Sucre

Thursday 5 May

Early pickup at 6:40 a.m. and we were whisked off by our driver of the past couple of days, Ismael - up, up, up to the top of La Paz where the airport is situated. 

The time went quickly especially after dealing with the queue for a coffee (I don't think I've had one since Lima). I asked for small and got TINY (!) - at 14 Bolivianos (=$US2) a rip-off in this country where a 3-course fixed price meal can cost 25 BOBS (=just under $US4!).


Our plane departed EARLY (?) and we arrived 45 minutes later in Sucre, the capital of Bolivia. We are only at 2810 m here!

Our hotel room wasn't ready - we didn't expect it to be; but they said it would be ready in 20 minutes and served us tea in the lounge room. It is a lovely hotel! It is VERY central and there are lovely views from the roof-top patio. The building dates back to the 18th century and five generations of the owner's family have lived in this house. They have antiques here belonging to Dr Calvo (politician, writer and educator), the diplomat Damas Uriburu, and the Argentine President Jose Evaristo Uriburu and his grandfather General Juan Antonio Alvarez de Arenales.

Our city tour didn't begin until 2:30 p.m. so TOP and I spent the morning doing our own walking tour, taking photos of the lovely buildings, wandering down streets on a whim, stopping to buy fruit: we tried a cheese (queso) pastry thingy from a street stall, chatted to a student doing Economics at the University (5 years to complete her degree) and finally the supermarket to get water (and a cheese and ham roll in crusty bread for me).




It is a very pretty city in the old town area: lovely white-washed buildings, very Spanish colonial; in fact it is a lovely mix of of local traditions and styles imported from Europe and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.

Sucre (originally known as La Plata) is the judicial capital of Bolivia. (La Paz is the country’s administrative capital). In 1840 it was was renamed in honour of the liberator Antonio José de Sucre. In 1898 an effort to move the capital to La Paz resulted in a civil war. The outcome was a compromise: Sucre remained the capital in name and law and the seat of the Supreme Court, but the executive and legislature moved to La Paz.

Our afternoon tour started with a drive up to the mirador, La Recoleta, which is an historical place because the city was founded here; it is the highest part of the city so there are wonderful views of the city. There is the most delightful plaza here comprising the Santa Ana church, the Franciscan school 'La Recoleta' and a textile museum (Arte Indigena). It was great to see the locally made tapestries from different Bolivian cultures (some can take over six months to complete).

Next stop was to the Plaza 25 de Mayo where we walked around looking at splendid buildings such as Casa de la Libertad and the 17th century Basílica Metropolitana (or Chapel Virgen de Guadelupe Cathedral).

And yes, if you look hard there is a zebra in this photo! They have 'zebras' guiding pedestrians across the roads surrounding the plaza. This photo in fact was taken outside the lovely San Francisco church. It has the most wonderful mudejar ceiling and in the belfry is the Campana de la Libertad, Bolivia's Liberty Bell, which called patriots to revolution in 1809.

We had a quick look at some colourful and exotic-looking masks at the Museo Nacional de Etnografia y Folklore.

Sucre boasts wonderful chocolate so Liz our guide showed us the chocolate shops so we could go back later. There are 3 companies: Chocolates Para Ti, Chocolates Taboada or Sucre Chocolates.

Our tour finished with a walk to Parque Simón Bolívar, opposite the Supreme Court. We munched on some yummy confectionary I bought at a stall in the park - covered in something like honey.



Later we had a wonderful meal at La Lanterne which is French (!) - the most delicious and tender beef filet accompanied by a Bolivian cabernet sauvignon, La Concepciön.