Arequipa

The backdrop for Areuqipa is dramatic and colorful.  Two, or is it three? volcanos.  argghhhhhh!  I need my notes, which are safely at home on my desk, several thousand miles from here!  Well, this blog is for me, I can read the notes later if I want.  Thank you for reading and looking!

El Misi is the larger of the two volcanos at the north side of the second largest city in Peru.  The view from the rooftop of our hostel was fabulous!  Arequipa is known as the White City, many of the colonial buildings in el centro are built from gleaming white stones.  The city was massively destroyed by earthquakes several times in the past few hundred years.  As a result, buildings are no more than 2 stories tall, with the exception of the biggest cathedral in the country.  La Catedral survived all the quakes, with damage to the bell towers only.  This is a country of superlatives!





The national taxi of Peru.

Being in the second largest city in the country means moving large numbers of people and mountains of cargo in any way possible, on streets that are terminally clogged with honking cars and smelly buses. The pedicab is the national taxi of Peru, agile, cheap and efficient. This one is used as a mobile convenience store, selling drinks (not cold!), candy and other junk food. Thankfully, there are millions of these wonderful vehicles, which neither consume gas or emit terrible fumes in the air.

  


 The sunset view of the back of the cathedral, taken from the rooftop of our hostel.   We enjoyed this particular view with our new friends, Salli and Jessie.  You might have read their blog, linked in my Isla Taquile post; they are on a fantastic, 2-year trip around the world.  The four of us spent a few more days in Arequipa than we'd all planned, just to have a few more days together.  They were heading south, we were heading west, after the Colca Canyon.


I




A delicious, typical Arequipa meal.  Potatoes, cooked in layers with cheese and cream, similar to a dish you might find the US.  And, a chicken dish (sure could use my notes about right HERE!).
In the days before we arrived in Arequipa, people would roll their eyes toward the heavens when Arequipa food was mentioned.  It was as good as it's reputation!



         














I had to photograph this cake, in a bakery we passed one day, even though it's not a very good photo.  The cakes are just spectacular!  Grand, elaborate, colorful, sculptural.  I wonder if they are tasty?





















Even the flowers here are grand.  These xxx were as tall as me!  The parks were filled with them, in many glorious colors.




One of the jewels of the city is the Santa Catalina Monastery.  Not only is the architechture beautiful, the history of the site is fascinating.   We took a sunset tour of the former convent, joining Salli and Jessie.  It was built in 1579, by a rich woman, Maria Guzman.  At the time, the tradition was for the second daughter to enter the monastery, but her parents had to be wealthy enough to financially support her and the servants she needed.  It was a small city within the city, with a population of as many as 450 people!

About 1870,  the Church leaders in Europe began to be not-quite-pleased with the arrangement there, and ordered big changes:  no more servants was the most difficult change.  There was no electricity, and while there was plumbing, as late as the 1950's the plumbing was the original system built in the 16th century!  Today, there are about 20 nuns living in a modern adjascent to the old complex.  The complex is well-maintained, and open for tours now.




A street in the city, just before sunset.  Each of the doors entered the private 'house' of a nun, with space for cooking and servants.  Each of the  nuns took in a small child from Arequipa, to teach them to read.  When the child was about 15, she had the choice of staying on and becoming a nun, or returning to public life.  This was the only way girls were educated at the time.

























A clock. The water from the cone-shaped porous clay dripped into the bowl below, marking a known amount of time.
























The kitchen!  The centuries-old soot was still there, in spite of the clean up for tourists...the flash on my camera lies about the darkness of the place.  The only light was from the vent in the ceiling.  I believe the clay bowls were original.







The laundry.  Water came from a spring at the top of the photo, came down the channel and was diverted into the giant clay bowls, the wash tubs.  The bowls are halves of the giant jugs used in the local wine industry.  In the bottom of the tubs was plugged with a piece of cloth, and when the water was released, it was drained into the gardens below the laundry area.


Stuart, in the laundry!

Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner together above the plaza, with Pisco Sours and good company.