May 13, 2019
Neighbors Ken and Millie took us to the airport this morning for our flight to Miami. All went smoothly.
We were supposed to leave Miami about 5:25 but ended up sitting on the plane till 7:15 before heading to Lima, about a 6 hour flight. I watched most of A Star is Born sitting on the runway in Miami! Also enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody. We called Exotica, with whom we booked the trip, so they could notify whoever was to meet us.
Went through immigration in Lima and picked up our bags, but there was no one to meet us! Yikes! Was finally able to have the information desk call Condor Travel and it turns out Exotica had not notified them of the correct flight number, so our driver had come earlier and left. We were able to get a taxi for the 35 minute ride to Allpa Hotel, though. The driver definitely knew his car dimensions as on many streets there were no lines dividing lanes and people just made their own. The hotel people were gracious and helpful. They called Condor to find out that our tour of Lima wouldn't be until 2:00 the next afternoon.
Our room was comfortable with little noise from the street.
May 14, 2019
Breakfast at the hotel was a buffet with fruits, juices, scrambled eggs, rolls, ham and cheese. Everyone here drinks bottled water (which this hotel charges extra for).
We got a map from the desk and set out to explore a bit. We walked through Parque John F Kennedy where there were beautiful flowers and many cats. The bust of Kennedy had a definite Peruvian look.
There is an organization that cares for and tries to find homes for the cats. Peeked into this church which was lovely. The Virgin Mary was quite prominent and we noticed that the statues all had human hair.
Very busy streets, mostly commercial and office buildings. Heavy traffic on the streets and on the sidewalks! Some nice murals.
There was a fire in one of the office buildings that was under construction so we paused and watched as many hard-hatted workmen were evacuated and fire engines arrived. (All we saw was white smoke.)
Some street vendors selling fruits, drinks, pastries; many news stands.
We walked till we reached the coast where there were several parks. One featured a Paddington Bear statue and playground. Seems that in the story, Paddington was originally from "darkest Peru".
There was a lot of fog rolling in from the ocean, which made for a lot of humidity. Even though Lima is the second driest capital city in the world (with well under an inch of rain per year), the fog provides enough moisture to keep trees and flowers growing. Several surfers were testing the waters.
We saw many civil servants sweeping sidewalks, directing traffic, trimming bushes, etc.
There were quite a few policemen, and private security outside all of the banks. Drivers use their horns liberally but nobody runs red lights, though they cut each other off frequently. Most of the cars are small ones - hyundai, toyota, vw, and several unfamiliar brands from South Korea and elsewhere. Did see quite a few Ford pickup trucks and even a few Subarus. Lots of business and tourist vans as well.
On the way back to the hotel we passed a large complex with clay tennis courts, turf soccer fields and a gym.
One goal this morning was to get a local SIM card for our phone. We finally found the spot Anna in reception had pointed us to (on the second floor of a department store) that sold the cards. But, they didn't activate them. We had to go to a pharmacy to get it activated. BUT, the pharmacy was not allowed to open the phone and put the card in, so back to the department store since we didn't have the little tool to open the phone. Then back to the pharmacy. Whew! We had to sign all sorts of papers, present passports, etc. to complete the transaction, but the card and the activation and 2 weeks of data cost a grand total of 20 nuevo sol - less than $7! Our new phone number: 953669779.
By now we needed to think of being back at the hotel to be picked up for our tour, so we grabbed a quick burger at ----moan, groan --- McDonalds. It was pretty similar to US McDonalds except that they also sold fried chicken. Our two meals cost about $10.00.
Counterfeiting is quite a problem in Peru and we noted that each bill we presented was examined carefully. (Greg read about watermarks, holograms, etc. to check for.) We promised to avoid the KFC, Papa John's, Burger King, etc. in the future.
Our tour guide, Emily, picked us up and gave us a packet with itinerary, tickets, etc for the rest of our trip; confirming a 6:00AM pick-up tomorrow morning. Others in the tour van included a couple from Toronto, a man from Singapore and another couple from Maine.
We first visited an area with remains of some early civilizations, but the area and museum were closed today. Although Inca's get a lot of coverage, there were as many as 87 other cultures identified in Peru, before the Incas. When Spaniard Francis Pizarro sketched out the boundaries of the city in 1535 there were already 200,000 indigenous people living in the area. We traveled through several areas of Lima including Miraflores, and San Isidro, the finance area with ancient olive trees and upscale apartments.
When we passed a soccer field, Emily exclaimed that in 2018 when Peru qualified for the World Cup, the city went crazy. The games were held in Russia and Peruvians were selling their cars and borrowing money - anything to get to go see their team compete!
Emily says that Lima often has earthquakes (tremors), and had one yesterday as a matter of fact, but only 5.2. Building now is much more resistant to earthquake damage.
She explains that Lima is a city of 11 million with probably 1 million of them from Venezuela. Peru is one of the few countries that will accept immigrants from Venezuela without papers, since the government of Venezuela has made papers extremely expensive to obtain. Many of the street vendors selling candy, washing car windows, or hawking trinkets are from Venezuela.
We see the Justice Palace "Big Building for small justice".
Then we enter the historic old city center which has tremendous number of colonial buildings. The government wants to preserve this part of the city, but unfortunately it is expensive to refurbish and preserve, and owners are not allowed to tear down buildings. To get around this, she explained, some owners gut their building leaving only a facade and hope that the building will fall down with the next tremor.
Lima is known as the "balcony city".
We get out of the van and walk down Calle De La Coca Street to the main square. Emily points out many beautiful buildings and encourages us to hurry to the square because they are going to close it soon, anticipating protests to be held there later today.
The Archbishop's Palace, the Cathedral and many other beautiful buildings surround the square. We walk to the Chocolate Museum (finding that just about every city we go to has one), and sample some coca nibs. Signs explain the process of making chocolate, but mostly this is a place to purchase chocolate or chocolate desserts.
We see policemen beginning to congregate and head away from the square to the Convent of Santo Dominic. (According to Emily, protests are fairly common.)
The Convent is a large complex with chapels, courtyards, a library and more.
The chapel of St. Martin de Porres celebrates the 1st black saint of America. There are also many statues of St. Rose of Lima, one of the 5 patron saints of the city.
The rooms are paved with brick, tile or marble, depending on the importance of the people who would use the area.
Much of the tile work reminds us of Granada in Spain, and is dated 1604 or 1606. There are crypts and relics of the saints here and a statue of the Virgin Mary from 1554 is thought to be the 2nd oldest in America. When they speak of America, they are including all of North America, Central America and South America.
Millions participate in Holy Week processions here and we see some of the elaborate carriers on which they hoist statues to parade through the streets. Emily shows us photos of throng-crowded streets from recent celebrations.
Back in the van, we stop by the Parque d'Amore as the sun is setting. Pretty park with a huge statue of a couple, and walls that are reminiscent of Gaudi's work in Barcelona.
As we inch through traffic en route to our hotel, Emily talks about their education system, elections, and other issues. Whenever there is something unpleasant, like poverty, strikes or political corruption, she falls back to the phrase "it's very complicated"and leaves it at that....
We relax in our room for an hour or so, before heading out to Panchita, a Peruvian restaurant not far from the hotel. We splurge for a nice dinner. Broiled scallops for an appetizer,
then Beth has grilled octopus with potatoes and corn while Greg opts for Beef and cilantro stew with potatoes, carrots, beans and rice with corn. The octopus is delicious and the corn kernels are huge. Peru has many many types of corn and even more (several thousand!) types of potatoes, so we will see these at nearly every meal.
My phone says we walked over 7 miles today, so we feel justified in slipping into our comfy bed rather early after setting the alarm for a 5:30 wakeup!
