A Long time in Lima

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Day 307 - Saturday 2 August

I watched Arsenal's pre season friendly in the Emirates cup before Yolanda came to pick me up. Everybody I've met has told me that Limas a horrible place, its very dangerous and at this time of year its cloudy every day. That might be true but with Yolanda acting as my personal guide I think I'll have a different experience.

She took me to Miraflores, the alternative travellers hangout to downtown. Its also supposed to be where I'm staying in a dormitory in a hostel if anybody in her family asks. Even though its cloudy (like manchester then), at least its not cold and I thought its a nice part of town. Its also by the sea which I haven't seen since Rio. However as its the middle of winter here it was too cold to hit the beach.

Early evening we had a dinner date. I'm meeting one of her sisters and her sisters boyfriend. They seemed really nice but I found the conversation hard going. As I've reverted back to English with Yolanda I've already started to forget my spanish. Oh well, apparently they think I'm really nice, which of course I am.

Day 308 - Sunday 3 August

With Yolanda having to visit her grandmother today, I've the whole day to kill by myself. Not to worry I got to watch both Chelsea and Arsenal play their pre season friendlies before watching Andy Murray win the Cinnceneti masters.

Checking my email I found Russ has been in town the past couple of days. As he´s staying in Miraflores and I actually know how to get there from my place I went to see if I could find him. I want to see what his plans are for the next three weeks. I actually bumped into him on one of the streets. Hes probably going to move on on tuesday but I like Yolanda so told him i´ll probably stay longer.

I decided to leave him to it and went back to watch tv. I´m amazed at the amount of english tv they get over here.

Day 309 - Monday 4 August

Yolanda had quit her job in order to have gone on holiday to Cusco, so shes currently searching for a new one. Which is good news for me as she´s off everyday and can see me. (Don´t worry she isn´t what they call a brichera out here).

She came round to pick me up and show me round central Lima, the old historical part of the city. Unfortunatley we got a bit caught up watching tv and stuff and by the time we got there it was already early evening. Its good to see the city at night though as it looks different all lit up.

With the meuseums all shut upfor the day we went to visit a few plazas. First up was Plaza San Martin where Perus Independance was proclaimed followed by Plaza Mayor aka Plaza Armas. Here stands the cathedral and the government palace which was the former house of Franscisco Pizarro the spanish conquestor. We then took a minibus up to the viewpoint of San Cristobal. With 8 million people living here Limas a big city and it looked really good all lit up.

A productive day after all.

Day 310- Tuesday 5 August

Spent the morning watching tv waiting for Yolanda. Today were going to visit San Francisco church, Yolandas favourite in the whole of Lima. Its a nice church but Ive seen quite a few now in recent weeks so the impacts worn off which dissapointed Yolanda a little. It has got a great crypt though full of old bones. There all behind glass screens now but when Yolanda first came here on a school trip the screens werent there. She and her classmates used to play at swordfighting with the thigh bones and I thought she was a nice girl.

The tour took a bit longer than expected and traffic into central Lima had been terrible so by the time we made our way to the court of inquisition museum it had already shut for the day. Because of rush hour traffic it takes an hour to get back so with it already being early evening Yolanda dropped me off back at my hotel and I passed the evening watching more tv.

Day 311 - Wednesday 6 August

We've got lots to try and fit in today so after Yolanda came to pick me up around lunchtime we headed towards downtown. Traffic was bad and I was hungry so by the time we got to the cathedral it was already late afternoon.

Although not as impressive as the one in Cusco its different and interesting. It also contains the remains of Franscisco Pizarro. I'd also hoped to visit the spanish inquisition museum but once again by the time we'd finished at the cathedral there wasn't time.

A couple of hours later and we headed to Miraflores. I'm going to have dinner with Yolanda and her friends. Dinner with 5 girls sounds brilliant but has the potential to turn into a nightmare. They seemed nice enough but I've no idea what they thought of me.

Day 312 - Thursday 7 August

After spending all morning watching tv I'd hoped to finish of my main sightseeing today but when Yolanda came round we got caught up watching yet more tv.

By early evening we thought I'd better do something. I can't stay in all day. We went back to downtown and she showed me around chinatown.

Day 313 - Friday 8 August

I woke up early for some reason today and was up by about half six. Luckily its the opening ceremony for the olympic games in Beijing. At one point I'd thought about going over to watch the games but New Zealand killed my budget and South Americas stolen all my time. I knew they were going to put on a good show. Still I'm not going to complain.

I'm going out with Yolanda and her friends tonight so shes not going to be round until teatime. This could have led to a very boring afternoon but again fortune was on my side. Arsenal were playing Ajax in a pre season friendly. I also have to work out how much longer I can stay in Lima after knocking off the Galopagas islands and pretty much the whole of Ecquador from my travel itenary.

Finally I met up with Yolanda and shortly afterwards we went over to Miraflores to meet up with her friends. They knew a club where its only 25 Soles (5 quid) to get in and its a free bar all night. Being a Brit I've got to make use of that.

Day 314 - Saturday 9 August

I was still in bed when Yolanda woke me up. I've agreed to go with her and her sisters to take their young niece to the theatre. She'd told me that it was due to start at 8 pm but now she says its at 4 and we've got to go in a couple of hours.

After getting ready and grabbing a quick Burger King across the road from the theatre I went to meet some more of Yolandas family members. The play itself was a kids play so thankfully wasn't too complicated as obviously it was all in Spanish. I managed to follow most of it.

After the show had finished we got dinner then took a trip to the cinema.

Day 315 - Sunday 10 August

The charity shield was on this morning when I got up so I watched that before switching over to watch the olympics. I had hoped to go for a few drinks with Yolanda but instead she wanted to stay in.

Day 316 - Monday 11 August

After spending the morning on the internet planning how I´m going to get to Quito once I leave here, I went to downtown with Yolanda. Finally after a week of trying were off to the Spanish Inquisition museum. It was a bit smaller than I thought it would be and the tour was over in less than thirty mins. A bit dissapointing really, but at least it was free.

I´ve been having trouble using my bankcard. I´ve tried it in 5 different banks and it wont give me any money. I called the bank. Apparently they´ve sent me a new card and cancelled my old one even though I didn´t ask them too. Great how am I supposed to get any money I´ve only 20 quid left and I´m in the middle of Lima, Peru. They reckon they can´t help me and I need to somehow get the card sent over to me. I tried explaining that I´ve only 20 pounds until then but they say theirs really nothing they can do. Its good to see there is good customer service at the Nationwide Building Society. Thankfully I´ve also brought my credit card with me.

Well 20 pounds can still last you a couple of days out here so we went to the cinema to watch the new Batman film. I thought it was really good.

Day 317 - Tuesday 12 August

After getting up quite late I spent the rest of the morning arranging for my new bank card to get sent over to me.

Once Yolanda came round to pick me up we hung around the hotel for a bit before going down to one of the bus companies. I know I´m going to be leave on sunday so might as well buy my ticket. As it may be the last big journey I undertake on this trip I´ve decided to upgrade myself to cama class.

We then made our way over to Miraflores. My guidebook says the Irish pub here is a ¨must¨, so we went to see for ourselves. Unfortunately it was closed as theres a photo shoot taking place inside. Instead we went for a few drinks in another bar before heading to a resturant for dinner.

Day 318 - Wednesday 13 August

Got up late again and spent the rest of the morning on the internet before watching some champions league qualifying games. I couldn´t get to watch either Liverpool or Arsenals game, instead I had to settle for Schalke v Atletico Madrid.

All week Yolandas been pestering me to see the movie sex in the city with her and her friends. I´ve been resisting strongly but yesterday I finally cracked and agreed to watch it. It turns out however that she was only winding me up and after meeting her friends we watched the Mummy instead.

Day 319 - Thursday 14 August

I opened the curtains this morning and for the first time in 2 weeks their is clear blue skies. Although not cold its the middle of winter here and cloudy every day. I don´t mind Lima but I know where people are coming from when they say its a depressing place. However with the sun shining it looks totally different.

After spending the rest of the morning on the internet catching up with the latest football news it was a bit of a boring afternoon flicking through the tv channels. Once it had gone dark Yolanda took me to La Reserva park. Its a park with several big water fountains. With the different coloured lights illuminating the water and music playing throughout the park it was a bit like a show and was really good. Even though for me its probably the best attraction I´ve seen in Lima its not in my guide book and I didn´t see any other tourists there. The Peruvians all knew about it though and the park was very busy

Day 320 - Friday 15 August

It was almost another boring day staying in watching tv except for a couple of hours in the early evening. As i'm supposed to be staying in Miraflores we had to meet one of Yolandas sisters who works in the area. We ended up walking along the seafront with her.

Day 321 - Saturday 16 August

Its the opening day of the Premiership football season today and I watched 3 games before it was even lunchtime. I then managed to negotiate Limas public transport system and make my way to the marina I´m meeting up with Yolanda, her sister and her sisters boyfriend and some other couple I haven´t met yet.

After we all met up we went ten pin bowling. Now i´m not that good as I never play it but when I do I can usually manage to score a hundred. Everybody else was terrible so I thought I'd win easily but their bad play must have rubbed of on me as I don´t think I´ve ever played so bad. I was hoping to impress but played like a chump.

Bowling over we went to get dinner at a seafood resturant. I like seafood its probably my favourite food and as its my last full day in Lima I thought I'd try the national dish, Cebiche. Its raw fish marinated in lemon juice. Well its the first and last time I´m ever going to eat Cebiche. Yuck!

With dinner thankfully over we all went our seperate ways. Yolanda and myself went to Miraflores. We wanted to try the Irish bar again, but once again it was closed, so instead we went to a German bar before calling into KFC for some much needed proper food. As its my last night night in Lima you can probably guess the rest.

Day 322 - Sunday 17 August

My last day in Lima, I must have broken the record for the amount of time a tourist has stayed in this city. More football on tv to watch in the morning before Yolanda came round. After spending the afternoon with me she came to the bus station to see me off. We've a lot in common and get on well so although its going to be difficult I´m going to try and stay in touch this time. Her dad and her brother will be happy i´m leaving though, even though they have never met me, apparently they hate me. Like i´m bothered.

Its a long journey to Cajamarca but my cama seat is very comfortable even if they are playing romantic music over the stereo system.

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Photos

With Yolanda and her friends
It was a free bar so im looking a bit worse for wear