So, without further ado...
We arrived in Lima after midnight on the 16th of August and found out from our cab driver that an earthquake had struck about an hour after we had left Toronto. The quake registered a 7.9 on the Richter scale and caused significant damage. We didn't know at the time what to think - as we drove through the city towards our hotel in Miraflores, we didn't notice anything unusual. There seemed to be electricity as evidenced by the bright lights of the many casinos en route, and the roads appeared to be in good repair.
We found out the next day after our friends came to pick us up in a van for a private city tour that the epicentre was about 150km southwest of Lima although aftershocks were felt in the city centre. They had arrived several days earlier and were in the market at the time negotiating the price for a painting when they felt the ground undulate. Thankfully, CC, who had grown up in Lima, was with them, so they knew what to do. How lucky were we to have missed a quake by 1/2 a day? I don't know what I would have done.
Our first day was spent driving around in a van, with CC acting as our tour guide. The original plan included a stop at the Museo de la Nacion,an anthropological and archaeological museum dedicated to the study of the art and history of the aboriginal people of Peru, but it was closed to check for possible structural damage, so our tour stopped at the Plaza de Armas, which has been declared a world Heritage site by UNESCO. Around the Plaza de Armas stand the Palacio de Gobierno, the Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace, the Municipalidad, and the Club Union.
The Municipalidad
The Archbishop's Palace
The Archbishop's Palace - detail
The Cathedral
The Palacio de Gobierno
Lover's Park at Miraflores and the arts and crafts market not too far from Chinatown with its many colourful storefronts selling alpaca goods...
2 comments:
Wow! The Cathedralis beautiful!
Wow - it looks beautiful! Gawd, I desperately need a vacation!
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