Arequipa day 2
Today we went to see the Santa Catalina convent.
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| The layout of the convent |
The convent was not open to the public for 391 years till 1970. They still have 20+ nuns living in the modernized area. But at the peak there's 400 nuns and servants in the convent
But they had multiple restorations over the years with earth quake damages that they are forced to open to the public to raise funds.
It's curated to show the rooms of the nuns. They are donated/built by the nun's family so some of them look like villas. They have a sitting area with a sleeping area under the arch in case of earth quake. Some of them have a kitchen area and a bathroom. Most of them no longer have a 2nd floor due to damages but they show stairs going upwards.
The outdoor area is converted to a real cafe that's super cute. And they arranged the water faucets to show the big vats used for washing clothes.
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| Saint Catalina convent |
I was fascinated with the high quality pottery seen in the cabinets.
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| The high quality porcelain in the convent |
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| The church in the convent |
The next place we visited is a Andean museum.
We were curious about learning more of the Inka culture after MP. But this museum it is more about the finds of human sacrifices remains found in the Misti volcanos of Misti and other volcanos. And we are not allowed to take pictures.
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| Andean Museum |
Apparently the Inca sacrificed the children when they see the volcano erupting. Juanita remains is the one that's being shown in the museum. They showed the figurines made of gold which is for the sun, made of seashells that's red, for water, and silver for the moon.
They also have figurines of llamas which has straight back and ears vs vicunas which has a slanted back and ears curved in opposite direction.
They also found alpaca shawl and pins made of silver for Juanita to hold it together. The other 3 children found with her only has copper which speculated that she was the more noble child.
They have a system to store info using knots etc that nobody could decipher so far.
We went for lunch at Ricova per Diana suggestion for Chufa. I wanted to try the shrimp stew that they eat during Easter but was told the shrimps are not in season and too pricy.
Instead we had a adobo stew (which has pork) and a pizza. The waiter told us that we can't eat the Ricotto pepper if we can't take spicy food 😂 apparently he had issues with a tourist eating that at the beginning and complained she can't taste anything for the rest of the meal lol
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| Adobo stew and pizza at Ricova |
St Francisco church was on the list too. But we decide not to visit the museum but to just check out the altar and main church.
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| St Francisco church courtyard |
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| Inside the church |
We went to the hotel roof top bar to get a feel for the sunset.
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| Bill's crazy Machu Pichuu cocktail and my tame pisco sour |
We brought our drink to our room to enjoy the balcony and our last night at Arequipa.
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| Enjoying the last night of our view |
What I realized is the balcony is great that we can hear the bar music and the view. But it also means we can't sleep with the patio door open till 12pm when the streets are totally quiet. So there's pros and cons but I definitely enjoyed this precious outdoor space and our hotel room!
The parking garage below our hotel room provided lots of entertainment! Small lots, lots of endless big cars, busy exit street that's a death trap!
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| The busy garage that provided lots of entertainment |
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