Hostelworld Travel Blog

1. Day two in Lima - Plaza de Armas and other main sights

   posted by Colm Hanratty | 1 Comments

   

   Oct172009

   Having been to Asian cities before, and Marrakech more recently, Lima hasn’t been as big a culture shock as it could’ve been. Traffic is manic like in other cities I’ve been to and, and there are people trying to sell you stuff everywhere. But that’s the way it is in cities like this.
   
   Today Francis took me into downtown Lima. Its main square there is Plaza Armas or Plaza Mayor. It’s widely referred to as both. I prefer Plaza Armas personally, but Francis always calls it Plaza Mayor. Anyway, we got there for the changing of the guard which was like other changing of the guards only longer. It goes on for about half an hour.
   
   From here it was to the tourist office where the girl working there called Gisella Vasquez agreed on very short notice to do an interview for a podcast. You can listen to it here. It’s called “Lima – What not to miss” and gives a rundown of the city’s main sights. Hope you like it.
   
   After that it was on to the San Francisco Monastery. This is well worth visiting as the tour is 40 minutes and ends in the monastery’s crypt, which incidentally was Lima’s first graveyard. From there it was up to San Cristobal hill for a view of the city before making it to the Mayor's office for an aerial shot of Plaza Mayor (or is that Plaza de Armas?!) Francis knows a lot of guys here so he got me there. That's me with Francis by the way. Then it was back to his hostel Albergue Miraflores House.
   
   Now it’s shower time before going for something to eat.

2. 1 Comment so far.

   Patrick Keenan said on 17/12/2009 at 10:37pm

   “ Lima is a huge city and most tourists never venture too far outside Miraflores, Barranco or the Plaza de Armas. Other just day trip on their way to more 'exotic' locations further north or south. But the real Lima is there to be discovered. Other rogues (like myself) spent weeks on end in the city as it's also a cheap place to kick back and practice your Spanish.

3. Add your Comment...

   • Name*:
   • Email*: (your email won't be published)

   submit>