Exceptional hospitality in Maracay

After such a rough ride, it was a huge relief to get to Filipo's house.  He currently lives with his parents, brother, brother's girlfriend, and cousin in Turmero, just outside of Maracay.  The entire family were some of the most genuinely nice people we have met yet on the trip.  And it was wonderful to have such a comfortable space to stay in and dry out.



Although we were extremely tired from our day, we went out with Filipo and a few other people.  After a couple of drinks, both of us were basically falling asleep in our chair, but they were so excited to show us Maracay that we ended up getting home at 2 am - way past our bedtime.  The next morning, Felipo's parents woke us up early for this breakfast.



Then, they told us to go back to bed, which is exactly what we did.  Later in the morning when we woke up, we hung out with the family for awhile before they started a mean game of UNO.


(from left to right, father, cousin, brother's girlfriend, Filipo (standing), brother, mother, and Mike)

Instead of playing cards, we went with Filipo to the Santa Teresa rum distillery located in town.


(train formerly used at the distillery)


(on the new train)


(old equipment used in the distilling process)


(antiquated buildings)


(this is where they keep the booze - it's dangerous)

After the tour, we got to do a rum tasting.  It was very classy, except everyone was taking 6 shots of rum.


(Jill, Filipo and his friend)

After the tasting they took us to another classy room where they gave us a mixed drink of our choice.  If you made it out of the room standing, you got a certificate!



Once we got back to the house, the family was already cooking up a massive dinner, which they shared with us.  Filipo's dad even gave Mike two spare relays to get the headlight working again.  Sadly, we were only able to spend 2 nights in Maracay before we had to move on.  We really enjoyed our time spent and appreciated their extremely generous hospitality.