We arrived late Monday night after a hilly drive from Caracas to the city where our friends live, Valencia. We checked in to the hotel and just couldn't muster up the energy to join the locals for a night of partying. We knew it would be an early morning and long week ahead! Tuesday morning the whole group of about 20 was up and out early for the drive to the BEACH! I can't forget to mention that we had armed guards with us on the drive and at the beach....you could tell we were gringos so we needed protection. :-) We had 3 full days and 2 nights at a beach in one of Venezuela's national parks. It was so gorgeous - blue, warm waters and white sandy beaches. We had to take a boat out from the mainland through the mangroves to the islands each day....to our own private beach. Our "posado" (beach bungalows) provided all of our meals and even a packed lunch and cold drinks on the beach. We spent the days lounging in our beach chairs or the warm water, sipping beer or rum and some snorkeling and exploring the islands. Kent was ambitious enough to lead the construction of a fantastic sandcastle (see the full photo album!). After 3 days we were bright red and almost beached out....ready for some cold AC!
Back to Valencia and the Embassy Suites on the Thursday evening....the week was flying by! We slept late and relaxed on Friday - nothing planned until an afternoon/evening BBQ at the groom's parent's house. What an amazing house it was! Beautiful gardens in the back yard, with a pool and bar/cabana overlooking a lake. Of course it is in a gated neighborhood (a requirement for safety, I think) with a real moat around it. The catered meal was amazing - all kinds of grilled meats and fresh vegetables. Then we proceeded to party Venezuelan style - dancing in the sticky heat until the late hours - or at least until we blew the speakers! Probably for the best since the next day, the wedding reception would be a late one.
Saturday was another lazy morning at the hotel before getting ready for the evening wedding. The bride had even scheduled a hair and makeup team to come to the hotel for us ladies. Unfortunately in the middle of my manicure, there was a massive thunderstorm and the power to the hotel went off! She was able to finish my nails by daylight, but the girls getting their hair done weren't so lucky. We all finally were glammed up and headed out in our mini-bus to the church. It was a pretty, old 'mission-style' church and the Catholic ceremony was beautiful. Of course, we didn't understand it all as our Spanish was not up to par after only 4 days. Here's one photo of the stunning bride and groom:
Off to the reception.....a huge ballroom with giant stage and plenty of tables and food stations. We knew we were in for a long night when we saw a bottle of Scotch on each table! It wasn't a traditional sit-down wedding ceremony as we think of it....really just eat when you want and mingle. No toasts or formalities, but the focus was on having fun and dancing! As you can see in the picture below! This was from "La Hora Loca" aka Crazy Hour. They bring out bags and bags of masks, noisemakers, hats and other props to the dance floor. Sort of like Mardi Gras crossed with New Years at a dance club. We danced to the Latin 5-person, 5-musician band and DJ until almost 5AM!! What a great celebration!!
Be sure to see my Kodak Gallery album - I put tons of comments in there also.
Needless to say we were soooo tired on Sunday morning. Our flight out was not until Monday morning, but with the 3 hour drive to Caracas, we decided to make the drive and stay at an airport hotel on Sunday. So, we were able to nap and lounge by the pool all day Sunday before heading back to London on Monday. We had a really long layover in Atlanta, and Sue and her cute little daughter Sadie were nice enough to come and meet us at the airport for a visit!! So great to see them!
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