☰Parque Bolívar

The downtown square in front of the Catedral Metropolitana, with a bronze equestrian Bolívar at its centre and trees full of grackles overhead. First Saturday of every month it hosts the Mercado de San Alejo craft fair — local makers selling handicraft, antiques, jewellery, art. On other days the square is busy with downtown life — shoeshines, evangelical preachers, fruit sellers — and a useful pulse-take on the city for visitors. Pickpockets work the crowd; mind your bag.