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!

sudamerica

for our latest trip my mom and i set out for peru, much awaited for her as she had been longing to see machu picchu and i was excited just to finally set foot in south america. we managed to get a direct flight from atlanta to lima and despite the airport's best efforts we did manage to make it to the long-term parking garage (park and ride? misleading) and onto the flight. we arrived in lima after midnight (hey, it was a direct flight, okay?) but managed to get a taxi that would take us to our hotel for what we thought was a reasonable rate. even with no traffic the ride was looong, because lima is a big city. so by the time we were up in our hotel room and off our feet it was past 2am.

gorgeous grounds of the museum

after sleeping in as long as we thought we could without feeling guilty we woke up and had breakfast on the terrace. our hotel was in miraflores, a very liveable part of this huge city. we had a bit of a view from the hotel terrace but couldn't see the sea. the city itself is fairly unremarkable-looking. our first stop was the museo larco, an archaeological museum that told the story of peru's pre-Columbian past through its impressive array of artifacts. they were incredibly well-preserved - ceramics with no cracks or fading, even textiles that were almost completely intact.

incredible preservation

and these pieces were thousands of years old! i guess being entombed with your valuable possessions has its advantages. the ancient incans used three principal animals to represent their spiritual realms - the bird (condor) to represent the heavens, a cat (jaguar) to represent the human world, and a snake to represent the underworld. these motifs come back again and again. they touched on human sacrifice and other (less titillating) rituals in ways that made their behavior very relateable to today's audience. the grounds of the museum itself were gorgeous also - all manners of indigenous flowers spilling out in every possible place. between the grounds and the galleries themselves we spent quite a while in the museum.

colorful streets of lima

by the time we were done it was well into lunchtime. instead of calling another taxi (which we suspected we were overpaying for) we thought we'd try to uber and see what happened. it worked great, and was about a third of the price as a taxi. we made our way towards the historic district where we stopped at a little sandwich shop we'd heard was good. it ended up being little more than a storefront with a small bar to sit at. but the sandwiches and fresh fruit juices were quite tasty. from this little roundabout we again ubered to make our way to the historic area. once we got close our driver seemed taken aback by the road closures he encountered and dropped us off as near to the main square as he could. as it turned out there was a major summit going on - APEC (asia-pacific economic cooperation) - and several major world leaders were in attendance, including obama and mark zuckerberg (who evidently is a world leader now). we couldn't get inside any of the historic buildings so we thought we'd save it for our last day. a very helpful government employee, who had told us about the summit, gave us directions to get to the art museum instead. it was quite a long walk but most of it was down a pedestrian shopping street so there was plenty to look at. it reminded me of a much bigger san josé, with tons of shoe stores and H&M type shops.

the cusqueño madonna

after a long walk and past some very busy streets we made it to the museum of art lima (mali for short). my mom wanted to rest outside so i went inside on my own. there was an odd little exhibition in the first floor. there was another gallery of cusqueño paintings, which is a mix of western styles and traditional andean elements. one aspect that really stood out were the typical triangular shape of the virgim mary - some scholars have said it was to reflect the shape of the mountains. i also noticed several paintings of joseph and the christ child, which is interesting only because it's so rare in european traditions. i thought it was a nice counterpoint to the ubiquitous madonna and childs. the permanent collection upstairs showed a nice cross-section of peruvian modernism. artists obviously wrestled with how much to embrace or reject european styles and what to depict. it was something i knew nothing about so it was a nice introduction to later (as in post-columbian, i suppose) peruvian history.

ceviche at mama's

the thought of braving the traffic or walking much more didn't sound terribly appealing so we were hoping to find a cafe nearby where we could sit and relax for a bit. there wasn't much around though so we ended up in a little shopping mall coffee shop where mom got a rich hot chocolate and i got something with arequipe sauce, something akin to caramel. after a bit of relaxing and journaling we made our way out and hailed an uber to make the long trek across town back to the hotel. we had a nice rest before making our way out again for dinner. luckily there are plenty of restaurants in the miraflores area. we walked toward a restaurant we'd come across in our research - just a few blocks away. but we were dismayed to find it was closed. we encountered the same thing again and again in our walk - which incidentally was full of bright lights from the signs of the many casinos in the neighborhood. we ended up going back to the hotel to ask if anything was actually open on a sunday night. they said there was a traditional place but it was quite a few blocks away. we headed that direction but ended up on a little side street with a few restaurants. i'm glad we did because mama olla did not disappoint. we started off with some little taqueños (what they sound like, a bit like taquitos) with peruvian (slightly salty) cheese inside. even better were our entrees - seafood risotto and our first taste of peruvian ceviche. outside of guinea pig (cuy), ceviche is probably the closest thing to a national dish of peru - or so we were told. the fish was so fresh, the acidity of the lime was just perfect, and it was served with giant indigenous corn, which was fun. we savored every bite but couldn't linger too long, as we head another early morning ahead of us.

the new gold standard

the next day we were up obscenely early to get a taxi to the bus station. the ride took about 30 minutes less than the concierge had budgeted so we found ourselves in a very bright little bus station waiting for our bus at 3am. when it arrived, though, we were not disappointed. luxurious doesn't quite cover it - these bus seats were nicer than most recliners i've sat in. they had not only a foot rest but a panel for your entire leg and they reclined so you were almost laying flat. that plus a pillow, blanket and individual tv screens made for a very pleasant four-hour trip. by the time we made it to paracas we were much better rested. we ended up in a tiny little bus station that looked like it was in the middle of nowhere. that turned out to be somewhat misleading. it was off of a quiet road but also surrounded by a wall. as we discovered later, if you walked out down to the bottom of the grounds, through the gate and out you ended up on the main road and just across from the building of the little town of paracas.

sea lions lazing

we ended up setting up our boat ride there in the station, not having made plans already. they drove our little group down to the water in a van, where we then loaded onto the small boat. i think it sat about 35. we ended up with great seats at the back since he let 'retired people' board first. my mom took full advantage and got us seats at the back left of the boat. once everyone had settled we sped over to the islands (islas balestas).

PENGUINS!

the largest island was largely uninhabited but there were a few trucks zipping along the one road we could see. on the side of this island was a large symbol that looked like it had been written in sand. from there we jetted over to the smaller, rockier islands. this is the main attraction because of the wildlife. these little islands are absolutely full of animals - mostly birds but also quite a few sea lions lazing on the rocks and occasionally playing in the water. we even managed to see one group of humboldt penguins! there must not be many of them because on our trip all around the islands we only saw the one little group. we had a lovely time floating around the islands, soaking up the sun and looking for sea lions with funny expressions. after we had made our way almost all around the islands the little boat sped up again and we braced ourselves for a windy ride back to the mainland.

paracas' little harbor

we had a few more hours until our bus left to go back to lima so we explored tiny town of paracas, such as it was. it seems to be a little tourist spot, filled with little shops and restaurants along the water but not much else. we walked along the shore, taking in the colorful boats and waiting until restaurants would be serving lunch.

scallops on the half shell

to pass the time we stopped at a little cafe for some fresh passion fruit juice (our favorite), which came with a little dish of corn nuts. my mom was not a fan. finally we made our way down to another restaurant where we got some nice ceviche (our last day on the coast for a while, we figured we should take advantage) and little scallops covered in parmesan. maybe it's just me but somehow i hadn't put together that the word 'scalloped' is related to the shape of the shells scallops are in. i guess i'd never seen them served that way! quite tasty though. after a bit more lingering we made our way back to the bus station and braced for another comfortable yet long bus ride. by the time we got back to lima it was rush hour and getting an uber took longer than usual. after that long ride all we wanted was to be back at the hotel so we were very relieved when our uber driver finally made it through traffic and dropped us off.

soup and sips

after a rest we went down in search of another place for dinner. in the hotel lobby we discovered that one that had been on an anthony bourdain show we watched just before we left was just blocks away. we thought we might as well try it out. it's called amaz - not for 'amaze' but for the amazon, from which many of the dishes ingredients are sourced. the food had a mix of andean and amazonian food with some asian touches. (did you know there's a large asian population in peru? me neither.) the very kind waiter recommended several dishes so we tried a few different dishes. first was the wild prawn soup with smoked pork, tapioca and noodles. fairly thin, yet with a hint of pepper and i didn't even mind the tapioca balls (which in bubble tea i find disgusting). next was the main course - peking duck juane with rice and hoisin sauce, cooked in a banana leaf and - the best dish - the tender and flavorful lomo saltado (basically sauteed beef and vegetables) even our drinks were filled with interesting amazonian ingredients - mine had caribbean rum, berries from the amazon, guava, and pineapple juice. a bit pricy but a great experience.

glorious tiles

dem bones

and now, if you'll permit me, i'll skip ahead a bit to our last day in lima. our first priority was to head back to the historic district, where we hadn't been able to see much of anything the first day. our first destination was the iglesia san francisco, which we discovered had a huge line out front. we (correctly) guessed that it must have been a saint's feast day, which accounted for all the people lined up in the square with flowers in their hands. i had mostly wanted to see this church because we read it had a great muqarnas dome. well, we never got to see it because the church was full of worshipers. but we did take a tour of the monastery, where our rather inept (but sweet) guide walked us around giving us vague information about the monastery and spaces we were in. the cloisters were some of the prettiest i've seen - the walkways were all covered in spanish tiles (from sevilla, no less). the middle of the cloisters was filled with green gardens and palm trees. we weren't supposed to take photos, for some reason, but the guide quite literally looked the other way, which was most appreciated. the other highlight was the catacombs - quite extensive. many chambers filled with sorted bones all neatly stacked. in some parts we could look up through a grill and see into the church's sanctuary, and even hear part of the service. oh and there's also a 'last supper' painting there that's somewhat famous. the titular dinner on the table is all traditional peruvian food - potatoes, chillis, and even guinea pig. tourists clearly get a kick out of it.

tiles on every surface

from here we walked over toward the plaza de armas, where we stopped in a little hole in the wall for some lunch. the food was modest - the usual thin soups and mediocre cuts of meat - but it did the job. from there we walked through the large but otherwise not terribly interesting main square and on to the convento santo domingo. we went there almost on a whim - it was on our list of places and we had plenty of time to kill. i am SO glad we did. it was stunning. when we walked through we immediately saw the cloisters - even more stunning than the last (and we were allowed to take photos - bonus!) with red columns covered with tiles and walls to match. the central fountain was surrounded by flowers, palm tress, and birds chirping. from the courtyard we could see the church's bell tower, completing the illusion that we were not in peru but a moorish mosque-turned-church in spain. (the tiles, once again, were from seville).

light from above

we had a lovely guide who did a great job of showing us through the space and telling us about the various residents - two of them now saints - who had once lived there. (this is a pretty unfair characterization but we noted that the female guides we had always tended to be slightly better - succinct, even when giving bilingual tours, and yet packing a lot of information in.) one of these was st. martin de porres was the first black man to be canonized in the americas, although it was about 330 years after his death. he worked at the monastery all his life, cutting hair and tending to sick monks, never attaining the rank himself. a humbling story - one can see why people flock to his shrine to venerate him. the rest of the grounds were beautiful too. each room was decorated differently - whether with painted walls, colorful stained glass or tiles. (even the floor of the small crypt was covered in gorgeous tiles.) needless to say, i had a ball roaming around taking pictures and was so glad we had decided to stop in.

at this point we figured we had seen what we wanted to of the historic district and set about trying to find a way back to miraflores. after walking through the maze of one way streets we eventually hopped in a very old taxi who was willing to take us back towards the more residential part of town. we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in the little markets to fill out the rest of our gift lists, relaxing in a small cafe (with wifi of course) over tres leches cake and coffee, and walking through the more commercial districts popping into grocery stores to buy some potable souvenirs. for dinner we decided we wanted seafood and set our sights on a rather upscale place that was within walking distance. the meal was good but pricey (which helped us use up the last of our soles) - we had giant portions of risotto and one last order of ceviche. we dragged out dinner as long as we could but eventually we figured we should make our way to the airport (even though our 1am flight still wasn't for several hours). it's a good thing we weren't in a rush because the cab ride took literally two hours! traffic was a nightmare - we felt for our driver (since we had already negotiated a price), along with everyone else trying to get to the airport in a hurry. eventually of course we made it to the airport and collected the rest of our luggage from the lockers (what a godsend those are). this took a while, too, though. the second key needed to open the locker seemed to be missing and the poor night manager took quite a while to bust open our locker. again, good we were not in any hurry. in spite of all these hangups we still had several hours to wait and even then our flight boarded late as every single person's hand luggage had to be inspected by airport personnel. it was a full flight in the middle of the night and this last obstacle was almost interminable. finally we did get on the flight and managed to sleep some. we even made the drive back from atlanta without any problems.

but now on to the middle of the trip..