Saturday, March 5th - Potosi to Sucre, Bolivia

This morning we were up, packed, had breakfast and were on our way by 8:30.  we had another large comfortable bus with lots of room and this driver was much better than than the previous one so I survived quite well on the three-hour trip to Sucre.   We were still driving through the mountains and getting some good views but we were gradually getting a bit lower over the drive.

We arrived in Sucre around noon.  We checked into our hotel, which was a beautiful old hotel with two lovely courtyards with our rooms on several storeys around the one courtyard.  The breakfast room was large and opened into another room.  These definitely looked like high ceilinged ballrooms or large dining rooms from a past era.  The lobby and waiting rooms had beautiful old furniture and we felt quite out of place in our attire.

There were a lot of activities planned for Sucre as we were staying here three nights.  Yippee - no need to pack up each day!!!  Sucre is the capital city (or one of two along with La Pas - I never did quite understand that part) and has a lot of sights to see.  Some of the group were going hiking for a whole day.  Some were going rock climbing, some horseback riding and some to see the dinosaur tracks.  There were lots of other options like quad bike and motorbike tours.  Only the hang gliding was not available and I can't remember why.  Most of the time we would just be touring around the city.

Our first order of business was hustling down to the restaurant we had reserved for lunch.  We were sampling a local traditional dish and normally the restaurant is so popular that it runs out of these dishes by about 10:00 a.m.  We had phoned ahead so they knew there was a whole group of us coming and they were saving them for us - but we had to hurry to get there before they closed.  

Again the building was a beautiful old colonial building with a big inner courtyard.  Some of the tables for the restaurant wer set up outside in the courtyard and that looked very inviting.  However, we were ushered up to the to the second floor and into a large ball room.  We were the only people there but that did not ruin the beautiful room with its high ceiling and windows.

Our guide had ordered us both chicken and beef saltinias (spelling?) and they were delicious.  They are like empenades and also like meat pies so a light pastry folded upon itself into a semi-circle and filled with meat, potatoes, vegetables and gravy.  They were delicious but they were also a bit hard to eat as you pick them up with your fingers and eat them but the hot gravy, especially in the beef one, wants to run out of the pastry faster than you can put it in your mouth.  They are not very big but one of each was more than enough to fill everyone up.

After lunch we went on our walking tour of Sucre and from the restaurant we went first to the main square, Plaza 25 de Mayo.  This square is large and beautiful with lots of trees, grass, walkways and places to sit.  There is a statue in the middle and, although I don't remember for sure, I'm guessing it might be to Sucre who was one of their heroes and their second president.  There were wide streets all around the square and beautiful buildings beyond that.  Most of them are large and white and very crisp and clean looking, and several of them were government buildings.  There was of course a church on the square as well.  Most of Sucre is full of white buildings with red tile roofs.  It is often referred to as the white city, although from our next view it should have been the red city.

The Museo MIrador San Francisco at the Iglesias San Felipe de Neri (another church) was our next stop.  It is a beautiful church but we again just had a quick look on our way past on the way up to the roof.  The monastery was founded in the 16th century and now it is also a school so there was lots of activity in the big gym/auditorium area as we passed by.  The climb to the roof and over it was very easy and there were great views of the city and the surrounding countryside in all directions.  And from this vantage point what we mainly saw was red tile roof so, as I said earlier, the city looked more like a red city than a white city but you could see a lot of the white too.

Some people continued on the walking tour and went to the market and other places but a few of us wanted to go to the Museo Casa de Libertad or Historical Museum.  This was our only chance to see it as we were scheduled for an all-day out-of-town tour on Sunday, the museum was closed on Monday and we were leaving on Tuesday.

The Libertad was in a beautiful old building again built around a large courtyard.  There was a guided tour available in both Spanish and English and our guide did a great job of explaining the history of the country and what we were seeing.  In the ceremonial hall there were pictures of all the presidents around the room.  Our guide told us some great stories about the presidents.  I won't remember many of the details but Bolivar was the first president and we had already heard about him many times before and in many places as he was a liberator, or at least an inspiration, for a lot of South American countries.  Sucre was the second president and he too was popular throughout the continent.  Interestingly, both of them were from Venezuela.  

There were many presidents and the guide joked about the country's bloody past.  She told us how many presidents were assassinated and I think that was 36.  One only lasted 4 days.  Some lost power in military coups.  Some were dictators.  No one seemed to last very long but she added that the situation did seem to be getting better.  Their current president is number 80 and Bolivia has been a round for 180 years so the average term is just over two years, which isn't that long.  The guide said in some years they had three different presidents and a couple of years they had four different presidents so it's not exactly a secure position to hold.  The current president is in his tenth year so he seems to be breaking the trend.

Also in the museum were some old paintings and some old artifacts of an historic nature.   They didn't mean much to me but the stories that went with them were interesting.  The history room was interesting, especially the maps showing how big Bolivia once was and how, through various wars and treaties, they ended up with the much smaller land-locked country that they now have.  It was interesting once again to see the "new" flag on display.  Apparently the current president thinks the new flag is a good idea but the people themselves seem to be less enthusiastic about it.  It is every colour imaginable but mainly the strong red, yellow, green, red, blue, etc. All in overlapping circles so it is very bright.  The old one is always beside it so I think the new one is for internal use only to depict the many different tribes represented in the country.

The building was originally built in 1624 as part of the Jesuit chapel and university.  The walls are a good three feet thick and there are ornate wood carvings on the doors and and window shutters in the various rooms.  There is still a lot of old furniture in the space and the original choir chairs, which are also very ornate.  The original Act of Independence was written and signed here and they have a copy of it (at least I'm assuming it is a copy) on display behind glass.  Several of the halls are still used today for municipal or national ceremonies.  They are impressive halls so any ceremony would be very beautiful.

I think I saw everything there was to see but I'm not totally sure as they were closing and I had to leave.  I found my way back to the hotel - not too hard since it was just across the main square and down the street half a block - and joined the others for dinner.  I no longer remember where we went for dinner but I'm sure it was great.