Hotel (La Casa de mi Abuela)
Town Square
Whoever designed Arequipa understood what the function of a town square is. A fountain and lawn area in the middle, surrounded by two or three storey buildings that house shops, markets, cafes and restaurants. Bung a cathedral on one side and you're done. This arrangement brings in the people!
Compare the design of Arequipa to Adelaide. You've got the fountain and lawn area, but too much bisecting roadways surrounded by - WTF? - office buildings. There's no reason to be in the Square except to walk across it to one of the offices! Bollocks, isn't it? Has anyone actually seen Colonel Light's town planning qualifications? He probably found them in a packet of gruel (or whatever they had for breakfast back then).
This looks like a flat white, but it's the local version I call a "Crappacino". Crap texture and taste with a hint of coffee. One of the first things I did coming back to Adelaide was have a real flat white at Buongournio's on The Parade. Yay!
Adelaide gets a lot of things right. Except town squares.
This girl reminds me of a line in a Shawn Mullins' song: "She'd look real pretty if she'd just smile every once in a while". The local women are descended from the Incas or the Spanish (or both). The Spanish types seem to be more uptight / tense than the Inca types. And the gramaphone? I have no idea.
Out and About
This meal really impressed me. Everyone ordered boring crepes (the house specialty) but then they started eyeing off my brillant choice. Then they made jibes about me photographing my meal - only to start doing the same themselves.
Sometimes it's tough staying out in front of the curve.
The lady on the right is Carla, the Tucan tour leader. Each side excursion has it's own tour leader, with Carla organising all the details in-between. The two of us didn't have any rapport but she did a very good job (with a few exceptions).
The younger girls can sing really well. Must be a Gen-Y thing - they're always hanging off the end of an ipod. This worked out well, as later in the tour Andy-the-uber-guitarist joined our merry little group.
Here's Mike tucking into the local dish: fried guinea pig. Check out the presentation!