Isla Margarita

Gorgeous Flowers Everywhere

To start off my birthday week, Walli and I had lunch with our Spanish tutor, Isabel, on Sunday. She is the most thoughtful person you'll ever meet. She invited us to her cute little house in El Hatillo where she fixed us up some vegetarian food. Then she had arranged for us to visit a nearby garden called Topotepuy. She fibbed to the ticket seller and told them that we were tourists on our way from Valencia and this would be our only chance to visit the garden and we were really looking forward to it so they let us come in after the closing time. Venezuela does have its perks: You can get away with things like that.

When you walked into the gardens, you forgot that you were in Caracas. It was so beautiful and so peaceful, it was really enjoyable; perfect for a Sunday activity.

My Favorite Part- The Conservatory

On our way back to Isabel's house for dessert she gave us a tour of one of the really rich areas in the city. There were houses that were so large I thought they were apartment complexes. Around one of the neighborhoods there is a nice walking path along side the road, but we were advised never to walk there because that's often where people get kidnapped from since it's a wealthy area.

We also stopped into La Iglesia Ortodoxa Rumana Constantino y Elena (the Costantine and Helen Romanian Orthodox Church) to look around. It seems extremely out of place, so it was fun to peek into.

Kind of Creepy (This photo was taken
from the internet, but this is what it looked like when we
were there because it was raining)

My actual birthday fell on Wednesday and luckily my little munchkins were good for me. All of my classes ended up singing Happy Birthday at some point. To celebrate my quarter of a century I went out to dinner with a few good friends. We had a blast being the obnoxious gringos in the restaurant and drinking too much wine. Magically, Lane provided the best cake in the world. It was like a chocolate mousse cake with a hard chocolate shell. My friends sang Happy Birthday and then Feliz Cumpleaños and then in Venezuelan tradition I had to take a bite out of the cake. Luckily since there was a shell I did not get my face smashed into it. And it tasted so good, that everyone else started taking bites too!

Just Look at That Cake!

My Infamous Birthday Shoes-
True Venezuelan Style

To really celebrate my birthday I planned a weekend trip to the infamous Isla Margarita. So my partner in crime, Walli, and I took a personal day and headed to the island on Thursday after work. It was a super quick and easy 35-minute flight to get there. We stayed at the Hesperia at Playa el Agua, which is an all-inclusive resort that many people had raved about. We tried not to set our expectations too high...as the island is still Venezuela and we know things don't always work or go as planned, but it turned out marvelous.

Playa El Agua

Friday I woke up early in anticipation for the beach so I walked down to claim some beach chairs. It was near 7 AM and the beach was still empty. It was so great, but a bit eery as well. I would have loved to walked on the beach while it was empty like that, but I knew better. So I lounged in the hammock by our pool until Walli woke up and we got breakfast. We spent most of the day lounging on the beach, napping, reading, walking, and relaxing. Vendors were always walking by trying to sell you stuff. I was asked if I was from Holland, Switzerland, and Germany. I soon learned just avoid eye-contact and forget about saying, “No gracias” if you wanted to be left alone. I did get suckered by one guy selling jewelery but I didn't have any cash with me so he assured me he would return the next day and surely enough he did calling me by name and everything, so I ended up buying a bracelet and earrings.

Not a Crowded Beach

After a nice long day at the beach we had fresh piña coladas and did a little bit of shopping before our dinner reservations. Since the resort was all-inclusive, the food wasn't particularly impressive but it was nice not having to get taxis and figure out where to go and how to pay. And because we had made reservations, we got to have dinner in a restaurant atmosphere instead of the cafeteria buffet. We skipped the discotheque in lieu of a movie and fell asleep early after such a hard day.

Saturday was about the same. The only real difference is we decided to upgrade to a better part of the resort. It seemed like a lot of money but in all reality it was a $6 difference and it was definitely worth it. We got access to the nice pool and jacuzzi, other exclusive restaurants and bars, and a way nicer room. We felt like spoiling ourselves so I took more advantage of the all-inclusive drinks and we got massages in the afternoon. We also got to participate in the romantic dinner complete with live entertainment.

Upgrade!

Sunday when it was about noon and I hadn't made it to the drink stand yet, the bartender delivered me a refreshing beer. Now that is costumer service! I was sad to leave the island just as anyone is sad to leave vacation, especially when returning back to Caracas. If I would have known how easy it was to go there for a weekend I probably would have went once a month! 

Viva Venezuela