Excursions in Asunción (A-Town)

Asunción is the capital of Paraguay, but what is it like? Our first information was that Asunción has 500,000 inhabitants, which is surprising considering it is the capital. But the puzzle is solved: Asunción has an old center, where there are mainly offices, old houses, and quiet streets, that's Asunción. But there is also a surrounding area, with different suburbs that merge with the core (in fact, you don't notice the transition and there are rarely, if ever, signs) and that is Gran Asunción with over 2 million inhabitants, so it all makes more sense. And we also live in one of these suburbs, about 10 km from the center and about 5 km from work, so it's ideally located.

Outside the center of Asunción, you can imagine mainly two images: on the one hand, a lot of traffic on the few roads that connect the neighborhoods (almost everyone buys a cheap second-hand car here and neither the roads nor the traffic situation are suitable for that) and on the other hand, the small side streets. There you will find small Empanada shops, where grandpas sit on their garden chairs on the sidewalk all day long and chat, children play, dogs roam, and cars often try to find shortcuts around the traffic, which is completely hopeless when you consider that at least 1/3 of the streets are made of former cobblestones and the other streets are equipped with huge speed bumps. For some, until now unexplained reasons, there is always water on these streets, even if it hasn't rained during the day with a temperature of 38° Celsius and bright sunshine.. so the sewage system is only partially working so far..

The center itself also offers completely different parts. In one neighborhood, people have joined forces to revamp the oldest part and create a colorful neighborhood. In the narrow streets, all the houses are painted in wonderfully cheerful, bright colors and decorated with flowers (some plastic).

A colorful staircase leads, past the Casa de Mojitos (where you should definitely treat yourself to Mojitos and immortalize yourself on the wall) up to the Mirador. This viewpoint is actually the roof of a house, so it happens that you are cheerfully greeted here by a family who is just hanging out in their front yard.

Not only did we immortalize ourselves, but also...

...but also the dad. Either he found it hilarious to write Osama on the wall, or nobody has told him yet that the abbreviation of his name (Oscar SAMAniego) also clearly refers to other people :D

The viewpoint offers a nice view of the river and the 'skyline' of Asunción, which you can enjoy with your nicely chilled plastic cup of Mojito. Sangria and pizza in the evening are also highly recommended here, but that is still on our to-do list!

The skyline of Asunción from the viewpoint

On the other hand, a walk offers a pretty good insight into the city, which offers both beautiful corners and colonial-style houses, as well as old high-rise projects and real decay. The streets are often adorned with huge graffiti and you can see that there are efforts to spruce up the center. For example, all the old houses are now protected as cultural heritage, as is the old railway, which tells the story of Paraguay's wealth and progress, which the country had before a major war with its neighbors. It didn't go so well, Paraguay no longer has trains today.

The old train station also looks somewhat inconspicuous

During a walk through the city, you will also find other historic buildings, such as the Casa de Independencia or a picturesque cathedral. However, right in the city with its two faces..

Similarly, there is another true sightseeing spot to behold: the presidential palace and current government headquarters:

The flashy government palace

But here too, you can see two faces again: in close proximity, there are emergency shelters for everyone who has been displaced from their homes on the river by flooding (which happens about every 2 years)

Emergency shelters near the river

Similarly, you can stroll through a market in close proximity with all kinds of Paraguayan craftsmanship, which is especially characterized by embroidery, leather goods, decorated thermos flasks, and colorful indigenous art. You can hardly get enough of the colors!

Typical Paraguayan at throwaway prices

So, this is just a tiny glimpse into the city during the day, at night it looks completely different! Suddenly, there are pubs, bars, and young people. But before we know enough about them to report on it, we'll probably need a few nights out with new friends..

A toast to the coming evenings (: