Religion, Death, Torture, and Luxury

My day began with a visit to the main cathedral in Central Lima. This ancient church was first built in 1555, later expanded, and then flattened in an earthquake in 1746. It was promptly rebuilt to resemble the original. Then Pope John Paul II renamed and added adornments to some of the statues. Perhaps he made other changes as well, since the tour guide kept mentioning him, but I couldn't understand everything she said.

I was struck by the reverence and enjoyed the trancendent feelings brought about by the stained glass, sculpture, and paintings. In a chamber below the pulpit, the supposed body of Francisco Pizzaro resides, along with a handful of skulls and preserved bones.

My next stop was the Church of San Francisco, where tens of thousands of bodies were entombed within the catacombes. The smell was unique and ancient. I followed a tour given in Castillo Spanish, and was quite pleased to find that I understood at least the gist of everything that was said. My Spanish is coming back to me, but not reliably. Sometimes I am able to communicate well enough that people begin speaking quickly, and use words I don't understand. When this happens, it is all I can do to croak "no entiendo" (is this even correct?), and revert to hand gestures and grunts.

After the catacombs, I made my way to the Museo de la Inquisition, where Inquisition trials took place for hundreds of years. Wax models now stand in for the accused, frozen solid in poses of perpetual torture. After walking around downtown Lima long enough to get a feel for it, I then hopped a cab for the Parque Salazar overlooking the beach in Miraflores. I made it just in time to see a muted red sun descend into the sea mist. I grabbed a table at Mango´s restaurant at the edge of the cliff, and settled down to a meal that would be considered California Fusion cuisine back home. Although non-traditional for Peru, and not as good as last evening's ceviche, I enjoyed the view of the coast and the atmosphere. The meal cost many soles, but was still inexpensive compared to home.

Tomorrow I fly out to Cusco for more adventure.