Holiday Sightseeing

Today is a Paraguayan national holiday. It is "El Dia del Heroes." On this day, 140 years ago, Mariscal Francisco Lopez was killed in battle which marked the end of the extremely bloody War of the Triple Alliance. Lopez was the dictator of Paraguay and is now considered a national hero. He is buried in the Pantheon del Heroes in downtown Asunción alongside several other Paraguayan leaders.

Since we had the day off, we decided to go sightseeing outside Asunción to what is called the "Chacko" (also known as the "interior" by the locals). We went to San Bernadino and Los Altos. These were sights that were founded by German immigrants who wanted to start the "master race." It was 50 years before Hitler began his same attempt, in 1880 by a Dr. Forster. He became an influence for the Nazi ideas and the town eventually became a hiding place for the Nazi fugitives. Dr. Mengle, the "Angel of Death," is rumored to have fled to Los Altos when Germany was defeated.
The beautiful little town is on the edge of Lake Ypacarai. We stopped and had lunch, then took a walk down by the lake. Josh snapped this picture of us on a pathway near the water. It was a fun day!