Day Six in Peru - Lima

Today we are going into Lima to spend the day.  We start out by enjoying breakfast at the hostel.  Mister ordered me some fruit since I was quite a lazy bones and didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

The fruit bowl is wonderful and I am lucky enough to try a few new fruits.  The first is a Chiramoya which is excellent and the second are bananas that have fruit that is a bright orange in color.  Mister has scrambled eggs, bread, and coffee - the coffee is served almost like espresso and you add hot water to add to it.  Interesting.

After breakfast, we are out the door and heading down the street to the bus terminal. where we meet the most helpful attendant who helps us get the ticket and then points us to the bus we need.  The bus is almost like the metro rail back home in that it runs in a dedicated lane away from all traffic.  We board our bus and find ourselves packed in like sardines holding onto ceiling loops for dear life.  It takes about 25 minutes to get to Lima and we miss our stop (the only one with no name) and go a few blocks further than necessary.

We start to walk in the general direction that our map shows to get to the Plaza de Armas (yes same name again -- it means Plaza Major or main square) and pass a church that we pop into and Mister is able to take some indoor pictures which have been pretty elusive thus far in Peru.
   

From there, we continue towards the Plaza when Mister remembers that he had wanted to go to the Flower Market and it is only open in the morning.


So after consulting the map, we realize we need to backtrack and we go looking to where it should be.  We ask a couple of lady security officers and one gives us directions, warnings (rough part of town, put camera away, etc.), and as much information as she can and sends us on our way.

We are crossing foot bridges over the river and hear a person running to us and it is the security officer. Don't take the first steps down to the street level, but the second, and her "companion" will be at the other end to help us.  Really?  How cool is that.

We continue to the end and take the stairs down and sure enough another officer is there and he not only gives directions, but offers to walk us the first block there.  We continue on and hit a corner and are not sure if this is the one we are supposed to turn on when a local man asks if he can help us.  We simply say "mercado de flores" and he points to the next block and sends us on our way again.  How nice.


We round the corner and sure enough -- a big sign over the entrance indicates we are there.  It is a wholesale flower market on one side and the other has stalls filled with flower arrangements in all shapes and sizes.  They are as fascinated by us as we are by them.  They laugh when we say we're from "Estados Unidos" as if to say -- look at the silly Americans down in this part of town.

The colors of the flowers are intense and we see bucket after bucket of different dyes and white flowers of all kinds soaking up the colors.  It is a spot of beauty in a dump if that makes any sense.  When we finish looking around, we retrace our steps back towards the Plaza and find the first security officer again to say thanks.  We laugh about the conversation that must have taken place between her and her companion.  Imagine - "Be on the lookout for two redhead gringos that seem to think they need to see the flower market".  Obviously it is not a hot tourist spot.

We continue to the Plaza and notice that security has gotten a little more powerful.  They are now carrying machine guns. We round the corner into the Plaza and stop in awe of a magnificent building.  We ask what it is and are told that it is the President's Palace.

A restaurant touter comes up and says that at 11:45 the changing of the guards at the palace takes place.  It is now 11:15 and so we decide to just hang around the Plaza for 30 minutes and watch it.

We take a stroll around the Plaza and find a bench that faces the palace and sit down to wait.  Within minutes, the guards clear the front of the building and asks everyone to cross the street and watch from there.

We stand and claim a spot on the curb with the crowd that is forming.  Soon, a band starts marching out and continues until they are right in front of the fence on a raised platform and play several songs for us.   

We laugh as it is not the type of music that we expected, but rather lively and festive.  When they finish, they march to another area and a flag corps and group of guards march around until the guards are changed and everyone leaves.  The whole thing takes almost an hour -- wow, not what we had anticipated.

During the "show" we kept hearing honking horns down the street and what sounded like people yelling. and so we go that direction now.

As we get closer to the noise, we notice that the police are all set up blocking the road to the palace with guns and riot shields in place.

They are just standing as a human blockade if the crowd were to try and head that direction. Otherwise, they were not doing anything aggressive.  As we get closer, we stop in a store for a juice and discover that it is a labor protest for higher wages in front of the Department of Labor.

It breaks up within minutes of our arrival and soon the street is clear again.


We continue down the street towards the Monasterio de San Francisco where Mister wants to see the catacombs.  As we are walking down the street, I spot a little shop with an interesting looking food on the counter and stop to ask about it.  It smells divine. 
We start to leave, but I decide that I want to try it and so we go back to get one and discover that it is a form of Churro and they just sold the last one and it will be 10 minutes for the next one.

Two local men smile and point at the bench they are sitting on for us to join them.  We "communicate" for a few minutes until our treat is finished. When we say we're from Texas, one man smiles and says "the Alamo". They offer to let us have the first one and so we buy theirs for them (one sole each).  We take our hot treat and head towards the monastery.  We are having trouble eating it as it is soooo hot, but goodness it is yummy.  It is filled with some type of pudding-like filling and the outside is sprinkled with sugar after deep-fat frying it.  We sit on a bench at the monastery and try to finish it without burning ourselves.

When we are done, we go into the building and find out that there is not another English speaking tour until 4:00 that afternoon and so we buy our tickets and head back out to return later.  We walk back towards the Plaza and decide to go to the Catedral and so in we go to purchase our tickets.

The architecture here is similar to that of the one in Cuzco, however, the decor is much better and we are able to take pictures.

We leave the Catedral and take a seat on the stairs out front to map out where to go next.  I look through our guide book and see something called the Museo de la Inquisicion that looks interesting and is in the general vicinity of where we have to go back to the catacombs for our tour and so we gather our things and head that way.









As we walk down the little side streets again, we pass a shop with chickens roasting on an open spit and they smell oh so good.

The "chef" is a friendly guy who says they roast for one hour, and tells us to take a picture. As Mister gets his camera, the man runs to the oven and poses. We laugh as he wants to see the picture afterwards. We continue on our way and as we near the Senate building where the museum is housed, we see a park with a fence all around it and guards at the gate.  There is no one in it so we ask if we can go inside and they gesture to go ahead.  There is a statue in the center and something similar to our "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" and I wonder if that is why the guards are there.

From there we go into the Senate building and ask for tickets to the museum.  It is free but they tell us that the only tours today are in Spanish; however we are welcome to join in and so we do.  This museum sits above the place where prisoners were tortured during the Spanish Inquisition.  Peru was the second largest site for the Inquisition and a large number of people were "questioned" here.

The indigenous people were exempt though as the Spanish determined that they didn't know any better.   We go through the museum catching a little bit of what the guide is saying, but enjoying the artifacts anyway.  As we enter the area that leads down to the torture chambers, she indicates that we can just go and explore on our own, which we do.  We weave our way through small tunnels and see torture rooms and very tiny jail cells.  Pretty sure nothing good happened down here.

We leave the museum and start back towards the monastery for our tour. We are early, so we pop into Toque Criollo (right across the street from the monastery) and order a drink.  Mister decides that he has waited long enough for his ceviche and orders that as well.  They bring us our beers, a Cusquena and a Cristal (local Peruvian brands), and a little snack of maiz chulpi - roasted corn kernels. They are soft with a light crunch and we munch away while we wait.

When the ceviche arrives, it is very pretty and very large.  Mister only has a few minutes now to eat before our tour begins.  I feel bad for him because he doesn't get to truly take his time and enjoy his treat, but he declares it excellent and loves every bite of it and does manage to finish on time.

The tour starts and our guide speaks decent English with a very clipped cadence and we giggle at her repetitiveness of "and now we continue" each time she wants us to move.  As we go through the monastery, she gives a great deal of historical information and it really is interesting.  Finally, we descend underneath the monastery and are in the tombs, which are basically open pits full of bones. They buried over 25,000 people down here and just piled them in one on top of another.  Someone has cleaned the bones and sorted them -- that's right, you read that correctly.  There is a container of skulls, one of leg bones, etc.  At one point there is even an open round well in which they have created some sort of weird "art" out of the bones. I am disturbed. Time to go.

We exit and see an old lady walking along the street selling flowers. She looks like a small wicked witch of the west, and Mister has to give her some change..

We make our way back through the Plaza and to the bus depot as it is starting to be dusk and we want to get back to Miraflores before dark.  We buy our tokens with the help of a nice young man and enter in only to discover that this station only has buses going the wrong way.  He helps us get off a few stops later so we can board and go the other direction.  We get on the right bus and start back to Miraflores, packed in like sardines again.  Another delightful young man talks with us on the way back and "practices his English" on us.  It is very broken, but he is trying and we learn that he is actually an English teacher.  Too funny.

We reach our destination and stop at the hotel for a quick stop and to get a recommendation for dinner.  Apparently, we are doing Arabian tonight and so we walk the few blocks until we are there.  We order an assortment of hummus, baba ganoush, and another mixture that I don't really care for, a shwarma, and a liter of sangria.  When the food arrives -- there is way too much and we cannot possibly finish it all.  We are stuffed and decide to walk a little and so go around a few blocks and see that the Parque Kennedy is once again bubbling with action -- apparently it is a nightly event.  We work our way back to the hotel and check on our flight for tomorrow before heading to bed.  Only one day left -- time to start home.

Day Five in Peru - Cuzco to Lima (Miraflores)

 I wake in the morning worried about our flight and am cautious about going to the ruins. So we opt to pack up and head to the airport early.

We get to the LAN ticket counter and snake through a line for 45 minutes to check in and find out that once again we will have to come back later to get our seats. Our flight is at 10:10 and they will not close it until 9:00 and so back up to the food court we go to wait -- dang I should have let us go to the ruins. Now we are stuck here just killing time, ugh.

At 9 we go back down to the counter and they tell us we just need to stand down there and at 9:15 they will start calling stand-bys right there at the ticket counter. Okaaaaay. We are called, get our tickets, head to security, and then up to the gate and board the plane. Once again, LAN gives us treats that we pocket for unexpected hunger moments.

We arrive in Lima a short one hour later and go the information booth for the scoop on the taxis here. We hire a taxi and head to Miraflores (a nice suburb of Lima about 45 minutes away) where our hostel is located. The drive is nice and the ocean is on our right as we near Miraflores, with cliffs on our left.

Everything is a lush green and there is a mist in the air from the water. We are staying at the Tinkus Hostel and we love the location. Excellent choice Mister.














We check in, drop our bags in the room, and head down to the corner to a little local restaurant/cafe called Tropicana for the lunch special which is a drink, appetizer, entree, and dessert for 9 soles. Seriously?? That is about $3.50. The place is packed and you have to grab a table when they open up or someone behind you in line will. I think we are the only tourists in the place and share a table with two young men, one of which speaks a little English and helps explain some of the menu items. The food is good and filling and we take our time as the line has ended and the lunch rush is over.

We go back to the hotel (all of about 3 doors down) and plan our day.  We are just going to wander the city for awhile.  I tell Mister about a park near the ocean and so that is the direction we go.  We marvel once again at the cabs as we walk -- we are amazed that they do not get in accidents as they dart in and out amongst each other.  Soon we can feel the mist in the air as we approach the cliffs overlooking the beach.  We come to a busy divided road and in between the streets, they have built a very posh tennis club -- terraced all the way down to the beach.  And then we are here.  Way up on the cliffs overlooking the waves.  (Check out my hair -- Wow, what the humidity did to it -- looks like I have enough for several people.)

We watch the surfers for awhile and then head down the road to the Parque del Amour -- that's right -- the Park of Love.  There is a winding, tiled wall there and a romantic statue in the center.  Mister and I weave our way around the wall and stand overlooking the ocean, just enjoying the moment.

We continue down the road and come to another park where para-sailers are just taking their shop down for the day.  We find a bench in the park that overlooks the ocean and sit and enjoy the view and watch the people go by for awhile.  It is starting to get dark and so we weave our way back through the streets and come upon Parque Kennedy in the center of town.

It is absolutely bustling with activity.  We walk through and find a craft market set up in the center, popcorn and other treat stands scattered throughout, and families everywhere.  Work is over for the day and the neighborhood is out.  Children can be seen playing in the playground (although barely heard as they play so quietly) and cats EVERYWHERE.  It is amazing.  They are like pigeons standing in front of people quietly waiting for a treat.  People scatter cat food in various places and the whole place has a festival atmosphere.  It is wonderful.

We cross through the park towards the business area and Mister finds a cute little espresso place so we rest for a few minutes while he energizes.  We continue wandering the streets and find a great little pottery shop that we stop in and visit with the owner.  The alleys are full of great little shops and local people going about their daily lives.

We decide to go to a restaurant that was  recommended for their ceviche, but after finding it, we discover that it is only open for lunch so we decide to go to a restaurant right near our hotel.

And what a wonderful decision that turned out to be. Saqra is this cute little nook that has a patio on the Avenue and so we sit in the corner on these little "ottomans" that hold your personal belongings inside.  Great idea.  Our waiter is so great and moves the outdoor heater near us and makes us feel so comfortable.  Our food is amazing - Mister has the Octopus w/Mushroon Risotto and claims it is the best octopus ever.  I have a wonderful Gnocchi (homemade from the many wonderful potatoes in Peru) with Huancaina  sauce.  It is delightful and we sit and visit and enjoy the evening air even as it starts to chill and the mist surrounds us again.  We finish off with a banana creme brulee with chocolate truffles and coffee ice cream. A great end to the day and we head back to the hostel to shower and crash.  We are beat again but it was a wonderful day.

Day Four in Peru - Cuzco

The next morning is a bright blue day. We grab breakfast at the hostel; scrambled eggs, bread, peach nectar, and Peruvian coffee. Jhon, the hotel clerk, maps out an ATM so we can get money, and he and his helper mark up the map with places to see. Our 2-3 block walk was through the busy commercial area, lots of sights and sounds. We try to blend in as much as possible (Mister stands out like a sore thumb). The bank is closed for renovation, but a lady offers to share a taxi to another bank, and another lady says there is an ATM down at the post office. We follow her and find out she is a manager of a hotel in the square.


We get our money and walk up the street to the Santa Domingo church. On the way, Mister stops in a bakery and talks (mostly with his hands as they are gesturing wildly) with the lady about all the different pastries in the case. He comes out with a bag and we walk up to find a textile museum and gallery. They have authentic woven items here, with names and pictures of each craftsman. Two Peruvians are in the back of the gallery using old looms to show how the weaving was done. We walk through the museum and I get lost in the shop. The colors and variety of the products is amazing. I buy a table runner and scarf as Mister sits outside eating his pastries.


We continue to the Santa Domingo church. Peru has a very strong Catholic population and some of the largest, most intricate buildings are their churches and cathedrals. This cathedral was built by the Spanish on top of an Incan temple. You can see the far superior curved stonework of the Incans. Mister takes the time to purchase and light some candles for his mother and then we start walking in the general direction of the Plaza de Armas.

We find ourselves in a narrow alley which is called Loreto and has ancient Inca walls on both sides of it.



It is so amazingly straight and with the same little waterway down the middle that we have come to accept as part of their system.

At the end of the alley the view opens up onto the Plaza and it is indeed spectacular with the huge La Catedral which is flanked by the Iglesia del Triunfo on one side and the Iglesia de Jesus Maria on the other. Across the way is the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus which is very ornate. We sit down on the steps leading to the cathedral to get our bearings and decide where to go. We are approached by several people selling trinkets and we just politely say no.

We decide to go into the Catedral, opting for the audio tour as opposed to a guide. It is very well done and as we near the end of the tour, we come to a painting of The Last Supper done by an Andean artist. The interesting part of it was that the main meal in the center of the table is a guinea pig. Hmm.







The architecture of the building is so beautiful but I have thoughts that it is just too too busily decorated. If I was attending service there, I would be way too distracted to listen.









As we leave the building I am hungry so we start making our way to the next plaza. We stop and peek at the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus as we head to the Plaza Regocijo and look for a restaurant. We settle on a nice outdoor cafe called the Cuzco Bar and Grill on the plaza and sit back and enjoy our meal: spaghetti w/fresh tomatoes and olive oil for me (sooo good) and a steak panchetta for Mister. As we are eating we are serenaded by a Peruvian 3-man band and constantly bothered by street hawkers. I lose my patience (and since I was hungry there wasn't much left) and loudly say NO. Ugh. Not during a meal please. It is my ONLY complaint about the country.



After lunch we grab a cab and head to San Blas which is supposed to be an area of artisans craft shops.

We weave our way through many small street and alleys and spot a few really cool shops -- two that I really enjoy. The first one is a Coca shop and has many different products that are produced from Coca (yes, it is used for things other than Coke Cola and Cocaine). I try a candy, but seriously, to me it tastes like I am eating what alfalfa smells like. Not a big fan. People here chew coca leaves as a medicine for stomach issues including the altitude sickness that is so prevalent here. I am glad that I have not had to experience that first hand.





The second shop is a silversmith who uses a fine silver thread and crochets it into jewelry pieces that she uses in earrings and necklaces. So very pretty -- silver is very prevalent here and I admire her work for quite awhile.

As we leave San Blas on foot and head back to the Plaza, we are just enjoying watching the locals going about their lives and find it all so interesting.

We round a corner and our eyes lock on an older couple dressed up, arm in arm and it looks like they are out for an evening stroll before dark. We follow them for awhile, but have to stop at an ATM and lose them, oh well.















We head back into the Plaza de Armas so that perhaps Mister can get some good shots as the sun is going down. I grab a bench and sit to just watch the activity in the Plaza and soon, here comes the little couple still arm in arm strolling the plaza. They are just too cute.



 The light is not meant to be though since the clouds are covering the sun so after awhile we decide to head back to the hotel and call it a night. We get back to the hotel to use the internet and book a room for the next day as well as check on our flight. We are also out of water and juice so Mister goes out into the neighborhood to retrieve those items and then it is off to sleep for us as we are hoping to hit one last set of ruins early tomorrow morning before flying back to Lima.