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Arequipa, Peru |
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When we met for breakfast the following morning, the headlines with photos of the strike in Colca Canyon was splashed across the front page of the Arequipa Newspaper. The locals were getting serious. This was not just a few rocks in the road that could be easily removed. From the photos it looks like several dump trucks full of boulders were dumped all over the highway. The story in the paper described how these protests blocked roads to several tourist destinations including the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. We felt very fortunate that Robert and our Tour Company made sure that we got out of the Canyon and avoided delays that lasted up to three days in some areas.
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Since we returned to Arequipa a day early, our Tour Company offered us the use of a car, driver and a guide to take us where ever we pleased for half a day. We opted to visit a colonial Mansion and the Museo Santuarios Andinos where the frozen body of "Juanita", an Incan Maiden who was sacrificed and preserved in glacial ice for 500 years is kept in a refrigerated crypt. Photos are not allowed inside the museum but there are many photos of Juanita, the things she was buried with her in the ice and the place where she was found in the Musuem's website.
Our second stop was a visit to a colonial mansion, Casa de Morel. The rooms of Casa De Morel are arranged around several courtyards. The stones creating the pattern in the first courtyard are composed of the native white stone and smooth river rocks. Local artisans hired to build the homes included Incan holy symbols in their work like the drain pipe disguised as a Puma. Notice the drainage system carved through the middle of the inner grassy courtyard and the large broken wine vat used as to decorate the far corner of the yard.
Inside the home Christian symbols and paintings of Biblical events adorn the walls of a small chapel and the master bedroom.
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Gold stolen from Inca Temples was no doubt melted down to gild the elaborate frames for Christian Religious depictions within the mansion.
The mansion has distinctly carved doors, thick insulating walls and high hearthed fireplaces throughout the home. Brightly colored faces surrounded by feathers or flowers adorn the crown molding in each corner and occasionally the center of a room. The paint in the photo on the right is what remains of the original unretouched face from the late 1600s when this mansion was constructed.
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As we left Casa de Morel we were aware of a rather large commotion in the area of the Plaza de Armas. As we neared the plaza the streets became crowded, clogged and finally closed by bumper to bumper taxis. The drivers were protesting on ordinance that would prohibit them from picking up fares in front of the Cathedral on the Plaza and an arbitrary decree that ALL taxis should be painted yellow at the owner's expense.
As we approached the plaza the Taxi drivers who all wear white shirts and neckties were milling about the blocked streets acknowledging the support from pedestrians and patrons of the local businesses. It was very remeniscent of the protests I experienced in my youth back in the 1960s. A line of Police in Riot Gear blocked access to the street in front of the Cathedral as Taxis filled every inch of space on the adjacent streets.
We repaired to the Sonesata, a second floor restaurant, where we took a seat near the balcony affording us a great birds-eye view of the protestes in the street below. When the news media showed up with their cameras and lights, chants exploded from the protesters who kept up the din until the media packed up and left. The Drivers then got back into their cabs and went on about their business.
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After lunch we joined the locals in the Plaza enjoying the warm afternoon sun. Linda and I browsed several of the shops while Dick stayed put watching the local children chase the pigeons around the park. When we returned with out goodies we were surprised to find that Dick who spent his adult life up until then ranting on the dangers of handling "disease ridden scavenging birds" not only feeding the pigeons but allowing them to land on him and walk around on him at their will.
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Today we drove around the city getting a good over view of the landscape. Several volcanic mountains surround the city. El Misti is the free standing volcano nearest the city with the triple peaks of Chachani farther off in the distance. These mountains provide a dramatic background for this charming city. We visited a small orchard where we sampled some of the local fare while gazing over the lush fields toward the mountains.
Like most churches in Peru the Baroque and Rococco styles are combined into some of the most intricate designs found anywhere. Woven into the architecture and bas reliefs on these buildings are native flowers, animals and Incan symbols. There were some quaint streets in the area below. Note how the street lamps and planters filled with geraniums are affixed to the outside of the homes on this narrow street. With Chachani in the background I found this street particularily appealing.
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That afternoon we visited the Convent Santa Catalina. It is a monument to an age gone by when nuns were cloistered and hidden from the outside world. Inside the walls we found streets, homes and plazas where the nuns worked and prayed. We first visited the quarters of a novice. The vaulted ceilings provided extra precaution against earthquakes and each bed is in a vaulted alcove.
We learned that there was a strict hierarchy to life in convent with aristocratic nuns who could pay their full way into the convent did needle work making the garments for priests, bishops and Church statuary using the finest cloths and gold and silver thread. Middle class nuns who could only pay the partial entrance fee worked primarily in the bakeries making bread and pasteries that were sold to the townsfolk. Poor nuns who could pay nothing to enter the convent worked as servants for the other nuns.
Nuns were also required to purchase their own homes within the complex and were responsible for its upkeep and repair. If a carpenter or mason was needed, he was accompanied by the Mother Superior who rang a loud bell as she escorted the workmen to the work site so that any nuns in the area could hide themselves until they passed.
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The blue cloisters below was off limits to novices. The wide street below was one of the more desirable addresses with in the convent walls. This large kitchen is a community bakery is where the nuns baked breads, cookies and pasteries for sale to the public. Our docent is demonstrating how the laundry worked. Damaged wine vats were used as wash tubs, large vats for sheets on one side and small vats for articles of clothing. A steady stream of water flowed between the two rows of vats and a rock was used to divert water into the vat. Chachani and El Misti are both visible from within the walls of the Convert.
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After visiting the convent we visited a shop that specialized in Alpaca and Vicuna wool products. The coats, sweaters and scarves were exquisit but living in Houston I would rarely wear them. So I picked up a couple of gift items and called it a day.
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