Can not get to Arequipa without sand in your hair. The city is as hidden, misplaced between the Andes and the desert of Nazca, al on Perú. Crossed dunes, we looked to the Pacific, skirted the mountains and came to a version of Spain that got startle.
We approached the stoic figure of Misti volcano beneath which lies the city of Arequipa. He had not dropped the afternoon and stayed at the Casa Andina. The walks wandering around colonial cities always lead to squares and the main square of Arequipa deserved a calm look. It was exceptional. From the arcades surrounding the square is easier to admire the Cathedral Basilica framed by arches and columns. At the bottom, always, the snow-capped Misti. Arequipa has an elegant balance, is more slender than Cuzco, more stylized and whiter. Concentrate the bright facades grace, in their monasteries, in their churches and in their places but has forgotten to erect a monument to Vargas Llosa, its favorite son.
Arequipa has an elegant balance, is more slender than Cuzco, more stylized and whiter
The city has managed to keep the atmosphere of the sixteenth century in its architecture and the harmony of its heyday. The restaurant "La Terraza" offered us the best views of the town. There we met Venice, the owner, fervently we recounted the benefits of Arequipa, his calm, its history, landscapes. The menu included which, a guinea pig and rat-like taste great. After, as the wind was cool on the terrace, Peruvian poncho loaned to accompany the magic of that corner. The Pisco Sour finished a lunch in which we experienced ourselves privileged, the Plaza Mayor wearing his colonial charm.
The historic Juanita, girl 600 years
In the afternoon I went to the Museum of Anthropology. It has several rooms where ceramics are exhibited ancient Andean inhabitants, esparto shoes, old photographs and objects recovered from the Cordillera. But the last section of the museum reserves all the admiration. After black curtains, dim light illuminates a showcase that has frozen the body of a girl at the time of his death. The call Juanita and her story is creepy. Back in 1440 the girl volunteered to premature death. According to the sacred rites, chosen few would live in a paradise after the self-sacrifice. A five barbed mace skewed Juanita's life. He was then placed in the hole of the volcano Ampato to 6.000 meters, where it snows retain all. Many years later, a seismic returned to light that girl frozen now exhibited in the museum of Arequipa.
The call Juanita and her story is creepy. Back in 1440 the girl volunteered to premature death.
José Luis came later and photographed with modesty the girl's face, his gesture terrified at the time the fatal blow. The volcano had rescued a forgotten story in the confines of the Andes. There's more frozen bodies of children whose souls, I want to believe, enjoy in warm havens.
That night we went out to dinner with the tranquility of our work have finished recording in Peru. We chatted next to Plaza Mayor, bronze fountain where water sprouts lacks the pampas. We talk about work, hoping that the recorded images were able to reflect this wealth of experience, the atmosphere of the people and the heritage of the Children of the Sun.
