Lima

We had a few days in Lima so I was on  walking tour of the city and as yellow is the colour of the city's flower and traditionally associated with the city, many buildings are painted yellow such as the government buildings here in the main square.

Behind the palm trees and fountain is the cathedral also in the central plaza opposite the government buildings seen above.

An interesting architectural gem, probably arte nouveau from the early twentieth century.

An interesting building that I have not had time to check its details.

Another  detail of the government building  in the plaza.

Another interesting but unknown building.

The presidents palace overlooking the plaza major with the cathedral to the right and the government building in yellow to the left.

The former post office, now a food market and museum.

The roof used to be a wonder of coloured glass but after several earthquakes and expensive renovations later which were also subsequently destroyed, the city fathers decided to not to replace the glass.

The river that runs through the city is called the Rimac but the conquistadors couldn't pronounce the R's and with the soft 'C' being dropped the city name became 'Lima'. There are extensive metro and underpass construction works being undertaken so the river has been diverted into the concrete canal on the left until construction under the river bed is completed.

The railway station was a magnificent building but the rails behind were quiet as there are only two passenger trains a week.

Inside the station there was a wonderful coloured glass canopy which would have been similar to the one in the Post Office, now a food market and museum.

I waited for a long time to take a photo of a train but it was a rather under utilised track but I was lucky in that a goods train happened to be passing as I was walking along side.

There is a constant movement of people from the rural areas to the cities looking to improve their lot resulting in every community having a favela on the outskirts of town such as this one, viewed above the tents of a government sponsored camp.

It was just a month from Christmas and hard to believe when the temperatures at lunchtime are still well into the twenties. But at night the Christmas decorations would came alive but i was early and the lights were still being set up, as witnessed by these reindeer that appear to have had too much Christmas cheer.

But it is never to late to celebrate some event and there was a firework display that evening above famous landmarks of the city plaza.