472 years Arequipa

Arequipa Day finally arrived!! Happy 472nd birthday! Unfortunately we didn't get out to the parade until about 4 in the afternoon. But I guess it didn't really matter cause we still got to see a few hours of the parade and a bunch of groups dancing in the streets.

It was on Aveneda Independencia so you could see El Misti in in the background, but it was so crowded the whole length of the parade, about 3km. I especially liked the Peruvian guy dancers because they had these little bells on their legs and did a funny kind of dancing.

After the parade Giovanna and I passed the fountain in Plaza de Armas (Weapons Square) and took a few fun pictures.
I found out that all the cities and towns here in Peru have a Plaza de Armas in the center with a church or cathedral.

That weekend after Arequipa day Giovanna went with me out to Tiyabaya in the countryside just to wander around. She was probably wondering why I wanted to go to such a small little village when there isn't really anything to do there. But we found our way down to the Rio Chile and just walked along the fields along the river. And it was so beautiful and relaxing after being in the city since I got here.