Incan Empires, Lima, Peru Day 1, Part 2 of 2

I wasn’t quite sure what to do today so I took the ship’s transfer into Lima to do a bit of exploring.  They dropped us at the Plaza de Armas de Lima, a magnificent square surrounded by some of the most magnificent architecture that you’ll see.    Around the square was the Cathedral de Lima, the Palacio de Gobierno, the Casa del Oldor, the Palacio Arzobispal de Lima, Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco and my favorite, the Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo….  After being dropped off at the Plaza de Armas, I took some photos and then headed to the Mercado Central.  Got some nice photos there and then headed back to the Plaza.  I spent a fair amount of time, toward the end of our time at the Iglesia y Convento de Santo Domingo, founded in 1535.  The trip up the Bell Tower was wonderful, opening up the city views of Lima to me.  The Convent itself was magnificent and some of the architecture reminded me of the Alhambra.  The Library was unbelievable, still housing over 25,000 volumes.  The First Cloister, decorated with ceramic tiles from Seville have a series of paintings narrating the life of the founder of the Order, St, Dominic of Guzman…  simply magnificent!  There are two parts to this blog……