A few Saturdays ago, my friend Luis and his son took me on a tour of downtown Caracas. For some reason, I had never been to that part of town. Our first stop was at this war memorial, which can easily be seen from a nearby highway. I'd always wondered what it was. This monument is large and impressive and reminded me of some I've seen in Eastern Europe. It listed all the major Venezuelan battles and had statues of important generals. Nearby was a large mural of early encounters with Venezuelan natives. This area is the official government parade ground but usually is used by bikers and rollerbladers for exercising. Luis and I tossed the Frisbee for a while before moving on.