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That morning, we
had an arranged trip to see the highlights of Central
Lima. We got on the coach and were bombarded with
more facts by Margarita. |
The first stop
was the monastery of San Francisco.
Margarita led us first to the catacombs
"as they get so busy later in the
day". We very glad we were early,
as they are very claustrophobic and
full of bones laid out in patterns.
Bizarre! |
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The church itself
is very Baroque (a style Margarita called
"South American Baroque";
even more grotesque that its European
counterpart) with lots of statues of
saints in silver and gold and dressed
in brightly coloured clothes. The outside
was rusticated - something which the
local pigeon population found very attractive. |
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Then on to a quiet
square with a little statue of a shoe shine boy.
We are to discover its significance as the tour
drew on, but in the meanwhile we learn that the
president himself was once a street child cleaning
shoes and so when he came to power laid a wreath
here. |
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Margarita then
showed us the Spanish influence -
itself derived from Moorish architecture
- on the city with its wooden balconies
called "jalousies". |
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We were then led
into the main square - Plaza Major - with the Cathedral,
Government Palace and Town Hall |
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La
Catedral |
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Palacio de Gobierno
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Municipalidad
de Lima |
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At the Presidential
Palace, we saw the strangest changing of the Guard
ceremony I have ever seen. |
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The marching was
very slow and they bring their legs
up at right angles to their bodies.
Meanwhile their arms do a curious out-of-step
swing, alternately at 45O
and 90o to the body. |
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The music was very
cheerful and the trombonists stand so
that the slides come through the bars
of the courtyard into the crowd! |
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Margarita
then showed us all a quiet pedestrian street and
she told us of the good cafés there. We had lunch
– I had a very good chicken wrap and Bruce had the
first of many avocado sandwiches during our holiday
- he said the avocados were some of the best he
ever tasted. |
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We visited the
covered arcade (actually, the glass
was removed for cleaning and was never
returned, said Margarita) to buy some
postcards |
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The next stop on
our tour was the Gold Museum. Unfortunately, a whole
morning of Margarita's fascinating but incessant
facts meant that we all defected and left Margarita
to explore by ourselves: it is interesting, but
there is not a great deal of gold there - most of
it was taken by the Spanish and melted down to go
to Spain.
Afterwards, in the museum cafe, Bruce and I bought
some postcards and our first Inca Cola - the local
popular drink - which is an alarming shade of luminous
yellow!
Then back to the coach and back to Miraflores and
the coastal Love Park – a is bit like Park Guell
in Barcelona. Finally we all went back to the
hotel and we decide that after a long day we shall
have a Pisco Sour in the bar, where Sally and John
join us. We then go off next door to the Country
Club for a meal with them – I have an excellent
sea bass followed by sorbets and Bruce has sole
and the chocolate platter… |
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