Enjoying the Colonial Style of the City

DAY 9: STILL IN AREQUIPA

Today I woke up early to visit some of the old colonial churches and houses of Arequipa as well as some hotels.

My first visit was the Sabandia Water Mill or “Molino de Sabandia,” built in 1785. The entrance fee was around US$ 1.70. In this old colonial building I spent about an hour. Here you can see the old way to process wheat, also some art pieces and old tools and the most important thing, beautiful landscape. This is a peaceful place where you can just go to relax and enjoy the view. On the way to the Molino I stopped at the Lago Hotel, which is pretty nice, with a small lake and surrounded by farms, some of which rent out horses to ride. The hotel is located about 6 miles from downtown.

Then I went to the Mansion of the Founder or “La Mansion del Fundador.” This mansion was built by Garci Manuel de Carbajal, the founder of Arequipa, during the sixteenth century. The entrance fee is around US$ 3.30, and walking around the mansion is just a pleasure because of the beautiful pieces of colonial and republican art and furniture, as well as the architecture and the peaceful landscape, to say nothing of the pets (a couple of cute alpacas). I spent about 45 minutes here and then went downtown, located about 4 miles away.

Downtown I walked around the main square, the Cathedral, the Cathedral Pass, the Jesus Company Church and its “Claustros.” Walking around the main square can be a cool experience because of the thousands of doves flying around among the people, who are just walking and spending their time doing “anything.” In addition, the three colonial portals that surround the main square are spectacular.

I spent the afternoon walking around hotels and part of the evening eating with friends in a place called “El Gaucho,” which is located in the Portal of Flowers. Here the meat is really good. In Arequipa I recommend that you try the local beer called “Arequipeña.”

After eating with my friends, we went for a walk around the main square to admire the colonial buildings at night. The lights have a cool effect on the sillar. Finally, I came back to my parents’ house to get ready to go to the bus station to take my bus to Puno.


TRAVEL PERU

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