ASUNCIÓN - City of the Full Belly

Accommodation

In Asunción, we had two accommodations. The first was from Airbnb and cost 20 euros for one night. Everything very chic, nothing to complain about. It also had a nice garden. The second was mediated by Eli (Madlenas host mom). Normally, the night would have cost 200,000 Guaraní (= 25 euros), but we got two days for free and then had to pay only 140,000 Guaraní (= 17.60 euros) per day. At the Cabildo Hotel, we got hot water, milk, super sweet orange juice, toast with ham and cheese, rolls, butter, jam, scrambled eggs and cake for breakfast. Sometimes there were also bananas. We were allowed to wash our laundry twice for free and felt quite comfortable. They also had a nice outdoor area (although quite a lot was destroyed during a storm during our stay). Once in a while, you could also see the three baby cats, which belong to the hotel. The staff was very nice, so everything is recommendable.

SIM Card

We could use the SIM card from Ciudad del Este, but unfortunately you can only choose packages up to a maximum of one week. So rather suboptimal.

Sightseeing

In the center there was more nice stuff than expected:

• Plaza de la Democracia, Plaza de la Libertad and Placa de los Héroes (here I bought the linen clothing)
• Panteón Nacional de los Héroes y Oratorio a Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción (A guarded tomb with significant Paraguayans, where a TV documentary was currently being shot)
• Teatro Municipal Ignacio A. Pane (only from outside)
• Casa de la Independencia (here Paraguay's independence was proclaimed)
• Centro Cultural de la República - El Cabildo (Cultural center with various exhibitions)
• Congreso Nacional with Plaza de Armas (only from outside due to increased military presence due to the upcoming holiday "Día de los Héroes")
• Centro Cultural Manzana de la Rivera (very small museum with café, theater and multi-hall)
• Palacio de López (office of the government, only from the outside)
• Embarque Mbigua (here we had lunch on a crane)
• Letra corpórea Asunción (obligatory of course the letter)
• Costanera de Asunción (Coast, which invites to take a walk in the evening; at noon/afternoon is but nothing going on) Otherwise, we also visited:
• Shopping Mariscal and the Villa Morra Foodpark
• in front of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Asunción (unfortunately, it was not open because it was a holiday)
• at the Mercado 4 (a bustling market, an absolute must when visiting Asunción)
• in the Museo del Barro
• at the Puente Héroes del Chaco (this was inaugurated two days earlier and was beautifully lit in the colors of the Paraguayan flag)

Transportation

Eli tried to get a bus card for us at Biggie. After four stores, we gave up and only travelled around the area with Bolt and Uber. It was safer and more pleasant. The costs were between 12,000 and 28,100 Guaraní with Bolt, but we also received vouchers for our first rides. With Uber we paid between 12,100 and 27,700 Guaraní, but we did not receive any vouchers.

Food and Drink

Klaus was able to recommend super good restaurants and we also went out to eat with him a few times: At Bellini Palma, you can assemble your own pasta with sauce for 45 Guaraní, extremely delicious! In the bar "La Esquina" there was also a buffet: not by weight, but by ingredients. Vegetarian, for example, costs 20,000 Guaraní per plate. At Bolsi, we then ate typical food:

• Sopa Paraguaya (18,000 Guaraní): a solid soup, more like a cake
• Chipa Iguazú (18,000 Guaraní): cake-like thing with cheese
• Mbeju (12,000 Guaraní): Yucca flour patties
• Strawberry juice, avocado-lime juice, and orange juice Super cool, you can also choose the various juice ingredients yourself. Very delicious! On Madlena's recommendation, we went to Café de Acá, very cozy, but a bit more expensive than the average:) And in Café Martinez (Paseo lo Árboles) I called Franzi and Vroni, they had great internet and you could press a button on the first floor when you needed something - very funny :D We then went to Bocatta Dulces & Salados near our accommodation, they had tasty things and also sold buffet. And at a scruffy Italian called "Il Covo", we ate delicious pizza and empanadas (egg with tomato and cheese + spinach with cheese). We drank Guarana with it, a drink that is sold by Fanta as well as by other companies (e.g. miranda) and tastes a bit like apple juice.

Cafes and Restaurants

• Bellini Palma
• Bar "La Esquina“
• Bolsi
• Café de Acá
• Café Martinez
• Bocatta Dulces & Salados
• Il Covo

Plants and Animals

The three little kittens at our hotel were very sweet. Otherwise, there's not much to report.

Number of Germans in the City

4

Contact with Locals

We exchanged ideas with Eli and her family and were allowed to eat dinner with them. A cute bunch!

People we met

Eli and family: The sister of a friend from university lived in Fernando de la Mora (a suburb of Asunción) for a year. We visited them one evening and were invited to an asado with manioc and salad. Klaus-Peter: Pascal's grandfather Helmut has an acquaintance named Josephina. Josephina is originally from Paraguay and now lives in Munich. Many, many years ago Helmut was in Paraguay and went on a boat tour into the Chaco with Josephina and her family (her brother Daniel and his wife Valentina). Through Josephina we therefore got to know three different people: Daniel, Valentina and Klaus-Peter. The first two you will get to know better in the article after the next, here briefly something about Klaus-Peter. Josephina and he got to know each other in Munich. Meanwhile "KaPe" lives in Asunción and takes Spanish lessons from Josephina. KaPe told us a lot about Asu and we met a few times for a meal together. In addition, we also got to know three other Germans who, like KaPe, have emigrated to Asunción. Very exciting!

Expenditures

We treated ourselves to a restaurant very often and only went fruit shopping once. Other than that, we bought drinking water (you should not drink the water from the faucet) and 500 grams of peanuts for 0.90 euros. After my picture drama in Puerto Iguazú, I treated myself to a Kingston DataTraveler 70 - DT70/256GB USB-C stick for 24.00 euros and some linen clothing (as Anja NM is very convinced of it in heat and sunlight). For two T-shirts (90000 Guaraní each) and a pair of pants (80000 Guaraní), I paid a total of 250000 Guaraní, or 32.70 euros. A very reasonable price. The fabric is supposedly from Villarrica (Paraguay) and it is all handmade. I don't know if that is true, but at least the embroideries are handmade. A few weeks later, I know: the pants are not well made. The seams come loose and holes develop. Such a pity!

Standard market offer at the Mercado 4

Thermos flasks for tereré, straw goods, linen clothing, toilet paper, oil, instant coffee, clothing, wedding clothing, dried fruit, living animals

Laundry

Twice for free in the accommodation

Insoluble Mysteries

Why are there so many holes in the street? And why do many motorcyclists not wear helmets amidst this road chaos?

Currency

1 Paraguayan Guaraní = 0.00013 Euro 1 Euro = 7928.26 Paraguayan Guaraní Withdrawing money was possible with a fee of 25000 Guaranís (= 3.15 euros) at Vision. Card payments are highly recommended, as you usually do not have to pay any extra fees (except at the terminal of the bus company "Rio Paraguay").

Bus to Santa Rosa del Aguaray

Quite spontaneously, we then took the "La Santaniana" bus to Santa Rosa. The bus was super cheap: 80000 Guaraní per person (= 20.10 euros in total). The journey out of the city took forever and the bus then made up some time with exciting overtaking maneuvers. Added to this was the heavenly disgusting smell from the toilet, which was just super messed up. After more than six hours we finally reached our destination and quickly looked for accommodation on Google Maps. Airbnb only had four listings and booking.com had none. Moritz recommended us to just ask on site and here was our chance. After 200 meters we reached our destination and asked for a free room. For 120000 Guaraní (= 15 euros) we got the cheap version with air conditioning and breakfast. But more about that in the next article.