Today, Cathy, Ann and I were up early to catch the 7am
shuttle to Miraflores. We were met by our tour guide and headed to the Huaca Pucllana
Archeological site for a view of the ruins on the outskirts of Miraflores and
then to San Isidro to see the truncated Pyramids both the ruins were from
600AD. The size of the ruins are amazing and still being uncovered. It was even
better with a group of Alpacas running around…
Both Miraflores and San Isidro are areas within the greater Lima area.
Despite the heavy traffic, we made it to the Plaza de Armas de Lima, this is a
large square surrounded by beautiful architecture... Around the square was the
Cathedral de Lima, the Palacio de Gobierno, the Casa del Oldor and the Palacio
Arzobispal de Lima. Next to Plaza San Martin but unfortunately, the General San
Martin monument was shrouded in scaffolding...we continued to St Peters Church
and then to San Francisco Cathedral and catacombs. Due to special events taking
place in the historic center and the area being cordoned off, we circled the
area...after four attempts we finally made it through the barricades on our way
to the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo...the goose chase was well worth the
aggravation of going from gate to gate....the convent was founded in 1535 by
the Dominican order...the Convent itself was stunning and very similar to the
architecture of the Alhambra in Granada...the First Cloister, decorated with
ceramic tiles from Seville have a series of paintings telling the stories of
the life of the founder of the Order...The Library was large for its time and
still houses over 25,000 volumes. I
climbed the Bell Tower for great views of the city…a great venue to explore! I
got a good look at the demonstrations going on below… People aren’t happy! Next, we toured Casa Aliaga...this stunning
historic home is near Lima's main square. It is most astonishing that the home
has been in the same family since 1535, Jeronimo de Aliaga Ramirez, built his
home and 17 generations of his family have lived in it since. The rooms are
filled with original treasures, furnishings and artwork...a nice find! Leaving
downtown Lima we headed for Solar Headlands in the Chorrillos district high
above the city of Lima. Driving up the mountain we got to see shanty homes also
known as favellas in South America...at the top of the mountain, a statue of
Christ and the Blessed Virgin overlooks the city...we had great views of Lima
and Miraflores from on high. After our decent from the mountain, we drove
through the bohemian area known as Barranco to see the Bridge of Sighs and the
fantastic wall art. We had another great day touring with our Guide Alfredo and
driver Javier.
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