To the north of South America is Venezuela, a country rich in ancient architecture, traditions, friendly, smiling people, despite the hard years it has gone through, it is still friendly, still looking for the funny side of problems and making a joke out of them. I think that's what has kept us going.

One of the most emblematic places in Venezuela is Margarita Island, also known as "The Pearl of the Caribbean".

Margarita is a place full of magic and charm. It is my favorite place in the world. I say this with certainty when I have had the opportunity to travel to several countries. Each one has its beauty, its architecture, its charm and it is difficult to know which one we like the most.

As soon as you arrive in Margarita and get off the plane, you feel invaded by its warm and fresh breeze, by its incomparable smell, by that radiant sun that seems to open its arms to give you a warm welcome.

The Basilica de la Virgen del Valle is a gothic style basilica located in El Valle del Espíritu Santo on Margarita Island, Venezuela.

Its name is in honor of the patron saint of that locality and it is said that she is the patron saint of sea travelers. On September 8, 1955, it was declared a Minor Basilica of the State of Nueva Esparta and on that day every year, the patron saint festivities are celebrated beginning with the descent of the Virgin, which is placed where the public can see her up close. On that day, any work or commercial activity on the island is paralyzed, since all those who live there are devotees and it is a day of celebration and jubilation. In fact, days before this date, the sidewalks are painted in a very colorful way.

Continuing our tour of my beloved island, we arrived in Pampatar, a warm town, full of beautiful people, with its small church, its streets and its old architecture, with houses with very high windows, where young girls in the past, many years ago, sat waiting for their beloved to pass by and give them a flower or a serenade.

We arrived at the colonial Church of the Christ of the Good Voyage. Its architecture is classic and colonial. This church has a simple architecture and its construction was built in 1748 by Chief Don Antonio de la Espada, who strangely, is not in Google.

The name of the church comes from the fact that at the end of the aisle is the image of the Holy Christ of the Good Voyage, venerated primarily by fishermen, who pray to him every day before going out to work.

Every year, as with the Virgin of the Valley, the faith and belief in the Miraculous Christ, makes Pampatar celebrate the Feast of the Christ of the Good Journey, where countless believers fulfill their promises, honoring the Holy Christ, The image of Christ is taken out of the church and carried with music, flowers and fireworks to a beautiful procession to the seashore, as popular belief tells that this image came to Pampatar to stay and that God wanted it to travel on the Bergantín Santa Lucia to Pampatar to stay and that God wanted it to travel on the Bergantín Santa Lucia.

We arrived at Pampatar Bay to visit the San Carlos de Borromeo Castle, which was built in the 17th century to protect the port of Pampatar from attacks by pirates and corsairs.

Its first construction took approximately twenty years, in 1622. Forty years later the castle was destroyed by Dutch pirates and two years later its reconstruction began, which was completed twenty years later, in 1684. In the following years the castle was destroyed and rebuilt many times.

In 1816, the Venezuelan heroine Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi was detained for a short time in the Castle before being transferred to the Santa Rosa Castle in La Asuncion.