Pictures from November 23: Part 1

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I have been contemplating changing the name of this blog to something more international. But, I am "Rokia on the Run" so you can't just expect me to be in one place. As a matter of fact, I spent Thanksgiving in South America, in lovely, charming Peru. I will take you on my trip in three parts. The first part will be in Lima, Peru where I arrived during the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Lima has a not too great reputation. Someone who had been there before me said, "Lima-take it or leave it". But I say "No!" Lima was pretty wonderful. My LM and I stayed in lovely San Isidro, which is the diplomatic district. The streets were full of flowers and the weather was beautiful. We visited around our neighborhood to begin with. Amazingly enough, if you walk down the right street (or the intersections of Rosario and Choquehuanca, to be exact), you will run right into an ancient adobe pyramid dating from 200-500 AD. The Huaca Huallamarca is the name of this amazing structure, also playfully named El Pan de Azucar (Sugar Loaf), a structure belonging to the Hualla people. "Huaca" means shrine in Quecha, the native regional language, and "Marca" means the region or town of (ie Huaca Hullamarca means "The Shrine of the place of the Hualla people"). We clambered up the ramp on the side of the pyramid and got a great view of San Isidro. We also took a rest in the peaceful olive grove, named the Bosque El Olivar.

Next, we ventured to the center of Lima (the Lima district, to be exact). Oh, the silly way we decided to get there. For some reason, the maps are very vague and we started from San Isidro to the center of town via El Paseo de la Republica. Anyone who knows Lima is probably laughing right now. The Paseo is a huge highway and is probably the worst place to take a stroll. After three hours, we caved into the fact we had no idea how much longer we had to walk to Lima central and got a taxi, like sane people. Downtown, away from the terrible air pollution of the highway, we had a relaxing lunch and saw the sights of the main square, the Plaza de Armas. Almost every large town has a central Plaza named Plaza de Armas. We also had a great tour of the Santo Domingo monastery, which is very interesting. It is the home of Lima's three homegrown saints, Santa Rosa de Lima, who is the patron saint of Lima, San Martin de Porras, and San Juan Masias. The land for construction of Santa Domingo was granted to a Dominican friar named Vincente de Valverde by Francisco Pizarro, the conquistador who came to claim "El Dorado" for Spain's Charles the I, in 1540.

Of course, no visit to Lima is complete without a seaside stroll in Miraflores, the swanky suburb founded at the turn of the 19th century. We had lunch and a stroll in the Parque del Amor and window shopped in Larcomar, which had a fabulous view of the dramatic cliftops overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

One thing I did notice in Lima, beside the many "Chifas" or Chinese restaurants, is the huge number of Casinos. I can't help but parallel this with Bucharest.
So, enjoy Part 1 of my Thanksgiving trek and be assured I will soon follow up with Parts 2 and 3.

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Photos

The Huaca Huallamarca
A view from below.

The Huaca 2
A close up of the adobe work done on the pyramid. Unfortunately we could not visit the actual tombs inside.

The Huaca 3
This is the ramp leading up to the ceremonial platform on the top of the pyramid. Of course, I was wearing inappropriate shoes, but I did make it to the top.

The Huaca 4
Not for the squimish, this is one of the beautifully preserved mummies buried inside the Huaca. She was in the musuem attached to the Huaca, along with other artifacts uncovered from the tombs. Yes, that is her hair flowing into her lap.

San Isidro
A view from the top of the Huaca of the San Isidro neighborhood.

Bosque El Olivar
Or, the Olive Grove. It was begun with three saplings that survived the journey from Sevilla in 1560, brought over by a former mayor of Lima. In the 18th century, it was part of a plantation with over 2, 800 trees.

El Olivar 2
The garden, which is now a sanctuary that houses 15 species of birds, has trees that are many centuries old.

Plaza de Armas
The main square in downtown Lima was decorated with some lovely cows. It was a beautiful, sunny day.

El Palacio de Gobierno
Or, the Government Palace. Although we missed the "Changing of the Guard" due to our aforementioned spin around the highways, we were in luck!

El Palacio 2
A Chinese delgation was visiting with the President, so we got to see the uniforms, the march and even a little brass band. Even better than the changing of the guard!

La Catedral
Begun in 1535, the Cathedral had to be rebuilt several times due to earthquakes; the latest work was done in 1940.

La Catedral 2
A closer view of the beautiful wooden balconies built in the "Mudejar" style popular in Andalucia and brought over during colonization.

La Catedral 3
A close up of the ornate Baroque-Renaissance style of the facade.

Plaza de Armas 2
A close up of the Plaza, which was cleared by security for the Chinese. The bronze statue in the fountain was commisioned in 1650 by the then Viceroy of Peru, the Count de Salvatierra.

Plaza de Armas 3
A lonesome cow and a close up of the lovely landscaping, which was meticulous once you left behind the highway.

Casa de Correos
What used to be the main Post Office and Telegraph Office. It now houses the Stamp Museum. I wikipedia'd that just for you.

Santo Domingo Tower
Now begins a longer section of my visit of the Santo Domingo monastery, which was very nice. It is a vibrant salmon pink, which is what drew me there in the first place.

Santo Domingo
The inner courtyard of the monastery. The tiles you can see decorating the walls and columns are the original mosaic tiles imported from Sevilla in the 16th century.

Santo Domingo 2
The walls around the courtyard are decorated with original art that was commissioned for the monastery. The level of preservation is amazing considering it is outdoors in the heat, humidity and a fairly earthquake prone region.

Santo Domingo 4
Another view of the courtyard. The tower is in the corner.

Santo Domingo 5
A closer up of the intricate work of the wooden balconies and, of course, Pigeons!