Last Wednesday night, Kait, another volunteer, and I climbed onto a double-decker, sleeper bus and headed to Potosi. For being a ten hour ride, the seats were fairly comfortable and we slept pretty well. We arrived in Potosi on Thursday morning around 6:30 AM and it was freezing! So, we headed to our hostel to sleep for a bit and shower before heading out to explore the town. After walking around the small center and indulging in a bit of shopping, we went to Cafe La Plata, one of the most amazing cafes ever, for lunch! The afternoon was full of activiites--La Casa de la Moneda (which functioned as a mint, a prison, and the headquarters of the Bolivian Army. It houses amazing artifacts, including religious paintings from the Potosi Art School and various minerals and metals found in Cerro Rico, the mountain the looms over the city that has been mined for centuries. The Spanish, in essence, stole the silver and other valuable minerals from Cerro Rico. The mine is still being used today by Cooperative groups of miners), La Torre de la Compania de Jesus (a very old bell tower with amazing views of the city), and a bus ride to the outskirts of the city (we took the bus to the edge of town and ended up in a shanty-town, which was much different than the well-kept center of Potosi.)
The second day in Potosi was filled with more museums and activities--the Convent of San Francisco (which had interesting art work portraying the life of Saint Francis, as well as an amazing view from the roof of Potosi and Cerro Rico.), a quick lunch and a walk around the older, colonial streets, which are extremely windy and curvy to prevent the chill of the wind in the olden days. We walked and walked, but it was nice to get to know the city and see some very historical, antique buildings. We went to dinner at a very modern restaurant, 4060 (which represents the altitude of Potosi in meters) and went to the local pub to drink a little local beer, Potosina, and hear some traditional music.
Saturday was our last day in Potosi, but we made the best of it! We slept in late--we were so tired from the non-stop activities and running around, as well as the very high altitude...well over 13,000 feet. But, we went to a local spot for lunch--Dona Eugenia's for some Kala Purca, a thick soup made from corn with a scalding rock added to made it bubble and spit! It was quite the interesting lunch, considering I have never eaten "rock soup" before. We felt dumb, but many pictures and videos were taken of the Kala Purca! Traveling is all about these moments! After lunch, we headed to the new bus terminal in Potosi to take a bus to Sucre. After about 4 hours, we arrived in Sucre just in time for dinner! We went to our hostel, which was a block off of the main plaza and then headed to Florin, a restaurant we had heard about in Cochabamba. And, we were extremely satisfied with the food and the amazing beer! After a lovely dinner, we walked home through the main plaza, only to find a huge parade celebrating the Virgin de Guadalupe! There was traditional dancing, music, and fireworks set-off about 4 feet from us!
Sunday was Dia del Peaton (Pedestrian Day) nationwide. So, there were no cars and no motorcycles on the roads, just people walking, riding bikes and skateboarding. So, we took the opportunity to walk around the city and take pictures that would be carless! So, after walking around all day, we stopped into Ted's for lunch and then went to the hostel for an afternoon nap. Dinner was a treat--amazing Chinese food! Something both Kait and I had been missing! Sunday night was the second night of dancing to celebrate the Virgin de Guapalupe, and we watched and even participated in the dancing a bit!
Monday we took the bus out of the city to visit Parque Cretacico, the dinosaur park! We got to take pictures with replicas of the dinosaurs that were found in the area, and see their footprints in the hill! It is so cool, but a major part of the hill collapsed and our tour guide was explaining that soon most of the hill will collapse soon. A team of scientists from Chile visited to try and construct something to slow the crumbling and deterioration, so hopefully, they can come up with a plan! After a quick lunch, we went to the Convent of San Felipe Neri, which was one of my favorite places we visited! There is an amazing view of the city from the rooftop, and from there, you can really see why Sucre is known as the "White City." I got some amazing pictures from the roof (which will be posted to Facebook soon)! After the visit to the Convent, we took the bus up to the Recoleta, an area that overlooks the city from a hill! We had coffee and watched as the sun set over Sucre! It was one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen!
Tuesday we visited La Casa de la Libertad, which houses the Bolivian Declaration of Independence signed by Simon Bolivar, as well as other historical artifacts and paintings. We sat in the Main Plaza for a bit after the tour of the Museum and watched the daily life of those in Sucre. The Main Plaza is very peaceful and is filled with beautiful trees and flowers! The afternoon was a bit disappointing because the Museum of Indigenous art, the famous Iglesia de la Merced, and the spectacular water show were closed. So, we settled for an early dinner and a movie in our hostel.
Wednesday was our final day of travel and we visited the main cathedral in the Plaza, had coffee, and had out last meal at Florin, our favorite restaurant of the trip! And, our last stop in Sucre was Para Ti, the most amazing chocolate store. We had fabulous hot chocolate and chocolate coffee to end our adventure on a good note! Reluctantly, we walked back to the hostel to catch a cab to the airport. We had a wonderful trip, full of amazing memories! I was glad I was able to spend time with Kait before she returned to Canada!
However, as amazing as the trip was, going back to work on Thursday morning and being greeted with, "Tia Megan!" and hugs and kisses made me realize how much I really missed the kids and how lucky I am to work with Ninos con Valor! I missed their little smiling faces, amazing hugs, fun adventures to the park, and of course, laughing until it hurts!
These are the faces that greeted me on Thursday morning, who wouldn't miss their job???
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