June 3,

We were up and about by 0800. We went up to our rooftop to enjoy our Javas. It was surreal – seeing Misti mountain, the cone pointed volcanic mound. It’s been a hot minute since we were here, like a quarter of a century ago!!!🤣😂  We remembered the volcanic mountains around here. Of course Jeff is better at that than I am. Anyway we both get a vibe – sorry for the cliche – here in Peru. We, neither one, can quite put our finger on it, but it definitely hits the fondness meter for us both! The air quality though… Javas, complete and hungry, we went back down to our apartment, and had our breakfast of oatmeal, and mango Greek yogurt- very lovely!

Around 1030, we went out to refamiliarize ourselves with Arequipa. We walked to the Mirador de Yanahuara (Viewpoint of Yanahuara). It was not very far from our place, a matter of blocks. Once there I remembered the Arches and the Plaza de Yanahuara and the spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. You can see the three main volcanoes from here Misti, Chachani, and Pichu Pichu. On one corner of the plaza was the beautiful Parroquia San Juan Bautista de Yanahuara (Parish of John the Baptist). I did not remember this church. The facade was very ornately carved with the white volcanic rock, which covers most buildings (and those arches) in Arequipa. This makes the city affectionately known as La Ciudad Blanca (The White City). Anyway the main church was closed, but a side chapel was open. I went in. It was simple but very lovely with an exposed old-style painting on the back wall, accented by the arched ceiling.
From here we walked to a main street. There was a sculpture of fighting bulls. We crossed the street and went to a grocery store.

Goods in hand we went back to our place and unloaded them, then back out for lunch. We went to a nearby busy restaurant, called La Nueva Polomino, boasting a slogan of “Proudly Spicy Restaurant”. It was a very large place, but sectioned off seating areas, so it did not seem so big. The staff were all dressed in simple Peruvian style outfits. We were given an English menu. Our waiter, Cesar,was very nice and understood some English. I had Rocoto Relleno Tradicional Con Papa Gratinada, which was a stuffed red pepper with minced beef and pork, peanuts, egg, olives, and raisins; accompanied by gratinated potatoes (two-half potato wedges, not slices, with the cheese covering). It seemed like a bunch of food – until Jeff got his. Mine meal was great, but got very spicy as you got into it! I had a natural Chicha of Maiz Morado (beverage of purple corn) for a drink. Jeff had Picante Del Dia, which was beef neck stew, daily stew, daily sarza (salad), rice, and a small torrejita (a type of fritter). There was a lot of food, and his was great as well! This meal was Jeff’s third choice as the first two from the daily menu were already gone! It was only 45 minutes after they had opened!! Anyway, Jeff also had Chicha de Guinapo, Doctorcito (beverage of fermented black corn; doctorcito means “little doctor” as it acts a “cure” for a heavy meal or a hangover). We both were relishing our Peruvian dishes. This was something we remembered fondly also. Jeff had his salad put in a container as takeaway. We got the check and discovered they had “Americano”-ized his dish – so maybe his dish was supposed to be spicy as well. Anyway, we paid 109.70 PEN (Peruvian Sol) which was $32.16. We went the ½ block back to our place, stopping at a lady selling Queso Helado. This is an Arequipa Peruvian ice cream, but it doesn’t have cheese or cream. It’s made with fresh whole milk and condensed milk. We will eat it later! We relaxed as we digested all that food, in other words we had a food coma.🤣

Around 1630 we went back out just to walk about. We went down by the river, onto the promenade alongside it. There was a war hero statue of Army Col. Don Francisco Bolognesi Cervantes. The placard said he performed “outstanding action in defense of the homeland on June 7,1880.” The promenade was occupied with many locals out for a stroll, or dallying in romance. Even the birds were loving the area. We saw our first Mitred Parakeets. They had some red on their heads, otherwise all green. The river surprised me – it was flowing nicely. We went back to our place to see the sunset, meandering a different way back. We stopped at a bakery and bought a rosemary focaccia for supper, as well as that ice cream. The sunset was not much, but we watched as the shadow of the sun rose up Misti mountain. We love Peru!