Coincidentally Anne and Paul, whom we had met the night before, were in the front seat on the upper deck. There seemed little of interest but Jim, Sarah and Charlotte thought the traffic was hilarious. No one seemed to adhere to any rules and cars were weaving in and out despite the multitude of traffic officials with whistles. There was a barrage of cacophonous sound, car horns hooting non stop and traffic wardens blowing their whistles.
On the bus it was difficult to hear the female guide because the other nationalities kept chatting throughout the English commentary. When the male guide spoke he was more audible.
We passed Huaca Pucllana, the site of the only remaining pre-Inca ruins in Miraflores. It is an ancient adobe and clay pyramid dating from around 500 BC.
Shoe shine is very prevalent throughout Peru though not as elevated as in this case.
At some stage we stopped and took to our feet. I had no idea where we were going but duly followed the guide. It was soon clear that we were in a church.
We were, in fact, in Lima's Cathedral, Lima's most iconic building and home to the tomb of Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish Conquistador. It is also Lima's best museum of religious art. The full name of the Cathedral is The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. The church was rebuilt 3 times. In 1687 an earthquake destroyed the vaults and it took 10 years for the reconstruction. There was another earthquake in 1746 followed by 12 years of reconstruction. Then in 1893 the Cathedral was closed for repairs Before we really realised where we were we were brought into a courtyard where the guide said "Everyone go to the toilet". I thought that was hilarious as if we could all pee on demand!
The side altars in the Cathedral were magnificent, all richly coloured, plated and carved.
A view of the gold-plated main altar from the aisle.
Artistic depiction of the arrival in Peru of Pizarro.
Magnificent mosaic work in this coat of arms.
Below is the tomb of Francisco Pizarro
I think the skull of Pizarro was discovered in this trunk.
St. John the Baptist side altar.
The male guide, who had the better English took a group of English-understanding people (including us) and the girl took the Spanish-understanding people. He explained the most important altarpieces and then he brought us to the crypt where the wealthy beneficiaries were buried. We also saw coffins of children.
Memorials of various Archbishops.
A pile of skulls!
Vestments (stitched in gold) and gold Monstrance
Beautifully carved choir stalls.
Pope's hat.
Pope's shoes.
I was, in equal parts, amazed and horrified at the display of wealth of the Catholic Church.
From the Cathedral we emerged onto the Plaza Mejor which was closed because of a demonstration against corruption. Police were everywhere with riot gear and whistles which were stridently blown if anyone ventured down the steps of the Cathedral. Jim was obviously oblivious to it as he continued down into the square.
We were guided back to the bus and then back to the pick up point from where we went to a restaurant specialising in Peruvian food to have lunch. Jim and Sarah had ceviche, Charlotte had crab causa and I had parmesan scallops. We were given a small complimentary pisco sour which we thought was very nice.
Then we walked back to the Santa Cruz for a bit of a rest. Jim and I went down to the lobby at about 5pm for a coffee (our first meeting with the group was scheduled for 6pm) to discover that 6 or 7 of the group were already gathered and acquainted. a Canadian woman (Heather, I later found out) was holding court. She was voluble and "knowledgeable" and dominated. Alarm bells! We were summoned to join the group. Henry, our tour leader, joined us and we waited for the 16th member of the group to arrive. She was a 20 year old girl who had fallen asleep in her from after a long journey from Athens. Other than Lotte (the 20 year old) Sara, at 59, was the youngest of our group. Jim, as it turned out, was the 2nd oldest. Dave (the oldest at 72) and Bev were from Australia. Dave proved to be very voluble too using every opportunity to give us the benefit of his long life's experience. The afore-mentioned Heather and her husband Stu were from Vancouver Island. Anne and Paul, already met, were from outside Manchester. Phil (originally Irish) and Gill were from Tenerife. Pauline was a Chinese woman from London. Verena was from Bristol, I think. She and Pauline became fast friends as they shared a room. Magdalena (a well-preserved 70 I thought but in fact turned 61 during the trip) was from Johannesburg, South Africa. So there we were!
Henry certainly got rid of the negatives first - suggesting that we had already experienced the best Peru had to offer - causing my trepidation to return after a largely positive day. There seemed little to look forward to. Finally, in preparation for the following day, he led us to locate a supermarket for snacks for our local bus journey in the morning. He also led us to a restaurant. Sarah had a look at the menu and wasn't impressed. We went to Totto and bought some nuts etc and then we found a cafe where Sarah, Charlotte and Lotte (who had joined us) had sandwiches. Jim and I had meatballs which were very nice. Then it was back to the hotel for the others to have a nightcap. We had to be ready next morning for 11.20am, packed for our local bus journey.
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