Ok for those of you who don't know (either because your not in Peru or because you live under a rock)since last Friday the city of Lima has been celebrating the Grand Week of Lima, a FREE 9 day event that encourages Lima's citizens to take back the streets in recognition of the City of Kings.  The festivities are being hosted by the Municipalidad de Lima and are sponsored by various established Peruvian businesses (Inka Cola, RPP, Cristal, etc.).

Most of the events will take place in the Plaza de Armas and surrounding areas including Jiron de La Union.  The Festivies include exhibitions of various local and regional art and artisan craftworks, as well as music and entertainment (from a dog show to a surprise concert to be held in the Plaza de Armas, word has it that Hermanos Yaipen and Grupo 5 will be there but don't quote me on that).

Here is a link to the main website where you can see the calender of events scheduled to take place.

Also for those currently in Lima, Chilean Artist Francisca Sánchez has setup a huge platform around the statue of Independence hero José de San Martín in the Plaza San Martin.  She titles it: "Yo y San Martín (Me and San Martín)".  This allows citizens and tourists the opportunity to get up close to the statue as well as receive a spectacular view of the city below.  The exhibit is available to the public up until the 1st of November and is open from 9am to 6pm.

Here is a cool video that talks about the project



IMPORTANT: LADIES IF YOU WANT TO CLIMB THE PLATFORM DO NOT WEAR HIGH HEELS.  THE SECURITY AT THE EXHIBIT IS STRICT AND WILL NOT LET YOU CLIMB THE STAIRS OF THE PLATFORM IF ARE WEARING HEELS!

Exhausted from a late saturday night of drinking and tom foolery, I chose to spend most of Sunday hibernating in an attempt to rejunenate my aging body.  When I did finally manage to crawl out of bed I decided to go get some outdoor exercise and headed with my dad to the local soccer stadium here in Chorrillos where the regular Sunday match was already underway.  There I found a few wonderful little ma and pa food stands selling the perfect Sunday morning meal Ceviche with Chicharron de Calamar (Ceviche with Fried Calamari).  Not really 100% in the mood for Ceviche I decided to go for the straight Chicharron platter instead, which was tender and delicious with just a hint of lime and ginger.

I then packed my camera gear as I normally do when I plan my weekend excursions and hailed a ride in a collectivo.  Once in Lima I met up with Zdenka and we headed over to the Plaza de San Martin where I rushed over to the monument platform eager to climb it to the top where I would undoubtly take several photos only to later rejoice at my photographic evidence.  Unfortuantely.........I was unaware of the NO HIGH HEELS policy and thanks to my beloved girlfriend was unable to wait in what was probably a 1 hour line.

Disappointed and anxious to take cool artsy photos we continued along Jiron de La Union which due to the festivities was packed.  It was there in Jiron that I spotted the most beautiful of all houses, a true work of art.  The ARCHITECTURE was like an architechs wet dream, I still have dreams about those columns and the 19th century hard wood floors. Saddly the beautiful shrine to artistic design and possible good old fashion slave labor had been converted as with most buildings on Jiron, into a god damn SHOE STORE of all things!
The thought still haunts me.




I managed to snap a few decent photos while in the Plaza de Armas and even passed through an open art exhibit in the Municipal building.  I really liked this painting.



The night finally ended in Jesus Maria where a craving for great, down to earth cooking came in the form of anticuchos and picarones.  The meal was put together by the local Catholic church on Av. Cuba as a fundraiser for some recently initiated sisters or something.

On Sunday I went for a walk through the Plaza de Armas in Lima. We went to take pictures of annual migration of tourists who come from continents afar. We walked along Jirón de la Unión which is several closed off streets filled with restaurants and shops that connects the Plaza de Armas with the Plaza San Martin.




The day was overcast but luckily it was warm out. Saturdays and Sundays at Jirón de la Unión are the most frequented by the public and can get pretty crowded in the afternoon hours. Zdenka and I were hungry from all the site seeing and walking and we spotted this street cart that was operated by three women who were selling Picarones, which is deep fried dough covered in honey. The aroma of the honey in the air was so robust and floral that we could smell it from two blocks down. While eating our delicious and sticky Picarones I noticed an abundance of bees that quickly turned into a horde of bees who were feasting out of the trash can near the stand. I would have actually almost ate a bee myself if it wasn't for Zdenka's squeal of terror at the site of the winged arthropod.



Stomachs silenced and satisfied we continued our stroll through Jirón de la Unión until we came upon a church. Zdenka immediately identified it as La Merced, the very church where she had her first communion (I think that's how you spell it).




Anyways, La Basílica Menor y Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Merced as it is officially called in Spanish was constructed by Friar Miguel de Orenes in 1535, who was later given the title of archangel San Miguel.

La Merced is located on the corner of the fifth block of Jirón de la Unión in the historical district of Lima. The original temple was constructed of wood and the second one which remains to this day was made of adobe and brick.




The front entrance of La Merced is considered to be a historical relic and
is recognized for its amazing artistic quality. It was made from granite that
was brought originally from Panamá. The entrance adornment was constructed in
three seperate pieces and was designed in a unique fashion that cannot be found
in any other church in Lima. The columns of the entrance are fashioned in the baroque style.

The main figure in the center of the adornment just above the door entrance is
of Nuestra Señora de la Merced which was considered for centuries as the celestial
protector of the city.







the church was designated a Minor Basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1946. The church
has also survived several decades of earthquakes and fires and has been reconstructed and restored on numerous occasions. The interior has a rustic warmth to it that emanates a sense of tranquility and serenity (shot me if those mean the same thing, I'm being poetic hear).




In the cript located in the preparatory lie the remains of the La Merced's
original donor of the land with which the church and convent were build upon.
El Capitan Francisco de Becerra.

For those of you interested in visiting La Merced here are the hours when it is open to the public. There is also a museum too but I have no clue what it's hours are:

Hours open to the public
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Open 8:00 8:00 8:00 8:00 8:00 8:00 8:00
Closed 12:45 12:45 12:45 12:45 12:45 12:45 12:45
Open 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:00 7:00
Closed 20:00 20:00 20:00 20:00 20:00 20:00 20:00