Plaza de Armas (Plaza Mayor)

Today we took a taxi down to the Plaza de Armas, now called the Plaza Mayor, probably to feel a bit less militaristic. That's ok by me, but I think it loses a bit in translation.

You have to understand something about taxis in Lima. They are very lightly regulated, and I don't think that it would be too far to say that if anyone wants to call their car a taxi, they can call their car a taxi. Some people paint their cars to look like taxis, and those are the ones we shoot for. But none of them are metered. So as we leave our hotel, and they ask us if we need a taxi, we say "no" because THOSE taxis would be very expensive.

We spotted a little Toyota just off the hotel grounds. As many taxis do here, he beeped his horn lightly to see if we needed a cab. I nodded, and he swung right over.

"Plaza Mayor?" I asked.

"hmmm. Oh, Plaza MAYor?" 

"Sí, Plaza Mayor"

Now, my Spanish isn't great (the sainted Mr Meredith from high school sure let me know that) but it isn't bad. I can hold conversations in it, and generally can make my way around. Be that as it may, we struck a deal.

"15"

"OK"

and off we went.

The ride was a right rollicking ride - for a while we had no idea where we were. But after 20 minutes or so we pulled up right in front of the Plaza.

And it looks like this:

and like this:

Lima is sometimes called the City of Balconies. Here is why:

We wandered around the Plaza for a moment, and made our way to the Church of St Francis:

It is a mostly 16th and 17th century church. We took the tour of the monastery (there are still 49 Franciscan monks living there) and it was a great tour

They had tiles from 16th century Seville, paintings imported from 17th century Italy, and frescos that were just discovered after an earthquake knocked off some plaster, and that dated from the 16th century.

Fantastic!

They also took us down to the catacombs where over 25,000 souls are still interned. But their bones are all separated by type. All the femurs in one pile, all the skulls in another. Mildly disconcerting, but it must be a boon for the archaeologists. Most of the basement of the church has not yet been excavated. An amazing place.

We then when into the church, which looks like this:

After that, we wandered the streets, just enjoying the view of old buildings.

And took some more photos

And more photos of balconies:

Until we got to the Plaza San Martin, where there is a woman with a llama on her head:

which we enjoyed.

The other thing we see over and over again is dogs in coats:

I figure the dogs here in Lima are not very tough if they have to wear coats when it is in the 60s.

Here is a panoramic of the Plaza San Martin.

Finally, before lunch, we walked (a long walk!) to another park where some soldiers were practicing for the Fiestas Patrias day celebrations, which start Sunday.

Next up, lunch at Chez Wong. A Chinese chef who cooks Ceviche and stir fry in a french named restaurant with only 10 tables.

Get one if you can!