No Story - Have Pics

Usually when we post a blog we try to have a theme to the posting, but not for this posting! This time we are only posting a random collection of pictures.  Some of them are related, while others are a story in themselves. So here we go!

The Rio Chilli is important to Arequipa.  This pic was taken near the Bolognesi Bridge on our walk to school.

Here is how some water is taken from Rio Chilli to be used downstream - mainly for irrigation.

This field has just been irrigated.

 

Even gardens and lawns are irrigated.  The rock that you see to the left of the tree is a gate to control where the water will flow.

On our walk from the B&B, we would walk above the valley of Rio Chilli, and we can observe the valley floor.  We can also see an "athletic club" located there.  It is named "Club Internacional," and we understand that membership is not for those with a thin pocketbook. The pic is of the entrance to the club.

Tennis, as evidenced by at least 20 red clay courts, is popular by the clientele of the Club. Soccer is also big everywhere!  See the backdrop:  that is the active volcano "El Misti."

A state of the art swimming pool (eat your heart out, Juleen). A very modern LED scoreboard on the right end of the pool.

A side wall of the five-acre convent. The wall provides great shade as we walked to school. The air temperature has not been above 70 degrees, but if in direct sunlight, the sun really beats on you.

This is a stone carving above a side door on the Jesuit church near the main square. Look closely and you see a soldier wielding a sword as he rides over severed heads with turbans.  Ahem!  It's about 350 years old.

Earthquakes are omnipresent. Here is a sign in a restaurant similar to others that we have seen.  The intent is to reassure you. The sign says "Safe area in case of an earthquake."  We hope we never have to take refuge, but if we do, we hope the signs are accurate.  

When Harold has asked some people about construction to avoid earth quake damage, the most common response is that a lot of rebar (steel rods) is used.

The main square can always be located by looking for the cathedral spires. The main cathedral has seen repeated major damage from earth quakes throughout the centuries (even the spires.)

We went to a saxophone concert in this room which is of colonial architecture. The vaulted ceilings of stone are claimed to be very earth quake resistant. They are still standing.  The acoustics were great!

This a distant view of a bridge over the Rio Chilli that was designed by Gustave Eiffel around 1900.  Yes! The Eiffel Tower. The bridge is know as the Iron Bridge (Puente Fierro).

We viewed the Iron bridge (previous pic) from the bridge to no-where. The bridge is complete, but there are no roads or approaches to the bridge!  Julie and friend Joseph marvel as to how this could be.

Street vendors are common. Julie paid this woman two soles (about 75 cents) to have her picture taken. She and an adjacent woman had a good laugh about the crazy white woman who was willing to pay for a picture.

Policemen of all sorts are seen everywhere. They have different uniforms, etc.  We are not sure why the necessity for it all, but that is the way it is.

We have witnessed two protests in the main square after being here for two weeks. As expected, the disadvantaged are protesting oppression.

On the edge of town - where our B&B was - we witnessed other street pedestrians.

This is the kind of bus we rode on when we went on a city tour. We just read that there are about 1.2 million visitors this last year to Arequipa, but only 200,000 are non-Peruvian.

Bull fighting (no matador but instead bull-on-bull) was a popular sport in Arequipa in colonial times and before modern entertainment. Here are two bulls going at it on a busy street in Arequipa.

The beer in Arequipa is good!  Harold thought he would order a "Cusquena Lager Rojo" and was told later he should have just ordered a "Red Lager." 


  Here's to your health.  Salud!