arequipa

We had such a nice time relaxing and exploring in the White City, Arequipa.  Click here to see all the pictures...

We were really happy with the hotel.  It was a pink mansion built in the 1950's.

  

The first morning we got up and walked around the main center.

 

In the afternoon we went to a museum of modern art.

The next day we took a bus tour to be able to see most of the highlights in 4 hours, including some places outside the city.  For me I think the highlight was the Founder's Mansion.  It was the home of a Spanish soldier who got permission from the Incas to set up there.

 

The next day we relaxed...

And on our last day we saw a couple museums and colonial houses.  The most interesting museum was the Andean Sanctuaries Museum.  First you watch a National Geographic video about the mummies of Inca child sacrifices found on top of the volcanoes (which I remember watching in 10th grade world history).  Then you see all kinds of artifacts found with the mummies, and in the end you see one of the mummies.  They are SO well preserved because from the moment of death they were frozen in ice; then they were discovered just when there was volcanic activity that thawed the ice.  The little girl mummy we saw was so preserved that you could see the wrinkles in the skin of her finger knuckles.  

This is a picture of the first mulberry tree in Arequipa, brought over from Italy, as seen in the Casa Moral (Mulberry House).

The trip was the perfect length.  When it was time to go home we felt satisfied with vacation and happy to be going home.