Santa Cruz, Bolivia's financial capital, and fastest growing city, is, with the exception of the central square and a few streets around it, really pretty ugly. We arrived with the idea of trying to find an apartment to rent there because we thought it would be a good place to get some work done, as there isn't much to do, but the weather is more pleasant than Sucre and other places we'd been in the west of the country.
That idea didn't work out in the end, as landlords were just not used to the idea of renting for one month to foreigners, and there were too many hurdles to overcome. However, as our guidebook says, what Santa Cruz lacks in charm and sights, it makes up for in excellent food, including a lot of vegetarian options. It's not often that I include a meat-based meal for Food Porn Friday, but this meal at one of our favourite places in the city, La Casona, was beautifully simple but well cooked.
