Lima, Peru

"A Little Chile" is going to turn now to "A Little Peru," as my Mom and Gordon came to visit for a week, and we began our travels in Lima. Lima is yet another wonderful South American city, founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535. The city tour took us to Plaza San Martin, named in honor of General José de San Martín, who proclaimed Peruvian independence from Spain in that spot on July 28, 1821. However, the most impressive plaza I've seen so far was Lima's Plaza de Armas, where we saw the daily changing of the guard in the front of Catedral de Lima (see left photo). During early Spanish colonial times, Lima was the continent’s richest, most important town. I think the grandeur of the city's main plaza seems to indicate this. The yellow church you see above is part of the Monasterio de San Francisco, where we were able to visit the library, which contains antique texts dating back to the conquistadores, and also the catacombs/crypts, which I found to be a little creepy! There were thousands of people buried under this area, and archaeologists have recovered their skulls and bones, which are on display. Many were Incans whom the Spanish converted to Catholicism. When school children come to visit, they apparently have to make sure none of the little ones try to exit with a bone. No need to worry about my doing that! :)