13/02: It's Summer!!!!
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
It’s summer time and it’s wonderful --- sunny and in the high 20s (80sF). Being late actually worked in our favour. We arrived at our hotel (which is actually apartments) just after 12pm and even though check in wasn’t till 3pm our room was ready and we could check in. The apartment isn't very large but it's nice having a small kitchen, living room and a separate bedroom. After settling in we head out to explore the area around the hotel.
About a block from the hotel is the Cerro Santa Lucia or Santa Lucia Hill. The area around and including the hill is a lovely park. At one point in time it had military fortifications.
Today the lookout at the top of the hill is a great place to see the city.
It was interesting to see the same rock formations we saw in Ireland at the Giants Causeway but in a much smaller scale.
Another view looking over the city from a lower level.
Fountaine Neptune is a nice place to sit and relax.
The plaza by Fountaine Neptune is a nice place to sit and relax.
Leaving the park we walk towards what I think is the centre of the city.
There are some beautiful buildings. I usually buy guide books and read up about the places we are going but for some reason I didn't do that for this trip. Between lack of research and all the plaques being in Spanish we get to enjoy looking at things for their beauty without really knowing what they are. The photo doesn't really show it but the flag is really big.
Lots of statues and lots of murals.
When we saw this building we couldn't decide if it was a church (the cross in the middle) or something else (because of the clock in one of the towers. Turns out it is a church, the Iglesia Y Convento de la Merced.
The inside of the church is beautiful. Not a lot of stained glass but a lot of statues.
The desk manager at the hotel told us to walk to the corner, turn left, walk one block and turn right then walk two more blocks and there would be lots of restaurants. We were really happy that we took his advise as we did find some really nice restaurants. We had a hard time choosing but we finally picked one and sat out front on the sidewalk and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and some great wine (me). Ed had a Pisco Sour --- a South American drink we had in Peru 19 years ago.
About a block from the hotel is the Cerro Santa Lucia or Santa Lucia Hill. The area around and including the hill is a lovely park. At one point in time it had military fortifications.
Today the lookout at the top of the hill is a great place to see the city.
It was interesting to see the same rock formations we saw in Ireland at the Giants Causeway but in a much smaller scale.
Another view looking over the city from a lower level.
Fountaine Neptune is a nice place to sit and relax.
The plaza by Fountaine Neptune is a nice place to sit and relax.
Leaving the park we walk towards what I think is the centre of the city.
There are some beautiful buildings. I usually buy guide books and read up about the places we are going but for some reason I didn't do that for this trip. Between lack of research and all the plaques being in Spanish we get to enjoy looking at things for their beauty without really knowing what they are. The photo doesn't really show it but the flag is really big.
Lots of statues and lots of murals.
When we saw this building we couldn't decide if it was a church (the cross in the middle) or something else (because of the clock in one of the towers. Turns out it is a church, the Iglesia Y Convento de la Merced.
The inside of the church is beautiful. Not a lot of stained glass but a lot of statues.
The desk manager at the hotel told us to walk to the corner, turn left, walk one block and turn right then walk two more blocks and there would be lots of restaurants. We were really happy that we took his advise as we did find some really nice restaurants. We had a hard time choosing but we finally picked one and sat out front on the sidewalk and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and some great wine (me). Ed had a Pisco Sour --- a South American drink we had in Peru 19 years ago.