A plaza for people watching and conspiracy plotting
You don’t promenade in Arequipa, Peru’s Plaza de Armas. Not exactly. People wander about the main square, drifting from one group to another. They catch up with friends, kvetch about the cost of corn, plan vast conspiracies — it’s hard to tell exactly what they’re up to.
At every moment of the day and night, there are a lot of people in Arequipa’s main square. Folks take a seat with vendors to get things done that need getting done. Get your shoes shined, your letters typed, your sweet tooth sated.
Arequipa’s Plaza de Armas may be the busiest spot in town, but it’s no fashion show, unless you’re hot for the latest trends in hand knit wool leg warmers and rakishly worn bowlers.
There’s a lot of bird feeding going on in the Plaza de Armas. The pigeons here are spoiled little shits.
Arequipa’s Plaza de Armas isn’t a destination. It’s a space. Where things happen. Or don’t. And that’s the point.
Or it isn’t.
Take a seat, sit back, and take it in. What else do you have to do? Plan a conspiracy or something?
Sounds like my kind of place! I have spent many an hour on my travels sitting at a cafe, in a park or at a plaza just watching the world go by. Its fascinating to me and all part of the adventure!
It’s sometimes so hard to take that kind of downtime when traveling, though it winds up being one of the best parts of the trip!