South America- Day 9- Arequipa/Lima-"Get thee to the nunnery"

We had a lovely nights sleep at our hotel, then ate some breakfast and hit the town to try to fit in the sights before our evening flight back to Lima. We first went over to Santo Domingo and La Compania, two great churches. Santo Domingo in particular was neat as it had brick and white stone from the area throughout. We also walked through the cloisters at La Compania which were beautiful with decorated columns and archways.

We walked around the plaza de armes a bit then headed over to the site we were most excited about: the Santa Catalina monastery.It's hard to believe, but it is a city within a city; the place is huge. It is in remarkable condition and is beautifully done. With colors of orange, red, and blue as well as archways and plazas throughout, it was so much fun to wander through and explore this site. We saw examples of cells, religious art, the kitchens, the dining room, and so many other aspects. There is still an operating nunnery within; just in a slightly more modern section that is separated from the public. A true highlight of the city and a place we won't soon forget.

We wandered past the church of San Francisco and down to the Grau bridge to see a better view of the mountains and volcanoes that border the city. We ended up walking back up to the cloisters to have a quieter lunch away from the crowds and to relax a bit.

The last stop was at the Basilica Catedral; which ranked as one of our favorite churches of the trip so far. Its very European in some ways as many of the components were created abroad. The enormous organ was from Belgium and is the largest in south america as well as among the tenth largest in the world (they were tuning it while we were there as well). The pulpit is from lisle, france and cost the equivalent of two million dollars, while the altar came from rome and was paid for by an ariquepan family who controlled over 70% of the town during that time. We walked through the museum as well seeing unbelievably ornate vestaments, jewelry and other religious items. We also got the opportunity to go up to the bell tower and see the views overlooking the plaza as well as a better vantage for the mountains/volcanoes.

We took a 6pm flight back to Lima and got to have dinner with our Booth friends, Stephanie and Roth, who are spending a month in Peru and their friend from college, Rachel. We went to Huacapucllana, which is a traditional restaurant on the incan ruins that are downtown. Definitely a special place and we had an absolute blast catching up and discussing travels. So glad our paths crossed, albeit briefly!

The Hilton we stayed at in Miraflores was amazing. It was so nice and we were disappointed we didn't get to spend more time there but hopefully the hilton in Buenos will be just as wonderful (and we'll be there.for 4 nights). Can't believe we're on our last day in Peru already! We leave for the Brazil side of Iguazu in the morning then onto Argentina!