Before we got here, we travelled through Potosi, the highest city in the world and centre of silver mining dating back to Spanish colonial days. Once upon a time, Potosi was the most important city of the whole Spanish empire... Here is a shot from Potosi´s Casa de Moneda, where the many silver (and gold) coins of the Spanish empire were minted. This is one creepy-looking mask with mysterious origens (and meaning), at the front gates.
We spent a couple of nights in a very cold and dark colonial-era hostal which was previously a convent for cloistered nuns. Actually, our time in Potosi was quite sad and difficult for me. Just as we arrived, I learned that my mother had died back in Canada. She died early in the morning of Todos Santos (All Saints Day) which the family thought very fitting. After much thought, I decided to stay in Bolivia as the logistics of travelling back for the funeral would have been very complicated. It was a hard decision, but I did what I could to feel close to and think about my mom here.
One thing we did to honour Mom´s memory was to participate in the Todos Santos activities. In Potosi (like some other cities in Bolivia) people whose loved ones have died within the last year open their homes to the passing members of the public and offer food and drink. It was rather touching to go into several of these homes (rich and poor) and to see the lovely shrines complete with photos, fresh flowers and other ornamentation set up in honour of those who have passed away. Of course Mom was very much in my thoughts in all of these homes, but it was a reminder of how all of us around the planet are linked in our humanity and in the flow of life and death. Here is a photo on the streets of Potosi after we had attended a home where we were loaded up with a package of treats to take with us:
Now we are in Sucre, Bolivia´s beautiful "white" colonial city, and it really is white... here is a street shot. Sucre is famous for its chorizo sausage sandwiches and chocolate (especially Para Ti chocolates ... absolutely delicious).
We found a house in which to live here for a couple of weeks with a very nice Bolivian woman who is also a Spanish teacher. Steve has already signed up for daily Spanish lessons. It is a good set-up for us for the time being. She is introducing us to some great Bolivian cooking. Papas rellenas with piquante sauce anyone?
We have also been out to nearby Parque Cretacico, a dinosaur park, posting well over 400 tracksets of dinosaurs which walk up and down and all around a virtually vertical limestone hill which once-upon-a-time was flatland, when much of Bolivia was an inland sea and dinosaurs roamed.
Oh, and you-know-who got a job selling carrots in the campesino market:
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