This the resident turtle that lives at our hotel.  This morning she was enjoying a banana and a shower with the hose.

 

 

We are planning on taking the free walking tour this morning.  After our breakfast we head up to Armas Square where the tour guide gathers participants.

There is a protest going on.  There are a number of people, mostly women chanting and holding red bins with “Democracia” written on them.  They appear to be protesting for various causes.  I didn’t understand all of the Spanish words on their shirts, but Greg took a photo of one woman being interviewed by many media people and her shirt indicated that she was a lesbian.

 

We join the walking tour and begin in Armas Square.  We learn that Arequipa was known as the “White City” for a couple of reasons.  One was the white stone used to construct most of the buildings and the other was that the population was mostly European.  A lot from Spain, but also France and England.

 

 

 

Inside the Cathedral there is a very large and beautiful pipe organ.  We did get to hear it in action.

 

 

 

We listen as our tour guide Patrice tells us the history of this Monastery.  One courtyard for the Spanish and one for the Indigenous People.

 

 

We go into the very large market.  From the upper floor we have a great view of the action below.

 

 

 

It is organized by Sections.  Large signs above tell you what you can expect to find in that section.

 

 

 

We go to one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Arequipa.  The Solar Neighbourhood or Solar Barrio.

 

 

 

 

Stu gets this shot of laundry.  Maybe this will compliment our Croatian laundry photo on our wall at home 🙂  It is a Happy Face!!

 

 

 

After our tour Leslie and I go to investigate a larger grocery store that we see in the square.  This is the meat department.  All selections are out in the open, we assume an employee will have to serve you and wrap your choices, but it is all wide open.  In contrast the cheese which was all in vaccu-sealed packaging was behind a glass counter????

 

 

During the day here the temperatures are very warm, in the mid to high 20’s.  When the sun goes down they drop dramatically and we (except Greg) have been wearing long pants and long sleeves when we go out for dinner.   As we climb in altitude we are expecting the temperatures to fall.