March 1st, Last day in Sucre:

 Friday, March 1^st, Last day in Sucre:  We were picked up at the hostel at 7:30am by the shared taxi company and we then headed for the area where people go to catch the shared taxi.  He quickly found a couple from La Paz, a cholo and his wife. This is not a degrading name in Bolivia.  It just means someone who dresses in their indigenous clothes.  The woman was dressed in her long, layered pollera skirt, shawl and bowler hat. We were on the road by 8:00am.  The taxi driver asked me lots of questions about the Church and what we believed.  He had heard the name, Joseph Smith and he had seen the missionaries.  We had quite an interesting conversation which made the ride back go fast.  Mom had a Book of Mormon in her purse, so I gave it to him and asked him to read it.   We arrived back in Sucre at 10:30am.  Before leaving Sucre we had made reservations at the best hotel in Sucre, the Parador.  It is amazing!  First of all, it is a restored colonial home and every room is furnished with European antiques.  All the wealthy mining families went to Europe and brought back furniture.  But our room was not ready and we both wanted a shower really bad. So I walked around taking pictures of the hotel. 

The patio on the roof of the hotel.

One of the courtyards of our hotel.

In the basement of the hotel there is a small museum.

View of the Cathedral from the roof of the hotel.

One of the courtyards of our hotel.

 We only had to wait about a half hour.  Our room was fabulous and the shower even better. 

The sitting area of our room.

Our Bedroom in the hotel.

The ceiling above the bed.

View of the Cathedral from our room in the hotel.

I don't think you need a caption.

We met up with the Dibbs and headed for my birthday lunch.  I wanted to find that “best piece of meat in Bolivia” that Pres. Crayk had talked about.  So we asked the owner of the hotel.  He suggested a restaurant, but I had read in the guide book about a different one.  He agreed that that one was also a good place.  So we got a taxi and went there, but it was closed, so the driver said he knew of another.  It turned out to be the one the hotel owner had recommended.  It was ok, but it was not the “best piece of meat in Bolivia”. 

Lunch searching for the elusive best steak.

After lunch we took a cab to the Dinosaur Park.  It turns out that the cement factory, after 26 years of excavation had uncovered a layer of sediment that was not good for cement.  It is an almost vertical wall of over 5,000 dinosaur tracks of at least eight different species of dinosaur.  It is the largest collection of dinosaur footprints in the world.  So they built a museum and some life sized dinosaurs and now have a very nice tourist attraction.

Dino greeting everyone to the park.

The entrance to the Dinosaur Park.

View of Sucre from the Dinosaur Park.

At the Dinosaur Park.

Me about to be stepped on.

At the Dinosaur Park.  The wall in the background has over 5,000 dinosaur footprints.

Can you see the foot prints?

Can you see the foot prints?

At the Dinosaur Park.

My imitation of T-Rex growl.

We road a double decker bus back to Sucre.

Sucre street from the top of the bus.

After this great adventure we went back to the wonderful hotel and played cards on the patio on the roof.  Mom and Linda won.  They cheat.

The card game begins.

The last card game of the trip.

As we played the sun began to set.

And of course continued.

Until city lights began to come on.