Lazing around In Arequipa

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Lets cut to the chase. Lonely Planet  describes Arequipa thus....

'The city of Arequipa nestles in a fertile valley under the perfectly cone-shaped volcano of El Misti (5822m/19,101ft). Rising majestically behind the cathedral, El Misti is flanked to the left by the higher and more ragged Chachani (6075m/19,931ft) and to the right by the lower peak of Pichu Pichu (5571m/18,278ft).

The city center is based on a colonial checkerboard pattern around Plaza de Armas. Because street names change every few blocks, addresses can be confusing. Generally, they have different names to the north, south, east and west of Plaza de Armas, then change names again further out from the center.'

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So basically its well nice for lazing and I did pop into quite a few coffee houses.

The architectural highlight for me was the rather impressive: Monasterio de Santa Catalina - a cloistered convent. It was built in 1580 and was enlarged in the C17. The huge monastery is predominantly of the Mudejar style, and is characterised by the vividly painted walls (which are actually quite modernly abstract). Apparently there are approximately 20 nuns living in the northern corner of the complex but alas I saw only a couple of these shy creatures. Every concievable inch of space has been used and internal and external spaces are carved out of the solid whole. The cells are very modular and yet organic with garden to front and rear and simple living space between usually with pray space. The most interesting is the external kitchen to the rear. Alas the pics don´t do it justice.