Orientation

Nestled in a long and narrow valley, the city spreads at least 20 km from west to east. To the north looms the steep, verdant wall of Parque Nacional El Ávila, refreshingly free of human dwellings. To the south, by contrast, the city is expanding up the hillsides, with modern urbanizaciones (suburbs) and derelict barrios (shantytowns) invading and occupying every acceptably flat piece of land. The valley itself is a dense urban fabric with forests of skyscrapers sticking out of a mass of low-rise buildings. The area from El Silencio to Chacao can be considered the greater downtown area, packed with commercial centers, banks, offices, shops, hotels, eating establishments and public buildings. The metro's main line (No.1) goes right along this axis.

The historic quarter (called 'the center') is at the west end of the greater downtown area and is clearly recognizable on the map by the original chessboard layout of hate streets. About 1.5 km to the east is the Parque Central area, noted for good museums, theaters and cinemas. Another 2 km east is Sabana Grande, centered on an attractive pedestrial mall that is lined with shops and restaurants. Continuing east, you come to Chacao, a commercial district of rather low priority for tourists, and then to the trendy Altamira, which boasts a good number of upmarket restaurants and nightspots. El Rosal and Las Mercedes, to the south of Chacao, are two other districts catering to gourmets and night trippers.

A curiosity of Caracas is the center's street address system, which might be difficult for newcomers to follow. It is actually not the streets that bear names but rather the esquinas, or street corners. A place is identified by the street corners on either side, and its address is given 'corner to corner'. If, for instance, the address is 'Piñango a Conde', you know that the place is between these two street corners. If the place were right on the corner, its address would be 'Esquina Conde'. Authorities have given numbers and cardinal-point designations to the streets (Este, Oeste, Norte and Sur), but locals continue to stick with the esquinas.

Outside the colonial center, a conventional system is used wherein the streets, and not the corners, indicate where the place is located. Major streets are commonly names 'Avenidas'. Street numbers are seldom used, and you will rarely find one on facades or entrance doors. The Venezuelan system of designating floors is the same as that used in the UK. The ground floor is the piso bajo or planta baja, the 1st floor is the primer piso, then comes the segundo piso (2nd floor) etc. In addresses, floors are usually written in the form 'Piso 1', 'Piso2' etc. In elevators, abbreviations used on the buttons include PB (ground floor), M (mezzanine), S (basement) and PH (penthouse).

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