Today was the start of the next section of our tour and in the morning we met with those who would be joining us for this leg. It was a big group with 12 people there this morning and 4 people meeting us later. Russell, an ex-Raf gent from Blackburn, seemed to have already found his drinking partner in Carl, a teacher from Australia. While Carl recommends having 5 different colours in each meal where I'm inclined to think that Russell would recommend having 5 different colours in each cocktail so a good match all in all. Our tour guide, Fiorella, seemed lively ('Anytime you want a party just let me know'!) and she was soon taking us on the to the coastal shopping area. Here is was very tourist focused but had some nice views down the rocky coast line. We spent a few minutes watching some surfers trying to live up to that name. Our group split up somewhat at this point and we wondered off to find some food. Our cheap and cheerful Pardo's chicken turned out to be just that with a meal for one easily covering both our appetites. We walked back to the bus stop via the posh shops, a smoking bar and some parks.
Back in the main area near our hotel we went to the church of San Francisco to have a tour of the catacombs. We waited for a while before the next English tour was ready to go but it was worth the wait. We were taken through various rooms of which the library was especially impressive with lots of old books and spiral staircases leading up to a balcony bursting with more books. Everywhere there were lots of paintings and the dinning room in particular was dominated by a huge painting of the last supper which featured suspiciously Peruvian food on the table to appeal to the local audience. We also went into the changing room for the priests which had a ceremonial robe which the guide told us had only been worn once, I instantly got into trouble for drawing some parallels with Eleanor's wardrobe. Once into the catacombs we were led through very narrow brick passages to see piles of bones grouped together by type. There were over 25,000 people buried at the level we saw and 70,000 overall. Initially the bodies are placed in pits after which they are transferred into the common pit, a large hole over 10m deep. All in all a somber experience but no more so than the more familiar graveyards from home I suppose.
Back out in the daylight we were amused by a dog which had finally caught a pigeon being chased by the local to give up it prize before grabbing a couple of beers before heading back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the group. Of course Carl and Russell were already propping up the bar but we eventually headed out for some food to soak up some of the excess.