The Versly arrived before we got up this morning, so we let them sleep. We did let the girls sleep in a bit, but it has been tough getting them out of bed.... many knocks at the door!
Why, she asked, did she have to do a video. After all, no one I know likes the sound of their own voice much less their own selves on a video... but last night Beth and I watched some vlogs of the girls from the Big Trip and were feeling quite nostalgic... and old!
Arequipa is surrounded by 3 massive volcanoes - Chachani, Misti and Pichu Pichu (all dormant, I think, Nana). Of the three, the one in the middle, Misti, is almost as perfectly formed as Mount Fuji. Almost anywhere you walk in town you can see a snow capped peak framed in the background. Yanahuara was a great little spot to see the volcanos with a bit more of an unobstructed view (and a good excuse for a nice walk!).
This restaurant was another we’d found on the eclectic list of recommended restaurants. It was run by a really nice guy from Portland and his wife who hailed from Lima (who wasn’t there... more on that later). Ten minutes after we arrived, the Versly strolled in and we were reunited at last. The kids soon formed a table for four and caught up, and the adults did the same.
The restaurant offered craft beer and comfort food with a Peruvian twist, all in an eclectic, artsy place full of beer paraphernalia and wall art. The owner filled us in on some of challenges of starting a business in a place with a slightly corrupt local government. They’d gotten raided a dozen times in the first 8 months, all at the behest and paid for by their local competitors. They had to go so far as to sue the local municipality to make the back off. Crazy that even with a local part owner, they could get away with that.
A couple of the meals were slightly off, and the owner was very apologetic giving us a couple of extra beers (his own brewed Black Jesus Dark, which was a surprisingly hoppy supper dark ale) and eventually Alex a second meal on the house when the chef ended up mistakenly making his proper meal late! Anyway, we walked away happy and the owner laughingly did own the error saying that’s what usually happens when his wife was away.
On the way back to the plaza, I led us up to the entrance of Santa Catalina Monastery suggesting my kids had a choice of whether to take an hour walk inside this very old, 5 acre ticketed site, or to head back the hotel. The four kids practically bolted before I’d finished.
Alex, Kim, Beth and I toured the monastery grounds for a while. It was peaceful and a nice spot for some excellent photos, but the religious significance of the place was a little lost on us. Perhaps it was all the cheesy looking statues, carvings and painted renditions of Jesus et al. The nuns who lived here, however, sure had a peaceful place to live with excellent views of snow capped Misti and Chachani.
After Santa Catalina, we hit some nearby trekking type stores, where I noticed everyone was glued to the Peru vs Uruguay soccer match. Those supporters last night weren’t getting ready for a local match, they were getting psyched for today’s Cupa America match where Peru was playing in the quarter final as sever underdog to Uruguay.
We made it down to Plaza de Armas just as the game ended tied nil nil (lol) in regulation and I watched a series of second floor sports bars packed with locals as they roared every time their side scored during the penalty shootout at the end of the game. They ended up winning 5-4 in penalties, but beyond a one time cheer, there was no massive celebration. Maybe on Wednesday when they take on Chile in the semis.
We chilled for an hour then went for an earlier dinner at Hatunpa, another recommendation and this time for a typical Andean meal, which was basically many types of sliced boiled potatoes covered by your choice of toppings - a kind of Peruvian poutine, if you will. The meals mostly disappeared pretty quickly, but we all agreed it wouldn’t be our first choice to repeat.
It was time for the concert! We made our way down to Calle Mercaderes, which reminded me of a mini İstiklal Caddesi #triprefitis to get in line for our Queen (tribute) concert. We had gotten the cheap seats so went to the back of the line to wait for the second floor mezzanine seats to be let in.
The theatre was like an old style, two storey movie house. We got decent, semi comfy seats in the upper deck and waited for the opening band.... the Beatles. After the first 30 seconds of a pudgy, Latino Paul McCartney reading lyrics off his phone and singing way off tune, I concluded that the main feature Queen band would potentially be awesome.... how else could they justify selling tickets to this crap?
We even had a heckler next to us, an old man who was surly yelling “get off the stage you bums!”. They finally closed their performance after about five songs. I think I even heard “Paul” say “lo siento” which I’d learned earlier today means sorry. Lo Siento Paulito, no amount of dry ice could shroud you from such an awful performance.
We even had a heckler next to us, an old man who was surly yelling “get off the stage you bums!”. They finally closed their performance after about five songs. I think I even heard “Paul” say “lo siento” which I’d learned earlier today means sorry. Lo Siento Paulito, no amount of dry ice could shroud you from such an awful performance.
Queen, however, was awesome.
The whole audience was singing and moving in unison.
He got everyone involved and did great renditions of all the classics, while providing some comic relief between some songs (which we didn’t understand). Even the old heckler man didn’t heckle, though he wasn’t cheering (maybe he thought it was the real band performing tonight?).
We all left the concert with that certain energy you get when you’ve witnessed something special. Calle Mercaderes was hopping, with street vendors and crowds of people of all ages all over the place. We stopped briefly to watch a little group of twenty something guys take turns doing cool dance moves one by one.
Plaza de Armas was packed too, though it was more of a “gathering” of people than a Saturday night party vibe.
Plaza de Armas was packed too, though it was more of a “gathering” of people than a Saturday night party vibe.
What a great first day with our traveling companions. The kids have settled in nicely with each other and it’s nice to be with Kim and Alex on another adventure.
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