Walk and you will know

Costa América shopping center

I've always said that the best way to get to know a city is on foot. And although I know much of Puerto Ordaz, Bolívar State, Venezuela, there are still places I haven't visited, or perhaps I haven't been for a long time, but which are still part of my childhood memories, when many of these places were fully operational and well-known among the locals. For this occasion, I won't talk about a specific place I may have visited, but rather show some postcards of sites that may be of interest to those visiting the city.

A perfectly balanced day for walking around the city, with cool weather and little sunshine, because walking around Puerto Ordaz can usually be an odyssey with the heat and extreme sun that can occur during the day. But this time it wasn't. It was possible to walk more relaxed, so to speak, while keeping cool and not getting too tired. But with every step I take along the city's large avenues and streets, it may be a small city, but when you walk around it, you can really notice its immensity.

Throughout the city, you can see small shopping centers, some a bit modern and others completely abandoned, like vestiges of the past. You can also see a glimpse of the facade of the Costa América shopping center, where you can find a wide range of restaurants with various styles of food. It's useful for all those who come here for tourism and to learn a bit about the local cuisine, but also about the cuisine of other countries. I emphasize this because it's actually part of the route I took.

Hotel Rasil

Facade of the old cinema

From that point, I was just starting out toward another part of the city I don't usually go to, and which I remember from my childhood. It's the civic center area, the point where the city was practically born, where we can find the iconic Hotel Rasil and the Hotel Tepuy. Hotels where many people used to stay in the past. I'm not saying they don't now, but there are other new hotels, or perhaps hotels with better locations for tourists. This site also once housed many important businesses, and it was usually very popular with locals. But what I remember most about this place is the city's first movie theater, which no longer exists but remains in my memory. Every weekend I went there with my family to see the movie premieres, just as I remember seeing movies like Pocahontas and Toy Story as a child, which were a huge hit at the time, so to speak.

Hotel Tepuy

Of course, these places aren't tourist attractions as such, but I think they are, in part, for those who want to get a different perspective of the city, as well as learn the history of each of these spots, which hold countless anecdotes. It's also partly to learn a little about the architecture of the time, which was characterized by a strong influence from the United States, who in the past worked in many of the city's mining companies, initially shaping the city.

All photographs are mine.