Sucre

Everyone we met who’d been to Sucre told us we’d stay there longer than we thought and that we would love it. I hate going in with expectations but it totally met them. 8 days later we finally left! It’s a beautiful city and we were lucky enough to experience it during and after carnival. For the four days and five nights of carnival our time was consumed by water balloons, water guns, foam spray and out of tune monotonous marching bands. Your movement is restricted by the fact that if you step outside you will get attacked so the only option is to go armed and go hard and that’s exactly what we did. Though after two days it got a little wearing!

We decided to do four more days of Spanish School but this time with a personal teacher. We learnt at Me Gusta, a lovely tiny school and it’s been really useful to re-cap and learn more Spanish. After school was mostly spent in Sucre’s markets, our favourites being Mercado Central (amazing chorizo baps and HUGE fruit salads for £1) and Mercado Campesino (very local, lots of clothes and random things you probably don’t need!)

Chris and his teacher

We have been very lucky with presents from friends and family which has enabled us to have a few really awesome meals. In Sucre we ate at La Taverne where we enjoyed cocktails, three courses and a bottle of wine for £22 each – mental! We also had a great meal at the Mirador Café which overlooks the city. It’s Italian owned and they make their own pasta. It was here that we finally managed to hold a conversation with locals and it was great! We had a fantastic conversation with a man and his three children who live in the countryside near Sucre and walk three hours into Sucre and back every Saturday and Sunday to earn a tiny amount of money busking in traditional clothes. We saw them after in their tracksuits, they looked much happier! This was also the place where I played my first full game of chess and beat Chris (Steve, he needs more practice when we get home!)

The view from Mirador Cafe

Winner!

One thing I found particularly amusing was paying for a double room and in fact sleeping in ‘The Snug,’ a tiny attic space in our room because the bed was SO awful! Could I look more cozy?!

And at this point it would be wrong not to mention Kai who has been travelling with us on and off (mostly on!) for 6 weeks. In Sucre we said bye and we’re pretty sure Kai will win the award for the person we travelled longest with. Fondly known as ‘The Machine’ for his extreme fitness, he has been wonderful to travel with and we hope to see him on stage in London soon. 

Smith