Seb's round-the-world tour: D120-121: Sucre, capital of Bolivia

1st thing I learn landing in Sucre: this is actually the capital of Bolivia! Oups, sorry for that, always thought La Paz was! Ok, it is more on the paper however, as the government seats in La Paz,so it is more a "symbolic" capital. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of 2,800 m. This relatively high altitude gives the city a cool temperate climate year-round, and the 2 days there were really nice.

Arriving mid afternoon, there is some left to do few visits. I start walking with George around the city center, quickly impressed by the city: the central Plaza is nice, as buildings around. The few blocks around also offers nice houses, restaurants, and few churches which really make a good discovery. Building are whitewashed, with red-bricks roofs, well decorated patios and windows, with a colonial / Spanish architecture base... Really pretty! Sucre narrow streets are also organized in a grid, making it very easy and convenient to walk around, very different from the chaotic La Paz.

End afternoon, we go to visit the "House of Freedom", built in the XVIIth century, and very important building for Bolivia, as this is where Simon Bolivar wrote the Bolivian Constitution which founded the Republic of Bolivia. The few rooms we cans see there present interesting documents, paintings and various items of this colonial period, with the "Salon de la Independencia", which houses the Bolivian Declaration of Independence, with a huge Simon Bolivar head... interesting overall.

The next day, I succeed to go running 30mn in the morning with Dennis... through the hilly roads of the city, and at this high altitude of 2,800m... quite happy about that! It felt much better afterwards, it had been a while (since Auckland!).

After, I keep touring the city center with George and Andrew, visiting the cathedral, the San Francisco convent and church on the Recoleta area, overlooking the city, with a "Plaza de Mayo 25" full of table soccer, where kids & people would come play after school / work!

Mid-afternoon, we meet up with part of the group to just lay down up the rooftop of the hotel, laying down in the sun. Great to relax after the busy last days we had! Sucre was really a pleasant discovery and stay, perfect to recover our energy before the next Bolivian adventures :)

FUN NOTE: in the afternoon, I bumped into a guy at the hotel reception... and I knew him!! This was Ed, who I had met in New-Zealand 2 months ago!! He was traveling around too, but didn't know he was in Bolivia. Wow, what a coincidence, the world is really small!