A weekend in Asunción.
I spend a little over a month in Buenos Aires nesting, catching up with friends and films, going to the gym three times a week.
I’m staying in a building with amenities, an outdoor pool on the ground floor and a gym on the 18th. It’s the nicest place I’ve stayed in Buenos Aires (they even have a space for bike parking on the ground floor) with fantastic staff and within the first week I contact my host to book it for the same time next year.
From the gym I can see Uruguay and the airport. As I do my laps on the treadmill I watch planes take off and land, taxiing one way and then hurtling down the runway the other until they gain enough speed to lift off, disappearing behind a nearby apartment building before reappearing on the other side where they bank to the north.
On my last morning I board one of those planes. As we lift off from the runway I look out the window towards the building I’ve been living in the past month until we, too, bank northward, leaving the city behind.
Few non-citizens are on the plane as passengers fill the citizens line at immigration. I walk right up and through after answering the officers questions. Family or friends in Paraguay? Not yet. He doesn’t crack a smile.
My bag is the first one out. I pick up some cash and order an Uber to the apartment. From the airport the surroundings put me in the mind of Harare somewhat though as we enter the city it reminds me more of Lima.
The building is new and modern. My apartment isn’t ready yet (I’ve arrived much earlier than the check-in time) and I’m shown to the third floor common areas to wait. There’s a gym, a yoga studio, two pools (one lap pool and one for kids), a coworking space, a conference room, agame room, and a room for small children. I recline on a gaming chair in front of a tv attached to a PS2 and take a nap. I’ve been up since just past 0400.
In less time than I’d expected someone comes to show me the apartment. It’s on the fifth floor, a corner studio with views out over the city towards the west and the pool on the third floor. I love being able to see the pool to gauge how busy it is. I needn’t worry. The entire time I’m there I only see one other person swimming.
The delSol shopping mall is just a stone’s throw away and I make note of it so that I can go grocery shopping after lunch.
For lunch I walk to another nearby mall, the Paseo La Galería to eat at Maurice de Talleyrand. A garden welcomes shoppers to the mall, and a number of restaurant terraces encircle the lush greenery that grows within. I have a little trouble finding the restaurant; Google maps seems to place it in the middle of the mall, but after asking for directions manage to find my way to a spot on the terrace.
I order a seafood risotto and it comes in a huge bowl. I had seen generous portions being delivered to other tables, but I’m still surprised when my food arrives. It’s a nice lunch and I’m glad to have walked to the Paseo La Galería to see this little part of the city. I walk back along the busy main street to my neighborhood and the delSol shopping center.
I cut through a parking lot to the main entrance and lose myself within in search of the Delimarket. I end up walking back out and around the mall to get to the supermarket; it’s not until a day or two later that I find out how to reach it from within the mall.
I pick up my usual assortment of items and head back home to my apartment. I’m staying in a great neighborhood and I love how convenient the supermarket is and how close I am to so many shops and restaurants. I’ll only be a week in the city, but know that I’d choose the same apartment and location were I to return for a longer stay.
It’s been a bit of a tiring day, having had to wake up early to catch my 08 flight and I’m ready for bed after making myself some dinner. I wash up and turn the TV on to find that Disney+ is live-broadcasting the Tini concert in Buenos Aires.
She’s been playing a series of dates in the capital city on her Futttura tour. I had thought about getting tickets (I flew to Bogotá to see her in concert and it was one of the best I’ve ever attended) but I was slow on the draw and tickets sold out before I had a chance.
As tired as I am I can’t help but stay up to watch. One of the final songs of the night is Miénteme, a huge hit and one of my favorite songs when it came out. It’s a duet with Maria Becerra and I’m beyond excited when I see her pop out from behind a counter to sing the song with Tini. Staying up late was worth it for this encounter alone.
The next morning I make plans to have lunch at Pakuri, a New Paraguayan restaurant in the nearby Villa Morra neighborhood. It’s helmed by chef Sofía Pfannl and her sommalier husband José Miguel Burga, who met while working at Central in Lima.
I walk to the restaurant, zigzagging the residential blocks on my way to the restaurant. At one point I pass a small bakery built into what would be the garage of a house in the States. I stop in and pick up some medialuna for later, curious to sample their goods and wanting to support local businesses.
The restaurant is beautiful. Constructed from old shipping containers, it has an industrial feel that’s warmed up by the lighting and wood accents on the ceiling and the furniture. I order the Pesca cocinada en hoja de banana, salsa de Uruku y vino de maíz, Verduras al vapor and a Sopa Paraguaya, the latter as a friend of mine from Buenos Aires tells me I need to have it at least once as it’s one of the most traditional foods of Paraguay.
The food is delicious; it’ll be my favorite meal in Asunción. And I’ll be surprised to find Sopa Paraguaya is not a soup but something akin to cornbread in the States. I love cornbread and naturally love Sopa Paraguaya.
It’s a quiet Sunday and I decide to go for a stroll. The streets continue to remind me of Harare and even where I stayed in Lusaka.
A friend had sent me a link to Time Out’s 10 must-see places in Asunción, and I was surprised to see how many were near my apartment, including the Shopping del Sol, the Paseo la Galería, and Maurice de Talleyrand. To round out visiting the must-see places near me I set my sights on La Cuadrita, a pedestrian mall lined with restaurants and (I hope) cafes.
I walk through the Plaza Infante Rivarola and pass the large Shopping Mariscal mall and it strikes me again how similar Asunción is to some of the Sub-Saraharan captials I’ve been visiting, with its single-storey residential neighborhoods anchored by huge shopping malls and complexes.
La Cuadrita is smaller than I imagined, running only a block between two streets. It’s lushly lined with foliage and the restauaurants running along either side look good, but I’ve already eaten and I’m only interested in a café, having devloped an affection for the occasional afternoon flat white.
At the far end of the fountain there’s a metal sculpture that eludes me until a young child walks by. Streams of water fall from the top to the base following her progress. After she walks away I take her spot and pass back and forth before the fountain, testing its responsiveness.
There are no cafes along La Cuadrita and I check the map to see what other cafes I’ve starred in the area. Much to my delight there’s a branch of one I had saved a block away and I walk over to check it out.
I opt for a seat in the garden and order a flat white and a cuatro leches cake, never before having seen an option for four milks. The cake is tasty, if the coffee is slightly lacking. Before I leave a table arrives with a small dog and I get to spend a moment with it before it looses interest in me for lack of food.
It’s a warm day and I’m lazy to walk home. Checking the map it looks like the road doesn’t look particularly interesting and I take a cab back to my apartment. In the afternoon I go for a swim. The water is cold but I warm up quickly.
In the evening I’m treated to a lovely sunset. My apartment faces west and the colors run from the bright yellows and reds on the horizon to violets and dark blues as I look up to the sky. From my apartment to the edge of the earth I see buildings and lights. It’s strange to be in a landlocked city after having spent so much time in places near the ocean, and as the night deepens I imagine where it’s darkest lays the sea. 🇵🇾
