New Years day the streets of Arequipa were pretty empty, I think most of the city was resting after an explosive night of partying. We walked down to the Plaza to see if anything was going on. The first thing we saw after arriving at Plaza de Armas was a protest. We have seen a lot of protests here in Peru (we saw one in Lima, and at least 3 or 4 in Cusco maybe more). I did not snap a picture as I am not sure what the rules are about taking photos when police are around. A lady at the plaza we were chatting with explained that Peru is having a lot of issues with a corrupt congress, and that was the reason of the protest.
After the protesters passed, we walked over to the mercado San Camilo. Arequipa is such a big, and modern city that shopping here does not feel a lot different than going over to Safeway or Superstore. We were missing the colors, and maybe not so much the smells of the Mercados we saw in Cusco, and San Camilo was a lot like Mercado San Pedro in Cusco. In a way, I wish we were closer to the historic center so we can shop there instead of TOTTUS. Although TOTTUS (a large food store, very similar to Superstore) is much more convenient, for example the meat is refrigerated, and there are no dogs nearby, lol.
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| Terran and Wyatt checking out el Mercado San Camilo |
We are still working up the courage to eat at the Mercado. The food always looks tasty, but we have heard different opinions regarding eating street food here in Peru. What do you think? to eat or not to eat?
Arequipa is actually very famous here in Peru for it's architecture, and it is known as the white City "La Ciudad Blanca." Since there was hardly anyone around on New Years day it was a bit easier to just explore. There are some really beautiful buildings here.I love looking at different types of architecture. I remember when I lived in Paris during my LDS mission, I wanted to take a picture of every building I saw, Arequipa has many beautiful building made in a Neoclassical style. Here are a few pictures we snapped on New Years Day:
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| This car totally reminded me of the car from Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets |
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| The car was right outside the Santa Catalina Monastery. |
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| Terran and Maija close to the Plaza |
Below are some pictures of the Cloisters of La iglesia de la compania de Jesus (a cool Jesuit church here in Arequipa):
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| Beautiful detail stone work |
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I am in love with colonial style buildings.
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| Stone work detail |
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| Cool art work displayed in the cloisters |
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| I will make these two into art lovers, even if it the last thing I do! ;) |
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| Another view of the cloister |
To eat or not to eat?! Always: eat ;) although, I understand the hesitancy. I'd say you get sick when you're scared... But also, I think having been there a while, your bodies are probably almost adjusted to Peruvian foods... I'd say you should/ could go for it soon. I'd also probably still be a little picky about it though... maybe something you saw them cook?(still fresh)
ReplyDeleteI second Patricia's idea.
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