in Venezuela, I should tell you about when I was asked to write about my country, the first doubt that came to mind was what am I going to write about? My brain exploded as if there were fireworks, between the excitement to sit once again in front of the keyboard to write more than 140 characters, (after almost two years writing for Social Media) and the adrenaline that comes out of my pores to remember the wonderful experiences that I lived traveling through my beloved Venezuela.
The second thing you should know to understand this journey that we are about to begin is that my parents are happily divorced and since I have use of reason, I have shared my vacations with both of them, each of them with their particular style, in a fun but extremely different way and with my family, I had the pleasure to know some destinations, some of the most different and beautiful of Venezuela, without a doubt the east of the country marked a great part of my childhood and my entire life.
My mother’s side of the family had a fixed destination, religiously every September we would travel to Margarita, the Caribbean pearl. My father’s side of the family had a fixed destination which was Puerto La Cruz.
Both cities are located in the east of the country, where there is the most sun and the fried patty’s made with cornflour on the border of the beach. But, although Margarita as Puerto de la Cruz is very similar, throughout my life I could notice that you can have totally different experiences, depending on the people who go with you.
If we are talking about rituals…
In Margarita, there is the Basilica of Our Lady of the Valley, and there my maternal grandfather promised to visit every September when the festivities of gratitude are celebrated. In thankfulness for health and for the blessing that has always been in evidence in his life… thanks to that wonderful promise of fidelity, also his children and grandchildren were benefited. It was a fixed destination to travel to that island every year, not only accompany my grandfather to visit the sanctuary, we had a few rituals that were not lacking.
Margarita has beautiful beaches, also in its golden season, it was perfect to go shopping in the port because it was a free tax port. Our adventures began from Caracas, where it was our starting point, from there we would arrive in Puerto la Cruz, where we barked in a ferry to finally start 10 days of loads of family fun. We had one-day planes to empty our bank accounts and cramming credit cards at the point of buying new clothes and tastes for the whole year, and the remaining nine days enjoying that delicious sun like a little mermaid.
At the time of swimming, we had two favorite beaches “Playa El Agua” and Playa Parguito” they were located one next to each other, they were two of the most famous beaches between tourists, with enormous beaches and strong waves as its warm breeze that had a nice ruffle. The days that we spent there were wonderful each of us would enjoy our favorite activity, in an individual style, for the grandkids we would love to go swimming until we had pruned fingers as if we were old, we defended ourselves quite well in the water and we would jump the big waves as a hobby filled with emotion.
My lovely grandmother liked to do beach shopping, there was no Argentinian craftsman or from any part of the world that would not party with us as he sold all necklaces in existence, instead, my grandfather enjoyed our faces, would stay looking at us until we would notice he would be looking at us to capture our attention and share an accomplice smile saying “I am watching you little birdy”. My aunt and my mom also had their thing, the first one would love to go to the beach and tan, the second one loved to show off her enormous and beautiful hats, every day would be a different one and she was in charge of coordinating the family photos for posterity.
The eating…
As it was to be expected, the gastronomical rituals couldn’t be missed in our itinerary, it was a sure thing the famous stop in the “Mercado de Conejeros” from just remembering I can feel the heat that they were trying to appease with high ceilings, that dozens of identical spots were you could eat patty’s from cheese, meat, chicken, seafood, whatever you would like but our favorite ones were without a doubt dogfish, it is a specie of a small shark that they crumble and cook with a magic ingredient: sweet pepper Oh! What a taste! And to drink Oh! How many options! You could choose a cold malt (of course Polar brand, wedge worth) o natural juices that were prepared at the moment, my favorite was the lechoso or papaya, although I have to admit jobo, a fruit that is from that island because it is unusual it had a lot of fans.
On the beach, we would fight over the fried fish or shrimp prepared in any of its forms, but the magic started when a distinguished person from the Caribbean costs from Venezuela would come to us, the American oystercatcher, and at he was surrounded by all of us, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents all of them in the round of oysters. What a treat! To eat all the fresh oyster, we looked as if we were possessed by the flavor of salt and lemon, a whole dish that delighted our senses, we connected as a family without utensils, in bathing suits, enjoying our natural and spontaneous surroundings in the sand table at the seashore.
Let’s go to the Port!
September was ending, and we would be returning the school routing, with a tan and the typical braids from Margarita, but soon enough it would be Holy Week, Carnaval or school holidays and with those dates, the trips were with my dad, that was different as to my mother’s side of the family, he was the crazy one, the bohemian, the one that would stand to contemplate a flower in the middle of the path. In Puerto La Cruz, we would always arrive at my grandparents’ house that was located in a humble place, where you could feel the fraternal spirit of the neighbors that they would go with their small chairs in the afternoon to enjoy the breeze that refreshes from the heat of the day.
Among many other things we enjoyed doing in this house, the most fun was the countless baths with hoses, the first bath they gave was when I had a couple of months of been born, I think that for my dad it was like when the Lion King presented his cub to the animal kingdom, an action full of enthusiasm, impregnated with our essence and adventure.
When we traveled my favorite beach was the “Isla de Plata” it belongs to the National Park of Mochima, it is located between the states of Sucre and Anzoategui in the east of Venezuela, the park is confirmed by a group of islands with bays, deep-water coasts, white sand beaches, coral reefs, island and zones with mountains and abundant vegetation.
In the “Isla de Plata” the primordial thing was to relax to the maximum in the crystal waters, or on the white beaches under a palm tree, the best naps of my life were in the small but hearty island of small waves and a tranquil tide were it was enough to float and almost sleep or swim until going to the permitted limit.
There were a lot of things that I fell in love with Puerto la Cruz, aside from the days of the beach, going to Paseo Colon, inflatables rituals during my childhood, at the boulevard of the shore of the beach we would go there during the night, it was filled with life, joy characteristic of the coast in any part of the world. There was every type of craftsman, but I remember one especially that worked with glass figures and the pedestrians could stop and look at his whole process.
In Puerto de la Cruz, my grandparents had a liquor store, for me, this is an unerasable memory, from selling chewing gum and chocolates to emptying the store with all the provisions that one needs as a child to go to the beach. There we would stop every day at least to say hi and go to the zone of the dairies, one of the prettiest and most exclusive parts of the city filled with luxurious ports and yachts of all sizes.
A very different kind of happiness
Unlike my maternal family, the one who liked to establish routines to go on the safe side, my dad loved adventure, exploring the unknown that is why we would always travel to different places, his elections were the posadas on the seashore with hammocks, with rooms without TV and blankets woven in different colors that combined with flowers of the patio. With my mom, the holidays were five-star hotels where the pillow smelled like roses and the bed looked as if it were going to hug you, where the pool had artificial waves and extended menus.
With my dad the path was full of mountains and curves to take a boat and get to the beach, it was enjoying every detail, going to explore through the mountains. With my mom it was swimming in wonderful parks with dolphins, it was living at the limit. With my dad, it was getting to know a new cousin or uncle (a huge family as a good family from the east) every time that we would the Port. With my mom, it was relaxing, receiving a massage at the seashore or jump the highest toboggan of Margarita. Similar destinations with different personalities, best of all are that I can say my favorite part of Venezuela is getting to know the best of my family.
