La Sucursal Del Cielo (Heaven’s Branch on Earth), is how we call Caracas, the Capital of Venezuela. It is a city that allows you to open your windows every morning, and admire the beautiful mountain that adorns “The City of Eternal Springs” by the East, but if you turn your head to the South, you can get to see the millions of small houses built on the other side of the city where the lower middle class live, a big contrast that if you live in or get to visit this place you can get to understand.
Santiago de León de Caracas, or just Caracas, is the name of the city where I was born. It is in a valley close to the Caribbean Sea and is separated from the coast by a mountain called Cerro El Ávila, and has more hills and mountains by the south. It is an imposing city with modern sculptures, some world heritages, beautiful parks, nature reserves, and a wide cultural and commercial movement.
Cerro El Ávila is the most iconic place about Caracas. Known as ‘’the lungs of the City”, is a mountain 8,990 ft above sea level, and it is a park with the longest cable car ride in the world. I feel very proud every time I can mention it. A lot of people from Caracas have the habit of climbing the mountain in the mornings, especially during the weekends, as a way to exercise and breathe clean air and get away from all the pollution of a typical city. People also bring their pets to exercise with them, and there’s a famous place on top of the mountain where I used to sit and rest after the climbing; there’s a wonderful view of the entire city. It makes you feel at peace and forget about anything that worries you about work or in your personal life.
You can find famous sculptures and patrimonies of humanity in Caracas, such as Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, (Central University of Venezuela), which is also the University I was attending before I came to The USA. It is a wonderful place and it was named a World Heritage by the UNESCO because is an outstanding example of the modern movement of architecture. The campus is enormous and when students don’t have classes they can visit the Botanical Garden, the Olympic Stadium or the Covered Plaza, which is also a perfect place to study. While you’re walking by its hallways you can find tutors teaching different classes for different majors or people just practicing math, chemistry or physics. At the end of the Covered Plaza is the biggest library I’ve ever seen in my life, the Central Library. In the Central Library I spent days and days studying or doing research for my classes. One of the most important things about the Central University is “El Aula Magna” (Grand Hall), a famous and big auditorium that is also a World Heritage. Here, all the students on their graduation day receive their degrees. It is a dream for anyone who attends this University to walk under “Las Nubes de Calder” (Floating Clouds), structures that are in the ceiling of the hall, made by a famous architect, Alexander Calder. These clouds are part of the culture of the university, and they mean a lot for all the people who attend it. Walking under “Las Nubes de Calder” is synonymous of having achieved the goal.
Caracas also has a diversity of culture with many restaurants, theaters, museums and shopping centers. There’s always something different to do. With the time, plays have gained more popularity and people go often to the theater. I used to go at least once or twice per month to the micro theater. It consists of a theater divided in 10 rooms with 10 different theater plays, and you pay to see 3 or 4 different plays in one day; you decide between the 10 you have as options. Art and science museums are my favorites because there’s something new you learn every time you visit them. There’s also a kid’s museum that is great for children under 12 years because it is very entertaining, educational, and helps to reinforce the knowledge of children.
In conclusion, there’s a lot more I can say about my city, like how beautiful the parks are, or how interesting taking the subway is, but describing all the beautiful things about Caracas would take me too long. For some people it is probably just of one of the most dangerous cities in South America, and I know it is true, but, I like to think about the good things about Caracas, and I feel the nostalgia of not seeing the most beautiful mountain every time I open my windows, the one that makes Caracas looks so perfect. I have the firm idea that a place is just what you want to see about it, and I decided to remember how beautiful the place where I grew up is. That is my city, full of art, architecture, beautiful Patrimonies of Humanity that makes me feel proud of coming from where I come, “The Heaven’s Branch on Earth”.
