Used semana santa to
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| Plaza de Armas: downtown Lima. Leah dancing, for money |
It's absolutely beautiful. People always qualify their appreciation of downtown Lima, it seems. I told my colleagues we were going to the centre, and they told me to watch my bags, and not to take a camera, or anything valuable, like water or food. I don't think they've been there recently.
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| Plaza de Armas |
Plaza de Armas is lovely, and knowing nothing about either architecture or history, I shall move on immediately.
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| 1613. And still no Starbucks. |
... bunch of narrow streets leading off the plaza, which take you to a bunch of interesting hidden gems, notably Bar Cordano. I mentioned grandly to Katie that this was in the bar in which the protagonists of Mario Vargas Llosas epic tale had many a conversation.
"Which book was that?" she replied, suspiciously.
"Conversations in a Cathedral" I quipped, realising my mistake.
"Which book was that?" she replied, suspiciously.
"Conversations in a Cathedral" I quipped, realising my mistake.
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| Casa de literatura: bring it, Mario Vargas Llosa. |
So a quick stroll through the Casa de Literatura, a name I am quite possibly making up out of laziness, which has a room each downstairs dedicated to the great Peruvian writers, from Mario Vargas Llosa to... wikipedia... for the full list.
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| Gothic Cathedral, just off the Plaza. |
Finished up opposite Bar Cordano next to the catacombs, which apparently are tops. Didn't visit. All in all, cracking day downtown.
Oh, and finally, the cultural highlight of the day:
Oh, and finally, the cultural highlight of the day:
"People always qualify their appreciation of downtown Lima, it seems. I told my colleagues we were going to the centre, and they told me to watch my bags, and not to take a camera, or anything valuable, like water or food..."
ReplyDeleteIs that because the officials have cleared out the poor people and banished them so it's more appealing for tourists like they did in Mumbai??!
Beautiful architecture though, agreed.
MM