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Diane's DiaryJune 19 Thursday I got up late - around 9am. I have been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately as I think I am starting to go into menopause. Anyway, we brought the remaining cushions downtown so she can work on the slipcovers while we are gone. We will have no place to sit while she is working on them, as it's very uncomfortable just sitting on the settees' bare wood. So since we are going to Caracas tomorrow, it seemed like a good idea to get it done now. Of course, it was not easy getting these big cushions into the taxi and we had to fold them and put plastic garbage bags on them so they don't get dirty. However, the seamstress was less than half the price of the canvas workers here so it was definitely worth the trip and aggravation. We also had lunch at an Italian restaurant the seamstress recommended which was very good. When we got back to the boat, Larry got out all the varnish supplies for Elias. He also took everything that was topsides and put it below decks. Since we are going to be gone, there is no sense leaving all the stuff out as it could be stolen. I took the dinghy to Plaza Mayor, as we wanted to bring some bakery cookies to Giulio. I also dropped off some videos we borrowed from S/V Kimba, picked up the laundry and stopped by TBS where we cleared in to see if our cruising permit was ready yet- it wasn't. Anyway, it was a very long day especially in all this heat, which definitely tires you out quicker. You would think we would be used to the heat after all this time but we are not. I guess you never get used to it- only tolerate it. Anyway, we also packed for our trip to Caracas. June 20 Friday This morning we got ready to take the 11:30 am bus to Caracas so were busy eating breakfast and getting ready to leave. We took the bus and had no problems. We were surprised they looked through our bags and did a wand search of everyone. We did not have this last year but I guess things are different now after the strike. The air conditioner is at full blast so the bus is extremely cold. They show movies-in English with Spanish subtitles but the movies are definitely what we would consider "B" movies- we have never heard of them and they are usually terrible. However, since they don't want you opening the windows, (they say this is for security reasons) and it's too dark to read, it's either sleep or watch the movie so we watched the movie. You are also not allowed to eat or drink on the bus although they do offer coffee and regular cheap soda, which is terrible. I made sandwiches to bring with us. They stop at a rest stop to use the bathroom (although there are bathrooms on the bus I try never to use those) but the restaurant didn't seem clean so I just brought our own and bought drinks. Anyway, the bus got in around 5:30 and Giulio picked us up. It certainly was very nice of him and we were glad to see him again. We stopped at the apartment to drop off our things then we went to their house for a very nice dinner. We had a very good time catching up with them again. June 21 Saturday We were very fortunate to have Giulio's daughter and her boyfriend offer to be our tour guide for the day. Samantha is 18 and Miguel who speaks English fairly well is 20. That was extremely nice of them as they gave up their free time to spend with a bunch of old farts. We truly appreciated their help and enjoyed the day but we just hope they did also. We went first to El Hatillo, a small town about a mile from the apartment we are staying. Caracas is extremely hilly so the town is all uphill from here. Of course, between the altitude and hills we are really huffing and puffing around here. We had breakfast and then drove up to El Avila, one of the highest peaks in Caracas that had an extremely good view of all of Caracas. There is a hotel and teleferico running up to it. A teleferico is a cable car and here it runs up the side of the mountain and is similar to a 4 person enclosed ski lift. It was $4USD one way so it definitely was not cheap but the view was really worth it. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself. We drove up El Avila in Miguel's 4-wheel drive Toyota jeep. It was definitely a road for 4 wheel drive cars only and if we hadn't had a 4-wheel drive car we would have never made it to the top. The mountain was extremely steep with hairpins curves throughout. I'm certainly glad I didn't have to drive it! Anyway, when we got to the top the view was just gorgeous. We stopped and had lunch and treated Samantha and Miguel to lunch. We walked up near the old Humbolt hotel but didn't go in as they wanted $1USD per person and we didn't feel it was worth it. Anyway, we all had strawberries and whipped cream which was just delicious. It is definitely one of my favorite desserts. We walked around the grounds but unfortunately the clouds were rolling in so the view was obscured. Anyway, we went back to Giulio's and had a wonderful dinner with them. We had an excellent day and really enjoyed all their superb hospitality. We only hope someday they come to the US someday to visit us so we can repay their hospitality. The whole family has truly taken us under their wing and we would never have experienced the wonderful things about Venezuela without their help and support. Thank you all very much! We simply cannot repay the hospitality they have given us. June 22 Sunday It was raining on and off again all day. Giulio invited us to his yacht club for the day but we actually didn't think we would be going due to the rain. He picked us up and we had a wonderful pastry breakfast in El Hatillo. The pastries are really wonderful here and are very cheap by US standards- about .60 each for absolutely outstanding pastries. In the US, they would probably be around $2USD each. Anyway, after breakfast we went back to his house so we could pick up Giancarla, Lucas and the Grandmother. We had to take 2 cars as we had too many people and stuff. It rained most of the way and we didn't think it was a very good day. Back in 1999, floods devastated the entire coast of this area of Venezuela. My Lonely Planet guidebook says almost 50,000 people died here. Today, almost 4 years later, we could still see some of the devastation that hasn't been fixed. Entire houses were buried in the gigantic mudslides- some at least 4 stories tall from the evidence we saw. Guilio's yacht club was devastated- even the Olympic swimming pool was completely covered in mud and had been destroyed. The marina just opened recently- 4 years after the mudslides. Anyway, it was not a good day to go sailing- rainy and windy. I went swimming in the pool but it really was quite chilly and really was not a good day for it. We went to lunch at one of their restaurants and shortly after we arrived the rain started coming down again. We were lucky to sit down when we did as everyone was looking for tables after the rain started and there were no more tables. I seem to have a sore throat and cold. Giancarla said everyone seems to get sick at this time of the year with colds and diarrhea due to the rains. We got back to Caracas around 6pm and were both exhausted. Remember we are cruisers and not used to so much activity in 1 day! Anyway, we just ate dinner at McDonald's, which is just a few blocks from Giulio's apt. However, it's a long uphill climb on the way back! I guess 1000 meters of altitude really does affect us! Anyway, we had a wonderful day even though it rained out. June 23 Monday Around 9am, Samantha picked us up to do some sight seeing. We took her car to her university campus where she had a class later that day. Then we took the metro - their version of the subway, to the downtown area. Parking is difficult to find downtown so it's just faster and easier to take the subway. 3 trips for 3 people on the subway cost less than $1 for all 3! We got to see the National Capital (a Chavez building), Cathedral, and Concejo building. Unfortunately, due to the strike many of the paintings had been removed from the building for safekeeping. Also, it was Monday and many of the buildings and museums like elsewhere in the world were closed. It was disappointing but at least we got to see where many of the marches during the strike took place. Afterwards, we took the metro back to the Sambil mall. We ate at Chili's and had good American hamburgers. It's much cheaper here than the US- the entire bill for 3 of us including drinks, tax, tip, etc was $18USD. The same bill would probably be $50 in the US! We went to Guilio's for dinner as he invited some other sailing friends that used to live in VE, moved to Spain, and were now back in VE. Even though some people didn't speak English, we were able to have a good conversation anyway and we all enjoyed the evening. We didn't get back to the apt till after 11pm and were thoroughly exhausted. Venezuelans like to stay up late! June 24 Tuesday Larry was very sick with a heavy cold today but we had already arranged for Samantha and her boyfriend to take us to Colonial Tovar for the day so we went anyway. Tovar is a German city- the residents came from Germany in the late 1800's to farm the land. They were not received well by the Venezuelans as they had typhus or cholera or something when they arrived so they were quarantined. Life was very hard for them and they isolated themselves from the rest of Venezuela. However, a road opened up in the 1950's so it became a tourist place. We wanted to see it as it sounded interesting. It was about 1.5 hours from Caracas. We arrived around 11am and really enjoyed walking around the town. Many of the buildings have German architecture so are very interesting to see. They also have wonderful German food. Plus, they grow wonderful strawberries, blackberries, peaches etc. The city is high up in the mountains so the air was very thin. There are a lot of hills so it was hard to get out breath walking around. The scenery was just beautiful but unfortunately, the town is very touristy. We went into the local history museum and this was very interesting. In all, we had a good time walking around. We ate lunch at this fantastic German restaurant - I have always enjoyed German sausage so it was good to have some of that food again. Sometimes we just get sick of having meat all the time! We had wonderful strawberries and whipped cram for desert which was very good- it is definitely one of my favorite desserts! We bought lots of strawberries, raspberries, peaches, souvenirs, sausages and homemade jam. We left at 4:30 as we didn't want Samantha and Miguel to drive in the dark plus we were concerned about security. However, today was a holiday so all the Venezuelans were out partying. We got caught in a traffic jam in one of the small towns and it took us almost 1.5 hours to get through it! I think the town purposely created the traffic jams so the vendors could sell things in the streets. Anyway, we didn't get back to the apartment until 8pm and were thoroughly exhausted. However, Larry was hungry so we walked to McDonalds for dinner. We all had a wonderful time and I'm glad we got to see it. Just wish the traffic was not so bad. June 25 Wednesday Well, we both have very bad colds and are not feeling well. So, we have decided just to rest and not push ourselves today. We did walk over to the supermarket to get some food and the bakery to have breakfast. We went to Guilio's house for dinner around 7 and returned around 11. We really enjoy their company tremendously. It has certainly been a wonderful experience for us getting to know them. We have learned so much more about Venezuela by getting to meet and know such a wonderful family. We are very lucky that we got to know them. We hope one day they will come to the US so we can help repay some of this hospitality! June 26 Thursday We decided to go back to PLC today. We are getting the floor stripped in anticipation of getting it varnished when we come back to Caracas to get Larry's eyes done in another week. So, Larry was anxious to see how the floor came out. Giulio picked us up at 8; we had breakfast in El Hatillio, and took a cab around 8:30 to get to the bus station. We took the 10:30am bus to PLC and had an uneventful trip home. The floor looked good upon our return but Larry said it needed to be stripped a little more. The boat is almost 20 years old and the floor is in very bad shape. We don't know what type of finish the boat had on it but it wasn't regular varnish. When varnish is applied, it needs to dry 24 hours before you can stand on it so we need to get the floor done while we are away. June 27 Friday Steph came back from the US so we were glad to see her again. I had to call Citibank this morning, as there is a charge on our credit card we did not recognize. As it turns out the charge was legitimate but we didn't know that at the time. Anyway, it took me almost an hour to get through by phone and get the matter resolved. Gathered the laundry and took it to the Laundromat. To get 1 load of laundry washed, dried and folded with their detergent cost less than $1.50 load so it's pretty cheap. Anyway, Steph and I drove the dinghy to Plaza Mayor. We left around 10:30 and returned around 1pm. We had an accident when we came back though. The yard workers left an acetylene torch on the dock near Mima. Somehow, it fell over when we came back while we were offloading groceries; hit the side of the boat fell into the water! It caused damage to the boat- denting the toe rail. Luckily, it didn't hit the gel coat. Steph was extremely upset, not that I could blame her! We were both shaken up but I never saw it hit the rail, as I was busy taking care of the dinghy. Anyway, the yard should never have left the torch on the dock like that as it was extremely dangerous. But they did say they would pay for all the damage and make the repairs. Anyway, I put away all the food and around 1:30 went downtown with Mima to have lunch and pick up our cushions. They were both upset about the damage to the boat so it was actually good they got away from the boat and got their minds off of it. It could have been a lot worse and no one was hurt so that was good. Anyway, the slipcovers came out OK. They are not perfect but since we only paid about $25 to get all the cushions done, I felt it was a very reasonable price. This price would have been much higher in Trini and certainly a lot more expensive in the US! It would have taken me hours to do this, so we felt it was worth it. We had to take 2 taxis back as the cushions wouldn't fit all in 1 taxi. Anyway, Steph had brought us our mail so we had lots to read at night! It was great getting our mail again! |