Day 3 in Cochabamba
It was rather cold this morning,
probably because last night’s rain had chilled the city. It was not easy to get out of bed; the warm
blankets were too inviting.
But the day promised to be
sunny. I couldn’t stay inside. In a few minutes, I was on Calle Ballivian
looking for breakfast. The breakfast at
the hotel consisted of sliced bread, butter, and jam. That is not what I wanted. I found a Wistupiku. There is one in my neighborhood in Santa
Cruz. It is kind of a fast food bakery. Not bad, but not great either. What a surprise! The one in Cochabamba was delicious. My friend, Sandra, texted me. “It is the home restaurant. Of course, it is awesome.”
As I was leaving, I heard a band
playing. It was more than just a band; a
parade was coming down the street. They
were celebrating Day of the Children with school bands and toddlers out for a
march. The bands were good and the
toddlers were too cute. I came back
later in the morning to discover the parade wasn’t finished.
Studying my map, I discovered
that the Palacio Portales was not too far away.
It looked walkable. I set out in
the chilly morning air to find the Palacio.
I discovered a beautiful neighborhood that was very livable. A block or two off the main roads it was
quiet. Trees were everywhere. Flowers blooming and birds singing in the
trees. This was a place where anyone
could live easily and well.
I crossed the bridge and was
greeted by a beautiful fountain in front of the Recoleta Church. That’s when my camera wouldn’t allow me to
take pictures. I sat in the quiet church
and erased about 600 pictures. That
allowed me to take two or three more pictures.
Not enough for the Palacio. I
looked around to see if there was a Tigo shop, because they are everywhere in
Bolivia. Aha there was one across the
street. I thought maybe I needed to buy
some more megabytes for my phone, but I still had more than enough. Instead what I needed to do was close a bunch
of programs (I had about a dozen running) and then I deleted a few I don’t ever
use. That freed up some space. The next
day when I encountered the same problem and returned to a Tigo, the clerk
discovered that I, indeed, needed to buy some more megabytes.
A few blocks away, was the most
beautiful park I think I have seen in Bolivia.
The tall trees and statues within looked inviting. Yet I was told to come back at 3:00. It was already lunch time, so I headed back
to my hotel, realizing I had done nothing this morning. But exploring a city can be so
rewarding.
It was 1:00 as I wrote this. I was about to go eat. Eventually I will go back to the Palacio
Portales. But that is for another blog.
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