Arequipa, Perú

Down we went to the bottom of Perú, to a little city known as Arequipa. The first thing we did? Go to sleep. We had just arrived from a night bus at five in the morning and honestly barely made it to our rooms before falling asleep. We would’ve slept on the street if a person with an apartamento in the same building hadn’t let us in. We would’ve then slept in the lobby of another person hadn’t shown us the living quarters of the front desk person. Finally around 06:00 we got to sleep. I slept for another four hours or so, and Mer slept for another six! We were sleepy chickadees.

A bit later, once we were awake, we walked to Picantería La Capitana for lunch. This was such a fun lunch. We ordered “Almuerzo” and it ended up being a beef and potato soup. We also got a side of butter baked noodles that we thought were hash browns when we saw them on someone else’s plate; which was why we ordered them in the first place. No matter, they were delicious just the same. For a drink we got an entire pitcher of chicha morado. This lunch was 31 soles. Score! We signed the wall and I asked for a “pluma” and the waitress cracked up! Didn’t know why and she explained by air grabbing her shoulders. I later learned that if you say “tienes pluma?” You are asking someone if they are gay. And it can be offensive sometimes, depending on where you are and the situation. Pluma meant pen when I was growing up. Down here pluma just means feather so it’s like asking if they have lots of feathers or if they are flamboyant, etc. Now we know!

We got so full from lunch we had to go home and rest. Also, book update, I am on the 6th book in my series. Things are heating up. That afternoon we chilled and read and blogged, the usual lazy day activities. That evening we met Miriam and Justin for a vegetarian dinner at Omphalos for a night of laughing until we cried and great food. We made plans to do a short trek with them on Monday.

The next day we got brunch (Eco Brunch) and my French toast was covered in so much cinnamon that the syrup would balk up and slide around. Afterward, we walked to a pop up market down the street called “Show Me the Room.” I and to force myself not to buy anything. After window shopping, we went to the Alpaca and textile museum. Nothing too wild that day.

I was very diligent about taking notes in Arequipa. I seem to have short entries each day. If only that had continued. The third day we had a planning day since we didn’t really know what to do after Cusco. We made dinner at the Airbnb, just noodles with tomato sauce, imposter Parmesan cheese, and a hamburger patty used for the meat. We toasted up some bread and had a bottle of wine. We cheersed the night and watched Pride and Prejudice.

Colca Canyon: Please See Post for more details.

We got back from our trek, and headed to a new hostel. No more Airbnb, sad. We got the dinner special, which apparently is the same thing every night: burgers and fries. Got the veggie Patty and it was super delicious. The fries hit the spot too.

The next day was our last day in Arequipa. I didn’t do much in the morning, but Mer ventured out and got her haircut. The real exciting bit was dinner. The restaurant was called Mumis. Two out of the four things we ordered were good. The “burrata” was good and the ossobuco lasagna was fire. The ravioli was offensive and at this point it’s the only contender for what made Mer sick later in the trip. It was a pork adobo ravioli. Sounds innocent enough, but one bite in and I thought they had given us the wrong order since it tasted like fish! Horrendous. Then, to top it off, the cannolis were, “not disgusting but so stupid,” according to Mer.

At least we looked cute eating everything. Again, her hair was fire and it was a full cut and style for only thirteen usd! After dinner we got a final beer with Justin and Miri and it was lowkey sad to say goodbye. They said we can visit them so cheers to them!

That sums up our time in Arequipa. Next stop, Puno.