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Published: December 2nd 2009
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I have been contemplating changing the name of this blog to something more international. But, I am "Rokia on the Run" so you can't just expect me to be in one place. As a matter of fact, I spent Thanksgiving in South America, in lovely, charming Peru. I will take you on my trip in three parts. The first part will be in Lima, Peru where I arrived during the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Lima has a not too great reputation. Someone who had been there before me said, "Lima-take it or leave it". But I say "No!" Lima was pretty wonderful. My LM and I stayed in lovely San Isidro, which is the diplomatic district. The streets were full of flowers and the weather was beautiful. We visited around our neighborhood to begin with. Amazingly enough, if you walk down the right street (or the intersections of Rosario and Choquehuanca, to be exact), you will run right into an ancient adobe pyramid dating from 200-500 AD. The Huaca Huallamarca is the name of this amazing structure, also playfully named El Pan de Azucar (Sugar Loaf), a structure belonging to the Hualla people. "Huaca" means shrine in Quecha, the native regional
The Huaca 2
A close up of the adobe work done on the pyramid. Unfortunately we could not visit the actual tombs inside. language, and "Marca" means the region or town of (ie Huaca Hullamarca means "The Shrine of the place of the Hualla people"). We clambered up the ramp on the side of the pyramid and got a great view of San Isidro. We also took a rest in the peaceful olive grove, named the Bosque El Olivar.
Next, we ventured to the center of Lima (the Lima district, to be exact). Oh, the silly way we decided to get there. For some reason, the maps are very vague and we started from San Isidro to the center of town via El Paseo de la Republica. Anyone who knows Lima is probably laughing right now. The Paseo is a huge highway and is probably the worst place to take a stroll. After three hours, we caved into the fact we had no idea how much longer we had to walk to Lima central and got a taxi, like sane people. Downtown, away from the terrible air pollution of the highway, we had a relaxing lunch and saw the sights of the main square, the Plaza de Armas. Almost every large town has a central Plaza named Plaza de Armas. We also
The Huaca 3
This is the ramp leading up to the ceremonial platform on the top of the pyramid. Of course, I was wearing inappropriate shoes, but I did make it to the top. had a great tour of the Santo Domingo monastery, which is very interesting. It is the home of Lima's three homegrown saints, Santa Rosa de Lima, who is the patron saint of Lima, San Martin de Porras, and San Juan Masias. The land for construction of Santa Domingo was granted to a Dominican friar named Vincente de Valverde by Francisco Pizarro, the conquistador who came to claim "El Dorado" for Spain's Charles the I, in 1540.
Of course, no visit to Lima is complete without a seaside stroll in Miraflores, the swanky suburb founded at the turn of the 19th century. We had lunch and a stroll in the Parque del Amor and window shopped in Larcomar, which had a fabulous view of the dramatic cliftops overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
One thing I did notice in Lima, beside the many "Chifas" or Chinese restaurants, is the huge number of Casinos. I can't help but parallel this with Bucharest.
So, enjoy Part 1 of my Thanksgiving trek and be assured I will soon follow up with Parts 2 and 3.
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