"Downtown"

Petula Clark told us how it was back in the 60s:

Downtown -- The lights are much brighter there

You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares

So go downtown, things'll be great when you're

Downtown - no finer place, for sure

Downtown - everything's waiting for you.

She probably wasn’t singing about “downtown” in Arequipa, Peru, but that’s where we will take you today.

Our “downtown” for these 3 months consists largely of a Spanish-colonial style plaza (called the “Plaza de Armas” – Plaza of the Armed Forces) surrounded by architecturally graceful government, city and religious buildings.  The space was designed in 1540 as the city center where the religious, social, civic and entertainment (such as bullfights) needs of a community could be met.  However, its main function (at least until 1868) was open-market commercial activity. 

Today, there is no open market.  Instead, the central plaza is park-like with walkways, grass, flowers, trees, benches, wonderful old gas lamps, and a fountain in the middle, complete with a statue.  Atop the fountain stands an angel statue known locally as ¨turututu¨ because of the trumpet in his (her?) hand.  In 1910, however, the statue was removed because it was considered "not aesthetic" (hmmmm), and it ended up in a warehouse.  Happily, the trumpeteering angel was restored in 1920 and now again stands proudly atop the fountain. 

In the plaza on any given day, you will also see hundreds of pigeons who especially love the trumpet, many shoe-shine people, professional photographers, men preaching about “the good book,” and hundreds of people who enjoy the park all hours of the day.  It truly does seem to be a place where people go to “forget all their troubles.”

the fountain with the turu-tutu trumpeteer

 

Surrounding the square are beautiful buildings all made from sillar, the white volcanic rock that gives Arequipa its name of the “white city.”

On one side of the plaza are the city government buildings, although our Spanish teacher said that the mayor and other government officials have moved to a side street because of a large number of protest marches which tie up traffic around the square.

You can see the two-story buildings across the park, and directly in front, you can see a gentleman in a white shirt trying to gain some converts.

It was protests such as these that caused the city officials to move to another street because traffic was being tied up.  The move didn't do any good; the plaza is still the favored spot for protests. 

On two of the other sides one can find shops, banks, and travel agencies, and on the second-story balconies, above the graceful colonnade arches, there are great little restaurants where one can stop for a meal, a Cuesqueña beer (the local favorite), or a snack.  Originally, these buildings were one story, but the second-stories were added in 1915 as enclosed structures.  However, after the 1958 & 1960 earthquakes severely damaged the second-stories, it was decided to rebuild them with open arches because the arch is earthquake resistant.

This is a view of the Plaza from one of the second-story outdoor restaurants. 

and this is a view of the restaurants from the plaza.

On the fourth side is the beautiful twin-towered cathedral, founded in 1612 and rebuilt at various times because of earthquakes and fire.  La Catedral is actually the only cathedral in Peru to stretch the entire length of a plaza, and apparently it is also only one of some 100 basilicas permitted to fly the Vatican flag (haven’t been able to find out why though).

The inside houses an impressive Belgian pipe organ, as well as an ornate wooden pulpit brought to Arequipa from France in the early 1900s. While the outside of the cathedral is elaborate, the inside is more modest in appearance. 

   

The cathedral is a block long, and the nave runs parallel to the street, so the door you see is actually at the side of the main nave -- very unusual.

The lighting at night is spectacular.

a long-shot view of the inside.

a closer look at the front

the ornate pulpit which came from France

At the bottom of the pulpit is Lucifer being stamped out by the "good guys"

the columns are ornately decorated

This figure is the patron saint of Arequipa -- La Asunta

the Belgian pipe organ at the rear of the church

Arequipa's historic center was declared a UNESCO orld Heritage site in 2000. The UNESCO website provides this rationale for its designation:

The Historical Centre of Arequipa is an outstanding example of a colonial settlement, challenged by natural conditions, indigenous influences, the process of conquest and evangelization, and the spectacular nature of its setting. Its ornamented architecture represents a masterpiece of the creative integration of European and native characteristics, crucial for the cultural expression of the entire region.

And now, you have been there too, albeit vicariously!

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!

our new digs

Sabado (Saturday) was a great day.  We moved into our own "home."  We stayed in Lula's B & B for two weeks, reveled in the views from our terrace and thoroughly enjoyed Max's cooking, but it was time for us to move on.

Julie found a promising place online, and after some difficulties connecting with the owner, we finally were able to see the place.  We liked it and rented it for one month, potentially longer.

It is quite small, especially when compared to our place last year which came complete with a maid's quarters.  This one has a small living room, a small eat-in kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom/closet upstairs.  Size aside, it has many attributes.  It is actually a part of a "compound" which is within a gated community.  The owners live in the rest of the compound, and we have a lovely garden out our glass front door.  The unit also includes a picnic table and a grill.  The apartment has been recently redone, so we have tile floors, granite counter tops, new appliances, furniture, etc.  We also have cable TV, complete with HBO and Cinemax, as well as a CD player and wi-fi.  What more could one ask for?

Here are some pics for your viewing enjoyment:

Here is the door knob that provides entrance to "our" compound.

As you enter, you see the rectangular garden with beautiful flowers and plants.  The table is right in front of our patio door entrance.  The rest of the buildings belong to the owner. 

Here is another view of the garden, along with a view of the grill which we can use (under the gray cover).

Here is our front door, and the window off to the left is our kitchen window. 

You enter the front door into our living room, complete with a brand new leather couch that is also a sofa bed.

Moving around the living room, this decorative wall and table is straight across from the door (the couch is on your right as you look at the picture).  And yes, that's "moi" in the mirror.  It's hard to take a picture of a mirror without having your own image in the mirror -- unless you are a ghost, which I, apparently, am not. 

And the last wall in the living room holds the TV, VCR, etc.

Here is our pint-sized kitchen, which does everything it needs to do.

And within the kitchen we have a table/chairs (we obviously won't be doing much entertaining, but there are a couple more chairs, just in case).  The circular staircase you see goes up to our bedroom.

Next to the staircase, we also have a nice-sized pantry and frig.

This is the little hallway between the kitchen and living room.  
It goes to the bathroom.

And here is our bathroom.  No problem with hot water  :-).

And here is our bed (rather sloppily made, I see). 

And lastly, we have our clothes closet. 

It meets all of our needs and has the plus of being very quiet.  The price is $600 per month which is a bit high (although less than we paid in Ecuador for our "mansion"), but it has other assets that we couldn't dismiss.  In addition to the beautiful garden, we like the owners, both of whom speak decent English.  Cesar is an accountant for a copper mine.  They have a gardener and at least two maids (I only have Harold).   It is somewhat close to downtown and is in an area of town which has some good restaurants.

So, life is good in Peru!