Old Lima/ Posh Lima

Sunday we spent the day wondering around downtown Lima. We visited the San Fransisco church (one of my favorites. I have now been there three times!), which is an old monestary that was build in the 1600's. It's ornate but simple, with some absolutely amazing murals. Going down to the catacomb smells musty and the walkways are a tight squeeze. This was the public cemetery for Lima until the 1900, you can imagine how many bones were down there! Walking around the Plaza de Armas (the city's main square) is so beautiful and relaxing. A great place to sit on a bench and people watch. We sat up above the remains of the old city wall and enjoyed some ice cream. One of the highlights of the day was the Parque de la Reserva. This is a large park that is home the twelve amazing water fountains! Each of them very unique. They had pyramid fountains, a tea pot pouring tea, a tunnel that is arches of water flowing over your head! The tunnel was incredible! However I did yell at a little boy for soaking my camera. This is also home to a fountain that holds the world record for the highest fountain with a spray that reaches 80 feet high!! Other fountains dance to the music and at night have lights that change into a rainbow of coulors. This morning (Monday) while everyone at home was heading off to work we were sitting on the malacon (the fancy boardwalk) in the posh end of Lima, sipping our Starbucks watching the fog burn away and the surfers catching some excellent waves. We browsed the shops along the boardwalk for a couple of hours and enjoyed the warmth of the sun (I'm even a little pink). And then we were off to the airport to catch our flight to Arequipa. This is the second largest city in Peru. Our hotel here, Casa de Avila, is super cute and our room over looks the garden in the middle. The only downfall of this room is the bathroom door sticks and you have to call to the one on the outside to open it for you. Haha. The receptionist is super nice, Raquel, and she thinks it's hilarious that Katie's inlaws have a llama named Katie, she couldn't stop laughing! We had dinner in the Plaza de Armas in an awesome restaurant where we sat on the upper patio where watching people attempting to cross the street was like watching a game of Frogger. Our dinner tonight was our best meal yet! It was thin sliced beef on top of a bed of red onions, toast, rice topped with a sunny side up egg and fried banana.... Getting a little bit of each on your fork was like a party in your mouth! They all complemented each other so well!! Tomorrow we embark on our two day tour of the Colca Canyon! Hoping to catch a glimpse of a condor. I'm really excited about seeing some smaller villages of Peru!!