This will be the first of a series of posts dedicated to introduce the beautiful places, cultures, gastronomy, activities and natural monuments that this land blessed with beaches, jungle, mountains, desert, plains and the oldest rocks on the planet.
Today, in particular, I want to tell you about Colonia Tovar, and how this small town is much more than beautiful mountains. Before going into the concrete details, I would like to mention that Colonia Tovar is an idyllic place to relax, to eat delicious meals and sweets, to enjoy the landscape, the fresh climate, and if we add good company, it can be a paradise on earth.
Colonia Tovar is a small town located in the State of Aragua, about 40 miles from Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. The last time I visited this town was with my wife, we took the route of La Victoria and she did not like the curves of the road very much. Given this situation, I recommend avoiding food intake at least 1 hour before the trip, it is better to save nauseating moments would say Asly (@ arar5). However, I could enjoy the spectacular view that the road offers.
Once you arrive, you can immediately feel the freshness of the climate and the colorful things jumping at the sight, you can also appreciate the architecture and aesthetics taken care of in all the buildings to preserve and transmit the German roots. These roots tell how Colonia Tovar was founded in 1843 with the arrival in Venezuela of a group of settlers from Germany, specifically from Schwarzwald (the Black Forest) covering towns such as Wyhl, Edingen and Oberbergen de Kaiserstuhl. These pioneers remained isolated from the rest of Venezuela for more than a century due to the lack of road access, allowing them to keep many of their traditions, their language (the Badischen, Baden dialect), gastronomy, clothing, dance, among others. As a point of interest, during these years only the marriage between settlers was allowed in order to preserve their culture, until in 1940 Spanish was established as the official language and the practice of intermarriage between settlers fell into disuse.
Colonia Tovar as a place of tourist interest would not emerge until the government of Rómulo Betancourt, when a complete access road was created from Caracas (1963) and proclaimed by Presidential Decree as an area of tourist interest (1964). From then on the natives of the region took advantage of the exceptional climate, their gastronomy of German origin, besides the ability to create an infinite number of handicraft products and gave light to what today is a fantastic place to know and enjoy.
What do I recommend you to do in Colonia Tovar?
From my experience, I leave here this list of what I think you can not miss when visiting this place:
Take a walk through the center of the village, visit the famous church and the museum.
Rent some tour service in rustic cars, there are several businesses dedicated to visit amazing places, it is a comfortable and accessible way to know different jewels of this town.
EAT, oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, eat the delights that this place has to offer. You can not leave Colonia Tovar without having tasted the traditional sausages they offer, the typical German dish (consisting of sausages, pork knee (haxe), chops, steamed potatoes and goulash), strawberries with cream, black forrest cake (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte), strudels, traditional cheesecakes (Käsekuchen), tartlets with tons of fruits they make, corn bread, pineapple and carrot jams, sauces ... Eveeerythiiiiiiiiinnnggg!!!
Visit the Benitz Brewery, taste the craft beers that there produce different flavors and all very good. I could not choose my favorite beer, they were all sooooo goooooood!!!
To know and learn about the process of making handmade wines, obviously this includes tasting the variety they offer. Personally I recommend the mulberry and passoin fruit wine; my wife likes the arequipe (a milk and sugar sweet) and the chocolate creamy liquors.
The Chocolate Tovar, especially if just like my wife... you are a
naddictedchocolate lover, this is a must-see place.
Buy fresh fruits in its streets. Everything looks fresher and more colorful in Colonia Tovar.
Last but not least, relax, contemplate the landscape and put aside the stress of city life.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my tour of this corner of Venezuela, and apologies for the length of my post, memories flooded my mind and I could not stop writing. Thank you for reading and for the support you give to this publication, my journey is just beginning. In the next post I will show you another magical and unique place to fully enjoy, see you around Steemians.