El gnomo viajero en Caracas

The Travelling Gnome in Caracas

Since I was a teenager, I liked the meaning given to the traveling gnome in the movie Amelie, or Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain. In this film they show Amelie's widowed father, who after his wife dies, renounces his dreams of traveling the world, and lets his life go by while cleaning his garden gnome daily. Amelie kidnaps her father's gnome, and without him understanding what is happening, photographs of the gnome begin to arrive at monuments and tourist sites around the world, which finally encourages him to travel and visit all these beautiful places by himself.

Para mí, el gnomo es un recuerdo de que debemos movernos y tratar de viajar todo lo que podamos, conocer cada país, y tener contacto con cada cultura que podamos mientras sigamos vivos. Y desde hace 5 años, cada vez que viajo o que voy a conocer un sitio nuevo tanto en mi ciudad como en cualquier parte del mundo, me llevo a mi gnomo viajero para que se tome su fotografía, e ir creando poco a poco un álbum de viajes. Esta es la segunda publicación donde hablo de él, y si gustan pueden visitar un post antiguo donde muestro algunos sitios turísticos de la Isla de Margarita, del Estado Nueva Esparta en Venezuela.

For me, the gnome is a reminder that we must move and try to travel as much as we can, get to know each country, and have contact with every culture while we are still alive. And for 5 years, every time I travel or go to a new place, both in my city and in any part of the world, I take my traveling gnome to take his picture, and gradually create an traveling album. This is the second publication where I talk about him, and if you like you can visit an old post where I show some tourist sites on Margarita Island, in Nueva Esparta State in Venezuela.

¿A dónde nos llevará esta vez? a la Esfera Caracas

Where will it take us this time? to the Esfera Caracas

On this occasion, I want to show you a beautiful place in my city of Caracas, which I met just two years ago, and that I visit whenever I can. It is the Esfera Caracas from the plastic artist Jesús Soto, a kinetic work of art located on the Francisco Fajardo highway, easily accessible to the public and which has been one of the cultural icons of Venezuela since 1997, made up of metal rods held by lines made of steel and create the illusion of a sphere that is suspended in the air.

I had been passing by that place for years and had never come near it, and to my surprise, it is not only a work of art in the middle of the city, but it also has an open space with a hill where people can go to spend the afternoon and watch the sunset, picnic on the grass, and appreciate the mountain that surrounds the city. When it begins to get dark, the sphere lights up, decorating the environment and inviting you to stay until it gets dark so you can see the stars that appear in the Caracas sky.

My city is full of beautiful places like this, but the Caracas de Soto Sphere is a magical place that makes you fall in love with the city, and offers an experience that seems impossible: an artistic and quiet place right in the middle of the highway. If you come to Caracas, do not hesitate to spend an afternoon in this place.