Sunday, Aug. 17, 2003 - 6:12 p.m.
August 17th (Sunday) the guys and I went on our own little walking city tour of Lima. We didn't set out very early since the guys were out until 3AM the night before (I chose not to join them). First we went to the church right next to our hotel, the Monasterio de San Francisco. Many people were congregated in the plaza in front of the church and inside they were having their Sunday Mass. So we decided to take a tour of the convent and catacombs. This old church of Spanish colonial times has been restored and well preserved, being more than 300 years old. We were fortunate to have a tour in English. First we entered the cloister, a long hallway with restored hand painted tiles and wood paintings with gold leaf frames. There was also the perimeter of attractive gardens, and a fountain in the center. Then we visited several different rooms with old carved wooden chairs, lots of paintings, beautiful tiles and a pipe organ still used on special occasions. I liked going upstairs where the organ was because we could see the sanctuary, the people were singing in the service, almost in a haunting way, it drew me to the banister to just stare at the decorative alter below. Even as we walked around the hallways, we could hear the people singing, and it really felt like a monastery that is *alive*.
Finally we went to the catacombs which were discovered in 1943, there's an estimated 25,000 people buried there. Until 1808, before there were cemeteries, the catacombs were used to bury the dead. The catacombs were COOL. Dingy and dark, we saw bones arranged in grave-sized compartments, the skeletons have not remained intact; instead they have put all the same bones together. So one compartment had all femurs, another had skulls. Some were arranged in different designs. One was like a flower pattern, the arm and leg bones spread out like a wheel with skulls in the middle like a centerpiece!
After the church we walked tothe nearby Plaza Mayor, with the main cathedral on one side as well as the Governor's Palace and Archbishop Palace. The buildings (like many in Lima) are predominately canary yellow and plain gray stone. In the plaza were beautiful green grass and red flowers with a functioning fountain in the middle. It was very picturesque.
We walked along the pedestrian mall to our next destination. There are a lot of interesting shops here and some crazy characters. You really get a feel for how big this city is when you walk around downtown, there's a constant stream of people and you always have to look where you're walking so you don't crash into anybody.
Next we visited the Plaza San Martin, which has a statue of San Martin on a rearing horse (another liberator). In Ecuador, and especially I think in Peru, there are many, many plazas with statues of liberators (and I can't tell you how many streets are named after Simon Bolivar! It's probably in the thousands!)
Walking down Jr. De La Union Street we came to Plaza Grau after we passed the impressive Justice Building with a large red and white Peruvian flag flying high above. Next to the plaza is a very large park, Parque de La Exposicion. We wandered inside and found this was also very busy. Here were several buildings including the Art Museum (which was closed).
Later James and I walked around China Town (Ross wasn't feeling well, so he stayed at the hotel). China town wasn't very large, but it was in the heart of the market district.There were lots of things to look at. We walked inside one of the main buildings and it vaguely reminded me of Pike Place Market in Seattle and it's cavernous layout.
We secured our bus tickets for the following day, preparing for another long day on the bus. This time our destination is Nasca, about 450 km south of Lima, a place famous for it's mysterious geoglyphs in the desert floor.
