Friday March 22
After another exciting day at sea, we arrived at Callao, Peru, the port city for Lima. For Lima, we and another couple made arrangements with
Lima Cabs, which despite its name, actually does tours, the advantage here being that the tour is in a small van, not a bus.
This was my second trip to Lima, having been there for a couple of days about 10 years ago. What I have seen (then and on this trip) is pretty nice, but Lima is always foggy and overcast.
Lima is only about 20 minutes from Callao, and after traveling along several streets lined with casinos, we arrived at the
center of Lima, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
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| One of the casinos of Lima. Yes, I know it's not foggy (yet) |
The main plaza (Plaza Mayor) in the center of the city is surrounded by colonial-era buildings, many of them painted a rather bright yellow. Unfortunately, the lack of sun makes the pictures less vivid than they should be.
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| Panorama across the Plaza Mayor |
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| Possibly the Archbishops Palace |
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| House of Peruvian Literature, formerly the main train station |
After wandering around the Plaza Mayor, we walked a couple of blocks away to the Santo Domingo Convent, which had a beautiful courtyard and nice tilework.
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| Courtyard of Santo Domingo Convent |
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| Tile work in the courtyard of the convent |
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| In the convent library |
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| A rather old book in the library |
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| Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, part of the Convent of Santo Domingo |
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| Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, |
After we left the convent, we walked back to the Plaza Mayor, where we were able to see (from a distance) the changing of the guard at the Palace of Government.
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| Go Peru! |
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| Discussion of security at the Government Palace |
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| Street food--we passed |
We then got back in the van and headed to Miraflores, the rich and trendy part of Lima.
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| On the streets of Lima |
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| On the way to Miraflores |
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| Some housing in Miraflores |
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| More of Miraflores |
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| "Love Park" in Miraflores, featuring "The Kiss" |
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| Another shot of Miraflores |
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| Vegetation in Miraflores |
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| A cliffside view from Miraflores |
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| Larcomar shopping center, an upscale mall in Miraflores |
While we were at Larcomar, it was time for lunch, and most of the restaurants were chain affairs (TGI Friday's etc.) and we decided that if we were going to have chain food, it at least needed to be a Chilean chain. So we went to Mango's (www.mangosperu.com), and had a thoroughly American lunch, but at least it was a Chilean restaurant. Mangos was up a flight of stairs, and one of our travel partners was in a wheelchair, so they and our guide went to Chili's, which was on the level they were on. Thus, we missed the opportunity to eat at Chili's in Chile.
While we were at Mango's, I had a chance to sample some Inka Kola, which is the national soft drink of Peru. Over the years, it swamped Coca Cola in popularity, so eventually the Coca Cola company bought Inka Kola. Inka Kola tastes nothing like Coke--it's more like bubble gum.
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| Inka Kola Zero |
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| View along the coast from the shopping center |
From Miraflores, we headed back through some middle-class residential areas, and back to the ship.
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| Upper middle class housing in Lima |
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| Housing in Callao, near the port |
Next:
Manta, Ecuador
