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The city is built on a rise overlooking a large bay formed by the Río Paraguay. The centro (downtown) runs south–southeast from the bay for about 10 blocks to Teniente Fariña, and it stretches 17 blocks from Colón in the west to Estados Unidos in the east. Most hotels, restaurants, shops, and offices can be found in this rectangle, easily explored in a day. Except for the irregular shoreline along the river, Asunción's streets follow a standard grid. Downtown streets are narrow and generally have one-way traffic. Two major squares—Plaza de los Héroes and Plaza Uruguaya—provide cool resting places in the shade of jacaranda trees. You'll appreciate these during the unbearably hot October–March months. Addresses are frequently expressed in terms of intersections. If the location is close to an intersection, the address may be expressed as "Alberdi casi Estrella" (Alberdi "almost at" Estrella).
This well-preserved mansion has an illustrious past as the former home of Madame Elisa Lynch, the Irish mistress of Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López. Now the oldest hotel in Asunción, and not quite where the action is, it's nonetheless surrounded by verandas and manicured gardens. Duck inside to see the collection of 19th-century furniture and paintings and enjoy a cool cocktail at the bar.
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