ambling in arequipa

when planning our trip to peru i stumbled upon arequipa and photos of its lovely monastery. after that, i knew it had to be on our itinerary. and i was not disappointed. the city charmed us, from the picturesque plaza de armas to the lovely monastery and the tasty food. it was also a refreshing change to explore a city that was so compact and easy to walk around in.

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we arrived on our flight from lima and were greeted by a driver from the hotel. i had thought arequipa was a much smaller city but the drive from the airport took us through the outskirts, which seemed pretty sizable. no matter where we were we could see the mountains looming in the distance. when we arrived at the hotel, katari, it was still quite early (because of course we had another early morning) so i quickly went up on the roof to catch the last of the morning light. the view from the hotel was stunning - the plaza de armas and cathedral beyond and the volcanoes in the distance. we had a bit of breakfast as we enjoyed the view and waited for the sun to warm the city up.

corn, corn, and corn

even after breakfast it was still early and our room wasn't quite ready. so we wandered the streets a bit, making our way to the market we had read about. it was a covered market with foods organized by aisle - stacks of cheese in wheels as big as a 45, pyramidal piles of fruits, dead chickens with their claws in the air, burlap sacks filled with dried chilis, and of course many varieties of corn. we surreptitiously took some photos as the vendors started to set up and start their day. we could see several people having their breakfast at little stands peppered throughout the aisles.

spectrum

outside the walls of the market we continued exploring the streets. we seemed to be in the workaday part of town, with little electrical shops and convenience stores. the streets themselves were colorful but dated, with peeling paint and old doors - just how i like them. we popped into a church along one of the streets. fairly typical, with ornate (bordering on gaudy, some might say) gold altars throughout the stone structure. before long we had walked around all the streets south of the main square and were back at the hotel. just next door was a little grocery store (which we always love to explore on trips) so we popped in to poke around and get some sodas.

sabor del peru

by this time our room was ready so we went there to relax a bit. nicely appointed with antique furniture and with a view out onto the main square (although through a little arcade). we took some time to enjoy the room, complete with robes and slippers, and put our feet up before venturing out again. relaxing turned into a catnap (which we probably needed) and when we woke up it was about lunchtime. we ventured out, passing up a few more touristy places (boasting french, italian, turkish food) we opted for a spot that looked authentic - with old painted walls and smooth wooden floors. we saw a few other tourists and a couple of locals who seemed to be on their lunch break. they had a modest prix fixe menu which started with salad and soup. for an entree mom tried an orange chicken while i had alpaca meat with quinoa (can you get much more peruvian?). the alpaca meat was quite tough but it was nice to try at least once. for dessert we got little cakes that tasted a bit like the arequipe coffee i'd had in lima.

our next stop was my most anticipated - the monastery de santa catalina. i'm not totally sure why it's consistently referred to as a monastery; only nuns seemed to have ever lived there. in fact, nuns do still live there. we were surprised that so many of the nuns had their own private rooms - some were almost apartments, really. but of course there were kitchens, gardens, and some other gathering places as well. the center was closed to the public for almost 400 years but, fortunately for us, opened again in 1970. the complex is enormous - so big that there are entire streets within it, most of which are named for cities in spain. cordoba streets, for instance, is lined with begonias in little flower pots. what was really arresting, though, were the bright colors that covered every wall. it was a feast for the eyes and even moreso for my camera lens. i think this place can better be conveyed by those photos rather than me so i'll let them take over:

bright colors just inside the entrance

cloisters are even more lovely in blue

simple steps

lantana outside a window

lovely built in cabinet within a nun's room

calle cordoba, naturally

the mountaintops beyond

gorgeous little flowers were peppered throughout the grounds

nuns still live in the apartments on this street

nun spotting!

not sure what those little white bits are

snapdragons

chambers

such a variety of tones

flowers in the sun

lines in the wood

in the rose garden

wouldn't you want to live here too?

reaching up towards the sun

sevilla street

painted doorway

little cactus near the small orange grove

view of the church near the end of our visit

so there it is - a gorgeous complex and a wonderful afternoon exploring - we hardly ever encountered more than a couple other people. i really didn't want to leave!

glowing light and a chill in the air

finally we pulled ourselves away and made our way back to the hotel, stopping once along the way to admire (and buy) some alpaca scarves. i was anxious to go up to the rooftop terrace to catch the golden hour on the cathedral. i got a coca tea, which is said to help with the adjustment to the altitude, and took photos intermittently as the sun started to set. the temperature was dropping quickly but the hotel attendant working the small bar kindly brought over a blanket that helped keep out the chill. he also took care of the trio of businessmen who were at various stages of incapacitation, one slumped over in his chair and another completely passed out on the table. maybe it was the altitude but i have a feeling it might have been the pisco sours on the table. in any case, the view really was stunning, with the sun glowing on the steeples, then slowly lifting from the tips of the mountains and finally the lights coming on in the plaza below.

golden glow over arequipa

lights coming on

chupe and pisco

by the time the sun was down and it was totally dark we were about ready for dinner. we went out in search of chupe de camarrones, a shrimp soup that we had heard was a specialty. the helpful hotel staff directed us to one of two places, the latter of which seemed less crowded. we had the place almost to ourselves, the old stone walls now housing a little bar and a few handcrafted items for decoration. we ordered the much-anticipated soup and were not disappointed. the broth was creamy but not too thick and the rice, egg, beans, and peruvian cheese made it quite hearty. that in addition to the bread and herb butter we were served made for a filling meal. (i should add that after several days of smaller appetites than usual we realized it was a side effect of the altitude medicine we'd been taken.) we washed it all down with pisco sours, the peruvian cocktail par excellence, complete with a few drops of aromatic bitters over the foamy egg whites. a perfectly pleasant meal.

church interior

the next morning we were pretty excited to be able to sleep past 3am, the first time in three days! we figured we had already been to our principal destination and there were only a few other stops on our list so we decided to make it a leisurely day. our first stop was the iglesia de la compañia, just next to the hotel. it didn't stand out much. next we made our way up the street and across the square to teh cathedral. we had to take a tour, which turned out to be quite good. we couldn't take pictures of anything but the interior of the church.

think the P tilted in an earthquake?

the other rooms we went in housed beautiful vestments (many made by nuns in local convents like the one we'd visited the day before) and other religious objects. according to the guide many of their more valuable pieces had been stolen over the years before the church had any kind of security. seems like a pretty big oversight... the church itself is much more modern than i anticipated, but to be expected because it had been rebuilt several times following earthquakes. it also had a huge organ at the back that we got a good view of from the second floor. we were also able to go up to the roof of the church, where we got up close with the giant bells within the steeples.

café con leche with lovely linens

from here we walked up the nearby street in search of the 'casa ricketts' which supposedly was an old home (now bank) that had elaborate decoration. we finally found it and were somewhat underwhelmed. there were a few carvings over doorways but nothing worth writing home about. we left and stopped in a nearby alleyway with some lovely cafes where we lingered over drinks. hot cocoa and café con leche seem even more appropriate in the land of coffee and chocolate. after our break we walked farther north in search of other places to explore. there was another church at the end of the road but it was closed in the middle of the day so we walked on in search of lunch instead. mom was in the mood for something different so we stopped for crêpes in the courtyard of the local alliance française. they were unremarkable (i don't think france would have approved) but decent enough.

francis' courtyard

from here we decided to part ways - my mom went to the museo santuario andinos the archaeological museum where the so-called 'mummy girl' is housed. i killed a little time popping into little markets before making my way back to the monastery we had passed before, the complejo san francisco. i got there just as it was starting to re-open and followed along on a tour with a very sweet girl who was working there. she started the tour in spanish then switching to english after she realized i might follow that better. the tour was quite good although the monastery itself was a little dark. the courtyard was simple, as i imagine most franciscan cloisters are. in the center was a statue of saint francis surrounded by trees with lots of birds, which i thought was fitting. i even spotted a little hummingbird among the branches. the church itself was simple too, especially compared to the ornate, gilded church altars we'd seen before.

ice (cream) cubes

i made my way back to the hotel where my mom recounted her visit to the museum. she really enjoyed learning about the incan rituals of human sacrifice so she was glad she went. as we i was dismayed to learn that there had been another convent just a few blocks from the monastery where i'd been that looked lovely but hadn't come up in any of our research - the monasterio santa teresa, for the record. otherwise i think we made the most of our two days in the city. we again spent the sunset up on the roof, taking in the changing views. afterwards, not terribly hungry, we asked for a nearby restaurant to get some soup. we were directed to la boveda, a very old little restaurant and evidently one of the only ones on the main square that isn't awful (according to the hotel staff anyway). we had some soup but decided to cap off our meal with arequipan ice cream - a very unusual substance that came out in cubes and was made from cheese. it was pretty good but even so we barely seemed to make a dent in the massive pile of it we were given. not a bad end to our brief exploration of this charming city. next it was on to the andes!