I barely know Caracas. The last time I was there, I think, was about 11 or 12 years ago, I'm not sure. The times I went were very quick and punctual; I was driving around, somewhat distracted, not noticing my surroundings. This last time was different. I stopped at every place to look at a single spot for a few minutes, trying to commit it to memory. I was walking around like a tourist, phone in hand, taking pictures, which was irresponsible of me since Caracas is one of the most dangerous cities in the Americas, or so some reports say. Thank God everything turned out alright. Before I emigrated, whenever I went out, I had to keep my cell phone and cash hidden somewhere on my body to avoid being an easy target for theft.

I didn't explore the city much this time, but enough to take some photos that I think turned out nicely. I liked the scenery. I noticed that the presence of Chavismo is much more noticeable in Caracas; I saw Chavez's eyes painted on almost every two blocks, and many of the buildings I saw had names related to him. For security reasons, there were many photos I couldn't take.

The main avenues look very nice and clean, but in the adjacent streets you can see the neglect and lack of cleanliness of public spaces. I passed by an avenue that had a mountain of garbage on every corner, and I also saw people rummaging through the garbage in several places.

A poster reading "Wanted: Edmundo González" and its respective reward.

This is the second time in my life I've used the Caracas Metro. It's very useful since there's a lot of traffic; people usually take motorcycles or the metro because it's faster to get to their destinations. The fare is 30 Bolivars, which is equivalent to about 0.08 US cents today.

Many escalators are out of service, but who cares because they have lovely Christmas decorations at each station (sarcasm).

Edited: When I took the last train, the power went out and we had to wait about 10 to 15 minutes for it to come back on.

In the background you can see the Helicoide; it was intended to be one of the best shopping malls in the country, but it ended up being the largest torture center in Latin America. It gave me chills when I saw it.