Greetings community. I hope you have been having a great time these days. Many of us are already returning to the daily routine. For me, it has been a great relief and undoubtedly a good rest this holiday season.
To take advantage of those moments of relaxation that were created, we took the opportunity to visit some places that became emblematic of the city during the holidays.
One of them was the Plaza Bolivar of Merida.
Apart from being located in the center of the city, is surrounded by very emblematic places, such as the Cathedral, the Governor's Office of the state, and the rectorate of the University of Los Andes.
It looked like it was about to snow, it would have been perfect!
But, I must be honest, these places despite being so representative of the city have been somewhat neglected in recent times, including Bolivar Square. Being located in the center of the city, it is hard to believe, given that around it are also located many commercial premises. This means that it is a place of great commercial importance.
The days close to the Christmas holidays, people were demonstrating in some media, because it seemed that the city was not going to celebrate Christmas, although life has become somewhat difficult and it seems that for many there is no reason to celebrate. Merida, is a city that depends too much on Tourism and any attempt to attract the attention of possible seasonal visitors is more than welcome, well this is a very personal opinion.
Well, I was glad that these spaces could be dressed in the colors of Christmas and they did. The square was fully decorated, with a lot of lights and decorations with which people could interact. Best of all, the objective was being achieved, people were recovering the spaces.
Entire families, groups of people coming from various parts of the state in rented buses, seasonal visitors from other cities, of course, the food and goods vendors could not be missing. The atmosphere was certainly very nice, everyone wanted to take pictures from every possible angle, children running around the square, skaters and although I did not capture it this day I went, a marriage was taking place in the cathedral, what good memories this couple must have made. Nostalgia was inevitable, comparing our present with the past, because the Bolivar square was like that, suddenly there was an amusement park for children, then actors performing a play, two or three marriages in a day, balloon vendors, tequeños, handicrafts, and popcorns all day long.
Without a doubt, this day felt very much like the old days. One of the things that caught my attention was a projector that was covering with images of one of the entrances of the governor's office and one of the faces of the courthouse. The images were various and I managed to capture some of them like a Christmas box, Mr. Cookie, snowflakes, and Santa in his sleigh...
There was so much to see, I'm sure we missed something. And, since we were going at night with my nephew little Lucas, we had to sit down to rest so he could eat something. Although he loved the whole atmosphere of the plaza, his bedtime was coming up. We decided to take some extra pictures and move on to another location before Lucas stopped enjoying the night.
That's how we decided to go to the Campo Elias Viaduct.
It is a viaduct that passes over the Albarregas River, it is about 165 meters long and has a height of 70 meters at its highest point. Although Mérida has three viaducts, this was the only one that was decorated.
The first time we saw it decorated was the day before Christmas and we drove by. We took pictures while the vehicle was driving, but these pictures were not sent to me. However, I was told later that they did not look very good because of the movement.
As it was already late, we only walked along one side of the viaduct, I think the place we passed through had only one less ornament, but in general, both were the same. Of course, what makes the difference is the view into the void. One side is predisposed to more lights from the houses than the other side.
Although in previous years it had been decorated, this year it seems that they concentrated a lot of effort to attract attention. Fences of lights covered both channels of the viaduct, the typical boxes of decoration, and this year they added that net in both walkways, giving the impression to the walkers that they are observing a clear sky with the stars at their fingertips.
Vehicles were parked in the middle of the road to take pictures of the viaduct. Something difficult to observe in the daily life of the city. I suppose, as long as it is done in a certain order the rules can be relaxed a little, the time and the decoration deserved it.
The whole experience was very good, Lucas stopped walking and tried to throw himself to the ground so we could swing him with our arms, we did it for a while. But, we could tell it was time to go home. Dispersion moments like these are very good and seeing my city with so much life was very pleasant.
Now, a new year begins and new experiences, new sensations, and hopefully more warm moments like this will come.