Guinea pigs,Ostrich and Alpaca, Oh my....and that was just lunch

We are now in Arequipa, an absolutely gorgeous 470 year old city.  Altitude is 7000 feet, and we are all feeling some affects...some more than others. There are 2 huge volcanos that can be seen from the city, they are magnificent, they look like a fake backdrop. The streets are narrow, and the buildings look small, but you look thru huge doorways, and there is a huge courtyard, maybe a restaurant or shops. It is so much fun just to walk around, and discover little alleys that you almost miss, only to discover great little cafes or shops.
 We went to the Ice Princess Museum, it was so interesting, an American team, working with National Geographic found the body of a 12 or 14 year old girl that the Incas had sacrificed to the Gods.  She was frozen very shortly after death, as they were at such a high altitude, so her body was preserved along with a lot of the clothing, jewelry and pottery that she was surrounded with.
We are staying in an amazing hotel that was once the Mint, there is a huge courtyard with beautiful stone arches and statues, fountains. It is very central to the Plaza dàrmes which is a great place to people watch. We went to a great restaurant for lunch yesterday and had an authentic Peruvian lunch (their big meal of the day).  I was going to try the guinea pig, until i realized i was looking at his little head and feet, Tom tried it and said it was quite like chicken.  We also went to dinner at a very interesting restaurant (these are all ones that Ron has pre arranged) and were served our meal on a hot stone, 3 small steaks, alpaca - it was very good, ostrich, it was good too, and good old beef.  It is a good thing we are doing lots of walking, as we have been eating way too much.
Yesterday we were walking back to the hotel, and i spotted a motorcycle with a BC license plate, so we stopped to chat - It is a girl -a lawyer from Vancouver who is riding alone across South America, she is 2.5 months into a 6 month trip, she was great to talk to.
I am not uploading any pics today, this computer is very slow, and i think about to explode.
This afternoon we head to Puno-Lake Titicaca, this will be the highest elevation we hit.
love to all, stay tuned.....