Day One- Arequipa

It's very funny for me to write in my blog in English. I have to translate from my journal which is in Spanish. Arequipa is one of the largest cities in Peru, and it has a rich history and culture of it's own. Arequipa has it's own food, own people, and many people even consider it it's own country. We arrived in Arequipa early in the morning after 15 hours on a bus and got right on another bus to tour for the whole day. I'm not sure if that was the best plan since we were all wiped out from the travelling, but it was still a good day.
   We drove past the Plaza de Armas of Arequipa, but couldn't see much. We did get a good stop at a beautiful church made from volcanic rock, kind of coral colored. Most of the grand buildings in Arequipa are made from a white volcanic rock, earning the city the nickname, Ciudad Blanca or White city. We visited a mansion next. I expected a mansion with 3 floors and many paintings and huge rooms, but it wasn't that at all. Just one huge floor, all the cielings were arched for air flow, and all the walls were plain white. The rooms were surprisingly small too. It is one of the older houses of Arequipa, and it was bought by the rich families for generations.
   We visited a site to view the 3 main volcanoes of Arequipa next. The volcanoes are Chachani, Misti ( the most important to the Arequipeanas) and PichuPichu. Misti is something that some people of Arequipa even worship. Very important to their culture. We ate our huge 4 course lunch next and took a bus ride to Sonccomarca, a huge hill with a figure of Jesus on it. The view from the top was so beautiful! We were there at sunset too, wonderful!! We returned tiredly to our hotel that night and slept well!! It was a lovely first day.
I hope you enjoyed this account of only one day of ten!

L

This photo is of Mattheiu from Belgium and I acting like the Jesus on Sonccomarca!