Our driver Jose ( casanovacab@hotmail.com ) took us around Miraflores and Barranco and further south to see the coastline a bit. Then we spent the day in Centro Lima. Walked the area very easily. What we wanted to see was all very close to the Plaza de Armas. We went into the cathedral and the San Franciscan monastery and underground catacombs. There was a guided tour in English starting just as we arrived. We arrived back at the main square at noon to see the changing of the guards at the Palacio de Gobierno. We had a walk through Chinatown and into the bank to buy a commemorative ounce of silver with Machu Picchu on it. Somehow Jose got us to the front of the line while everyone else waited in the chair filled lobby. We ... read more

We knew the journey to Peru was going to be long but we had a very slow start to our trip which made it even longer. Just crossing the border near home took FOREVER. Then there was the ROAD CONSTRUCTION on the way to the freeway to Seattle. The 2.5 hr trip to Seatac took almost 5 hours. Thank goodness we had lots of time but we were very quiet and a bit panicky until we were close to the airport. We took the red eye from Seattle to Miami. Very quick flight. I think we did each get a couple hours sleep but it basically felt like we were up all night. In Miami we had a long lay-over and were trying to decide what to do because it was only 6am and still dark ... read more