Asunción: A Green City

Catherine and I took advantage of the short break between storms today to go to the rooftop terrace of our apartment building to take in the views. The building is not tall compared to ones in the states--only 9 stories --but it allowed us to see the city in a different way.

What struck me about Asunción is that it is a very green city. It's not green in the trendy, environmental, reduce greenhouse gas emissions sense but rather green in the old-fashioned, large, sprawling old trees everywhere sense. As the pictures show, trees dominate the landscape. Even when looking downtown, the most noticeable feature of the city is trees. They are everywhere, interspersed between sidewalks, yards, and roads. In fact, the school across the street from our apartment (Colegio Internacional) just planted around 40 trees around its property.

This is a refreshing change from the perfectly manicured and sparsely located trees found in most U.S. cities. It is as if Asunción was built around the trees instead of vice versa. In fact, the trees so effortlessly blend in with their surroundings that even though I walk by them every day it took a view from 100 feet above the ground to see just how much "green" there really was. All these trees provide shade and comfort, and give passers by something nice to look while navigating through the city.
(facing downtown)