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Published: November 4th 2011
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After we left the skyhigh Potosí behind us, we headed for the slightly lower Sucre (2750m) which was a relief both physically and citywise. We could breathe easy again and the uphill roads became less of an obstacle.
The nation of Bolivia was founded in Sucre and the "Declaration of Independance" was signed here. Eventhough Sucre is not the Bolivian capital anymore, it is still considered the constitutional capital and the Supreme Court is located here. It is no wonder that you can feel the big city vibe around town. The city center is aligned with whitewashed houses that sport very pretty wooden doors and iron balconies. The various small parks were planted with palmtrees and super pretty flowerbeds, this seems to be common in Bolivia for we have seen those in every city here.
We did the typical tourist things, visiting the "Casa de la Libertad" where the declaration was signed, admired various churches and convents which were unfortunately not all open for visits, climbed up to the first settlement of the city in the neighbourhood of Recoletto to catch a view of the sunset and we went to the "Museo de Etnografia y Folklore" which focused on
the many indiginous groups in Bolivia and as a highlight exhibitioned costumes and masks that are worn for celebration. Little did we know that there was a parade in town the same evening and we would see lots of those costumes and masks in action.
The different groups danced through the city accompanied by brass, panflutes and drums. The whole town was out and about either in the parade or watching the spectacle eating popcorn and cotton candy. At some point I danced with a lion, it was great fun.
We were asked a couple of times how vegetarians survive in South America and we have to tell you, it has been super easy and super yummy. Almost all restaurants offer vegetarian food (we figure meat is too expensive here) but there were also great vegetarian restaurants. One of them is the "El Germen" where we ate twice because it was so nice. Another restaurant we came across was the "Kultur Café Berlin" which was next to the German ambassy, go figure. It was a nice mix of a German pub with a Bolivian menu. We ordered the "famous" dish of the place, filled potatoe balls which cost
7 Bolivians (0,70 Euro!) and we were surprised by the size of those things, they were huge!
Note on restaurants: It is NOT a bad sign when a stray dog comes in, sniffs around and pees at the counter nor when the police start a fight with the owner and break some dishes before leaving with a variety of kitchen utensils. It just adds to the experience.
Before we book our hostels, we consult the wisdom of the crowds online and we were quite lucky so far with our picks but we really scored in Sucre. We stayed at the family-run guesthouse "La Dolce Vita" and it was flawless. We had a huge double which was bigger then our rooms at home and had a private bathroom. The house has a sunterrace and a courtyard and was all in all charming. If you ever go to Sucre, stay there!
Finally, Grim did not make the "Club 27" and celebrated his birthday in Sucre. We played grown-ups and went to a folk-dance-show-dinner. It was recommended by our hostel and they were right, it was fantastic. The show was a mix of the different Bolivian cultures and we saw once
again a variety of colourful costumes and very energetic dancing. The vegetarian food served was excellent and the whole evening was a well spend and worthy birthday evening.
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Eva Söderin
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Ett sent grattis på din dag, Grim
Många extra långa försenade grattisKRAMAR från din faster och Birk o Moa o Thomas grattar åxå förstås . Du får översätta för Sophie och hälsa henne att hon skriver jättebra, det är superkul att läsa om er resa och bra träning för Moa att förstå engelsk text som inte är i skolboksform. Vi planerar mammas 90 årskalas för fullt .Vi börjar festen kl 13.00 sen får vi se när den slutar,vi ska hålla till i Bleka en by som ligger en bit ifrån Fåker. Det känns jättebra, ska bli kul att träffa alla fast du och Geir fattas. Vi kanske kan skicka kalas bilder till dej( jag vet inte om det funkar men troligen gör det väl det med detta fantastiska kommunikationssätt). jag är en mycket oerfaren nätanvändare. puss och kram Eva