Landing about 30 miles outside the city of Sacre, in the countryside, we were very leery of what we were seeing driving into the city. The poverty was so depressing and disheartening. Connie kept giving me a looks of sadness…. And what have we got ourselves into. I’ve always believed if every American child growing up could see this type of poverty, their appreciation for the American lifestyle would increase tremendously…. But, as we came into the city, the beauty of the ancient buildings and cultural treasures became very apparent.

Just to give you a basic understanding of Bolivian history… not only is this the country known to Americans as the country where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fled to when they were actively being chased by the US marshals …but going MUCH further back in time… The Bolivian people began fighting for their freedom from the Spanish in this capital city in 1809. The war lasted 16 years, spreading quickly from city to city and ending successfully in 1825, many years AFTER their neighbors Peru & Chile had won their freedom. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the fighting for Bolivia. In 1879, Chile took a vital portion of their country that gave them access to the Pacific ocean, and later in the early 1900s, Brazil took a huge chunk of land as well…and finally in 1935 , Argentina came in and took more of their land. In total, they lost half their country to their neighbors. Sound familiar? In current times, Russia and China are doing the same thing…expanding their country’s boundaries.

Before going to our Hotel Parador Santa Maria La Real, we stopped at the original old town, exploring the main square with views of the “new” city below, a viewing balcony full of “lover’s locks”… they believe if a couple hangs a lock here, they will stay together forever….good luck in this day in time🙃….and there was an excellent museum displaying historical objects and customs, while emphasizing the different styles of weaving. Our guide, Ricardo, is a weaver (I can remember his name, by remembering all those years of watching, I Love Lucy)… His dream is to open a shop that lets tourists weave a small souvenir. Each region of this country has its own colors and design style of weaving. They usually wear a woven hat with lots of bright colors to show which region they come from.

Once in the main city, we visited the Halls of Liberty. This structured was used for government meetings. The gold plated balcony is a focal point of the hall. Lots of portraits of their founders and paintings illustrating the early 1800s battles of the revolution. A short visit to the main square to “people watch” and a short walk to the hotel for a much needed siesta. Although we were blown away with how nice our hotel was …as it was in the center of town in an ancient building, but turns out… it was more than amazing! Only issue was Connie’s room smelled like furniture polish, so her nap never materialized and she finally switched rooms. I, on the other hand, snoozed quite well.

That afternoon, the owner of the hotel, had his bellman treat us to a private tour of his basement museum. There were millions of dollars worth of historical Bolivian paintings and artifacts he has collected over his lifetime. Super impressive! Then we climbed the spiral staircase to the breathtaking rooftop bar with views of the city. Drinks, pizza and a gorgeous sunset made for a lovely afternoon. Dinner with Ricardo on the square listening to his “short” life story and celebrating his graduation from the university (he had managed to do while we resting earlier) completed a long day for us. We were both surprised to hear his “partner-baby mom” had to move to Chile doing Covid as there were no jobs in Bolivia. They made the decision for him to stay in Sucre and finish his studies at the University and take care of their toddler for one year while she was a nanny and housekeeper to an elite family in Chile. Sometimes I forget that Americans were more fortunate during Covid than the rest of the world and this discussion about their hardships tonight was enlightening.

I will let you know right now… don’t count on good wine in Bolivia. Doesn’t seem to exist!