Baked goods in Arequipa

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Leaving San Pedro late one Thursday evening we spent rather a lot of time on buses, in taxis and on more buses before finally arriving in the city of Arequipa, Peru.

Not having any local currency we walked (tan lejos) and walked until we found ourselves a hostel, just off the Plaza de Armas in the central city.

Arequipa is beautiful! The Plaza is fronted by a large cathedral, surrounded by arched walkways and has a fountain and gardens in the centre. First up we checked out the Convent of Santa Catalina which was amazing. It was a city within itself with beautiful streets, chapels and gardens.Well worth the visit.

We checked out a museum where we saw one of the children found mummified frozen on the nearby mountains. She was a bit creepy, but the museum was full of interesting artefacts, including the cloth she was buried in, her bloodstains still evident.

After the creepiness it was time for lunch. Ceviche was the order of the day with some salted toasted corn and a Cusqueña grande. It was a brave move for Caitlin to try raw fish, and she quite liked it. I was dared to eat the chilli on top... it was spicy.

In the afternoon we hit up another convent, this time the Jesuit Convent of Santa Teresa. It was also very beautiful but much smaller, though damn those nuns can bake! We shared one of their delicious cookies whilst giggling over the wee dog we saw sporting a blue pair of dungarees with a yellow bone on the back, too cute!

Culinary highlight of Arequipa was a traditional bbq and an all you can eat salad bar. We went a bit nuts it was awesome.

The rest of the time, between pisco sours, was spent planning for our next adventure, the Colca Canyon!

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