Sunday, our group met at 9:00 and set out with Fernando for a tour of parts of the city. The driver's son was now driving our bus while the driver was out getting a new clutch for the bus. Hopefully, a new clutch will be installed and we no longer will have problems with transportation.
We took the short drive to Murillo Plaza (Google maps says it is a 15 minute walk). Murillo was the leader of the Bolivian Revolution in 1809. La Paz was the first place to Central and South America to revolt against the Spanish rulers. The plaza was named in Murillo's honor.
Among other buildings, Murillo plaza is surrounded by the cathedral Nuestra Senora de la Paz, the Presidential Office building, the Governor of La Paz Department, the Congress and some private buildings.
The cathedral is large and beautiful and is where Pope Francis recently came on his visit.
The Presidential office is next door on the same side of the plaza. It is guarded by military members in traditional uniforms.
The Plurinational Legislative Assembly is on an adjacent side of the plaza (it previously was the Congress).
We were told that because the Legislative Assembly is controlled by Socialists, the clock is reversed - the numbers go in what we would consider to be counterclockwise direction - the clock is showing the time of 9:25 a.m.
One of the privately owned buildings diagonally across the plaza from the Congress still has bullet holes from a short lived civil war twelve years ago.
From the plaza, we could also see out to the mountain sides. In one area, you can see houses all the way up the side of the mountain - except where there had been a landslide a couple years ago.
We then hopped back into the van for a short ride to a collection of small museums on Calle Jaen, a historic side street that is now open only to pedestrians. We visited the home of Murillo and saw where he hatched plans for the revolution. He and many of his co-conspirators were hanged by the Spanish rulers in 1810. Except in the courtyard, we were not allowed to take photos.
We also visited the museum of precious metals and then the store and display of art work by the indigenous artist Mamani Mamani.
Then it we got on the bus and headed to the south side of La Paz to visit the Valle de la Luna - Valley of the Moon. There are many colorful flags across the street from the entrance (where local artisans sell their goods), a small cactus garden before the entrance and a llama statue by the entrance.
After our tour, we went to a local restaurant for lunch, then back to the hotel for a quiet afternoon and dinner at the hotel. There were rumors that a strike would occur Monday morning and we might not be able to go to the build site.
We took the short drive to Murillo Plaza (Google maps says it is a 15 minute walk). Murillo was the leader of the Bolivian Revolution in 1809. La Paz was the first place to Central and South America to revolt against the Spanish rulers. The plaza was named in Murillo's honor.
Among other buildings, Murillo plaza is surrounded by the cathedral Nuestra Senora de la Paz, the Presidential Office building, the Governor of La Paz Department, the Congress and some private buildings.
The cathedral is large and beautiful and is where Pope Francis recently came on his visit.
The Presidential office is next door on the same side of the plaza. It is guarded by military members in traditional uniforms.
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| Leslie, Boots, two guards, Pat, Terry, Ramsay |
We were told that because the Legislative Assembly is controlled by Socialists, the clock is reversed - the numbers go in what we would consider to be counterclockwise direction - the clock is showing the time of 9:25 a.m.
One of the privately owned buildings diagonally across the plaza from the Congress still has bullet holes from a short lived civil war twelve years ago.
From the plaza, we could also see out to the mountain sides. In one area, you can see houses all the way up the side of the mountain - except where there had been a landslide a couple years ago.
We then hopped back into the van for a short ride to a collection of small museums on Calle Jaen, a historic side street that is now open only to pedestrians. We visited the home of Murillo and saw where he hatched plans for the revolution. He and many of his co-conspirators were hanged by the Spanish rulers in 1810. Except in the courtyard, we were not allowed to take photos.
We also visited the museum of precious metals and then the store and display of art work by the indigenous artist Mamani Mamani.
Then it we got on the bus and headed to the south side of La Paz to visit the Valle de la Luna - Valley of the Moon. There are many colorful flags across the street from the entrance (where local artisans sell their goods), a small cactus garden before the entrance and a llama statue by the entrance.
The story is that when an American astronaut visited, he proclaimed it looked like the surface of the moon. There were multiple trails through the park and we took a loop that was about a 45 minute walk.
After our tour, we went to a local restaurant for lunch, then back to the hotel for a quiet afternoon and dinner at the hotel. There were rumors that a strike would occur Monday morning and we might not be able to go to the build site.
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