Touring Lima

Lima is the largest city in Peru and is its capital; it's population is almost 10 million.

Did not sleep well. Took a long time to get to sleep. I kept thinking of things I should do like: take a photo of my Andean Immigration Card in case I lose it. Marco who picked me up from the Airport said yesterday: "You can lose your passport, but you can't lose the Andean Immigration Card!'. He was quite serious! But I didn't want to wake The Other Pam (= TOP as she has agreed to be named in this blog) - she had fallen asleep as soon as the light was switched off. AND my phone went off at 2 a.m. - checking this morning, it looks like My Friend must have tried calling and obviously got the time difference wrong.

It is typical for the days here to be grey, sometimes with a mist from the Pacific Ocean; it started that way today but in fact by late morning there was blue sky - and it was quite hot. It was predicted 22 deg C but got to 26. I mistakenly thought I would not need a hat and despite using a scarf over my head this afternoon, I got a red nose... And IT DOES NOT RAIN HERE: despite being located just 12 deg S of the Equator and quite humid, it is one of the driest cities in the world with an average yearly rainfall of 6.4 mm.

We had a city tour booked and were picked up at 9 a.m. and driven expertly - and somewhat boldly! - by Kattie; our guide was Nieve and she walked us through a market.

Then we were off to the centro historico where we changed money at a casa de cambio where we got a very good exchange. 

There are some splendid buildings in the city centre: the cathedral and Presidential Palace in the main square (Plaza Mayor).
























We visited the Monastery of San Francisco in Spanish Baroque style and its catacombs; there was a fabulous old library where restoration of the books was taking place and whilst there a service was taking place and the musical chanting of the priest was a lovely backdrop. [continued below]



There were some beautiful paintings from the workshop of Rubens, beautiful walls of tiles from Seviile in Spain, exquisitely carved cedar ceilings and a Peruvian version of the "Last Supper" painted by Belgian painter Diego de la Puente in the 17th century.

Afterwards we visited the Museo Larco which is simply extraordinary for the hundreds of ceramic, textile and precious metal artefacts in this private collection - in wonderful condition and beautifully housed in an 18th century former mansion in the Pueblo Libre district; the pieces have been gathered by the Larco Herrera father and son since 1924. The vast display covers 10,000 years of Peruvian pre-Columbian history.

We asked to be dropped off at the Pucllana Temple (Huaca Pucllana) which my Kathryn had told me about. We said goodbye to Kattie and Nieve and had a hot but interesting tour by the guide at the archeological site of this huaca. This adobe ceremonial centre was likely built around 500 A.D., during the cultural height of Lima's history. Much of the site has been restored and excavations continue to uncover artefacts and the occasional mummy.

We were pretty stuffed and by now it was mid-afternoon. We walked back into the main part of the Miraflores district and hunted down Doña Paolina where we were told we could try the chicharrón - which could best be described as Latin-style braised pork; we ordered it as a sandwich with onion and sweet potato just as Nieve our guide had described earlier today. Interesting. We had an interesting PURPLE corn-based drink - chicha morada - which turned out to be yummy!

We could have 'called it quits' at this point, but we decided to walk to the sea where we came upon El Malecón, a six-mile stretch of parks situated along the cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean. We actually walked DOWN to the beach where there were heaps of surfers. There were some top-end apartments straddling a very busy road that runs along the coast. And there were masses of stairs to walk back up to the top where there is the Parque del Amor with a pretty walkway lined with a lovely mosaic fence. 

And finally we ended up at Larcomar which is a shopping complex built into the side of the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The setting sun was a magical backdrop to the breathtaking ocean views but we had to move on as we had a dinner booking.

We only had time for a freshen-up before getting a taxi to the Barranco district through intense traffic. Amorama restaurant is set in a lovely garden in a walled compound of a Republican-era mansion and specialises in seafood and Peruvian-styled dishes. We enjoyed a pisco sour to start!

What a day. And we have an early start tomorrow with a pick-up at 6 a.m.!

More pictures of Lima: