After stuffing ourselves at the breakfast buffet again, we decided to look at cathedrals for the day. Today was sunny and about 25C, much warmer than yesterday. We walked 1/2 block from our hotel and, just by chance, met a couple from Vancouver whom we had met at our hotel in La Paz. Since then, they had biked the "world's most dangerous road" but didn't see anything because it rained all day. Then they flew to Uyuni and spent 3 days driving to and through the salt flats. The scenery was incredible but the driving was a bit much. They had just arrived in Sucre this morning after taking a night bus for over 7 hours. They told us that tomorrow is Labour Day here so not much will be open.
After talking to them, we heard a brass band playing up by the square, so we walked up to see what was going on. As it turned out, the big Labour Day parade is today. We lost count of the number of marching bands preparing for the parade by drinking beer bought from a beer truck at the parade start. At first, there was a sort of battle of the bands before the parade started. Then, we got a good spot with a little shade and watched bands and dancers/marchers including many Cholitas in their finest parade by us around the square. Many of the participants either had a beer in hand or in a pocket.
After 2 hours, we retreated back into the centre of the square for some shade and quiet. Eventually we went back to our hotel and sat on the rooftop terrace to enjoy the sun. We could hear bands playing from noon until 3 pm. Big parade. This is the sort of unexpected travel experience we enjoy and would never get if we were home sitting on the couch.
This evening we walked back up to the square to eat dinner at Cosmo, a restaurant recommended to us. From the amount of beer drinking going on early in the afternoon, we expected a crowd of drunks in the square. However, there were just families and teens enjoying the mild evening. There was a lot of litter left after the parade but all the participants seemed to have moved on to party elsewhere.
Our dinner at Cosmo was the best meal we've had in some time. We'll probably go back there tomorrow night. We're loving Sucre.
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