Arequipa & Lima, Peru

And finally, the trip was winding down....

We came back to Arequipa, worn out and deliriously happy to have a shower and electricity again. We hit the town the next day to do some sight seeing around the city, a totally stress free day (a nice change from the rest of the "vacation".

Coming into the city we got a great shot of one of the volcanoes right outside of the city limits, Misit:


We decide to go to the Convento de Santa Catalina. While convents aren't usually our thing, this one was breathtaking:






The nice part is when we were inside we got to witness all the protesting happening in Arequipa that day, safe behind the doors leading to the street. While we had seen protesting throughout Peru the last two weeks, today was a bit unnerving; Definitely more police that usually present, and the protesters seemed to be gaining spirit. But when all was said and done we moved on, and took some pictures of the main square:



We went back to the hotel room and had a cheap lunch of wine and Oreos, took a nap (it was the wine) and then went to see Juanita. Juanita is a pretty well preserved "mummy" (she's not really a mummy because she was never actually mummified) located at the Museo Santuarios Andinos. She was an Incan teen sacrificed at the top of one of the nearby volcanoes, and was preserved in the ice formed at the top.The museum was great, with awesome artifacts and a great video on how Juanita was discovered and what her back story probably was. Unfortunately, no pictures on the inside.

After the museum, we returned to main the square for some dinner and a couple more pics:


And promptly went to bed. We flew out the next morning to Lima, Peru, our last destination. Thinking the flight left at 7:00, we promptly arrived at the airport at 5:20 am. It was the only time I didn't check the itinerary, because I had just booked that flight before we left. I KNEW it left at 7. But what I forgot was that I changed the flight last second because I found a better deal, for a flight that left at 9 instead. Lets just say I'm lucky Alex forgave me, considering his hatred of the morning, missing free breakfast, and airports. We eventually got to Lima, dropped off our bags, and hit the mall:


The mall was totally cool, because it was built into the side of the shoreline. It took us quite a while to find, considering you can't see it when you're above ground. After sadly realizing that Steve Madden shoes aren't any cheaper in Peru, we took a walk along the shore and found some awesome paragliding. Alex was surprised to find that I was totally up to do it, and we were roarin to go until we found out we didn't have enough money left. Considering it was our last day, we didn't want to hit the ATM one more time, especially since we were so under budget for the trip. Looking back on it now, I wholeheartedly regret not doing it.



Awkward statue in the park:


And alex finally tried Cuy (Guinea Pig). We were a bit disappointed it didn't come out full bodied, little creepy teeth and all, but this was definitely more appetizing: 


Later that night we were at the airport, waiting for our 7pm flight to Miami. We had just enough money to buy me some de-congestion medicine, which unfortunately we didn't, and I had to use my card. So instead I forced Alex to buy four very large cinamon rolls, thinking we could totally eat them and nothing had ever sounded better. I was so wrong. I ate the tops off 1 and a half, and made Alex eat the rest. This is what was left:




We went to the plane with groaning stomachs and a Cinnamon massacre trailing behind us. That night it was hard to comprehend that we were really leaving, and that I had to be back to work on Monday, bright and early. It's been a bit of a miserable week, trying to clean the disaster my brother and puppies have left behind, finding out one of my bills wasn't on auto pay and arguing with various AT&T employees, and finally settling into the swing of things again.


But things aren't winding down, oh no. Just wait till this weekend, and you'll find out our next plans on the horizon!

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