Free day in Lima = Unexpected Results!

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Up around 9a.m. for breakfast and meet&greet. Yummy buffet-style choices: scrambled eggs, meat, cereals, yogurt, fruit, breads, honey, etc.

Sat with Kathy (from plane) and met Lisa & Farrah. Given the options of the day - several tours were arranged (walking and bus) but the four of us opted to explore on our own. We had very few pre-conceived notions of the city and a very short list of specific things we'd heard about, so we figured that we could figure it out!

First, though, I wanted to go hang-gliding (never done it and what a view from the cliffs over the ocean!) with a married couple from Chicago. Unfortunately, I had no way to meet back with my girls so decided to postpone. It worked out for the best, though, because they reported later that the wind was blowing into the cliffs (eek) so flights were cancelled for the morning. They saw hang-gliders going later in the day, but couldn't get back in.

The four of us decided to start at the Plaza des Armas which has the Presidential Palace and yanna, castles and stuff. We waited for almost 30 min for a cab called by the hotel despite taxis speeding by on our street (Av. La Paz) every minute (apparently there are many unscrupulous people masquerading as "taxis" who charge a lot of money or totally rob people...personally think it's a kick-back system, but we followed the rules, lol). Got a very cute (and young!) driver who drove very politely...never once used the horn, which made him a rarity. Driving is slightly psychotic in the city and we witnessed a car crunch another one and neither even slowed down! He got us safely to the square and explained to me (as the only one in our group who speaks/understands Spanish) that we couldn't go farther b/c no traffic allowed but we were close enough to wander.

*Me inelegently but ultimately effectually translating for our group became a theme for the day...I did okay but elicited a wide response from people including: a man RUNNING AWAY from me (maybe to catch a bus but I'm not sure, lol), a woman referring me to the Policia for help, and a young artist who seemed petrified of me in general and kept saying "no se, no se." (Means I don't know...and in this context, please leave me alone!*

Wandered around the Square and saw the changing of the guard. They totally looked like Toy Soldiers in red, white & blue! There was a great military band that played to the square for quite a while and then marched around inside the palace courtyard. There were bleachers set up and lots and lots of people. If you take pictures of natives (esp. in traditional garb) you must pay them. Generally 1 Sol ($1 = 2.75 Soles) is acceptable. This is universally expected in Peru (at least the touristy areas) and people actively try to catch travelers' attention. In the square it was an older gentleman who had a dog with him. The dog was wearing sunglasses, a colorful wool scarf around his neck and a bright churro on his head. That dude was raking in the soles!

Then we went to the Museo del Convento de San Francisco . Paid S/7 for entrance and a guided tour in English. Our guide was awesome, but had fairly limited English. He used a small vocabulary but much dramatic intonation and was especially fond of the phrase "You Must Understand..." and then something like, the furniture is important. 😊 Unfortunately, no pics. 😞

Underneath the cathedral lay the remains of over 25,000 people in the catacombs. I thought it would be freakier or emotional or sad, but it was mostly surrealistic. They've arranged the bones in "artistic displays" with femurs together, skulls together, and so on. There's a whole room of sectioned off areas that you walk through full of bones. Felt like a canabalistic Home Depot or something. Anyways, the gravitas was totally lost and we got a little giggly. We ended the tour, bought souvenirs (mine's a cool ceramic whistle), and cabbed it to Barranco.

Barranco had some gorgeous cliffside hanging gardens overlooking the Pacific. We found them easily and just so happened to pass a Starbucks and I couldn't resist...a frappuchino ran s/13 which is about the same as in Seattle ($4.50). It was pretty good. Definitely better than the Northgate Mall location!

We had been wandering around for a long time, so decided to get lunch. We found a street with three restaurants and were trying to decide which to eat at when the hawkers all started to try to gain our attention and business. Again, as the Spanish speaker, I asked for "vista mejor" because we just wanted an awesome view while we ate. They all said they had the best view and "many floors" of seating. We chose Javier's and ended up on the uppermost level...had quite a view, no complaints there. Pricey but good. Sadly, it took them almost an hour to bring Farrah's meal and she was about passed out by then. Still, it came, she ate it, and we left. We also took this opportunity to try the specialty drink, Pisco Sour. It was pretty good but we thought it was very marguerita-like.

We decided to walk back to our neighborhood. Not sure why...seemed like a good idea at the time? True taste of the city? Save cab fare? Get some exercise? Whatever our initial reasons it became an idealogical imperative that we successfully navigate back to Miraflores . Aye carumba! We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. And then? We walked some more. We were headed in the right direction, I was our navigator (don't even say it!) and periodically checking the map and oh-em-gee it took forever. In the end, though, we triumphed. With very few wrong turns and very little help...and without getting hit by a car (a very real possibility!) or picked up by a persistant Taxi (they whistle & honk at you to get your attention). Our destination was Choco Museo on the advice of my friend Lyuda & Farrah's guidebook. It was cute but tiny. TINY. Like four small rooms tiny. We were so proud to get there and sit down that it didn't matter. They gave us choco tea (made of the husk of cocoa beans) which was delicious and then told us about cocoa production wordl-wide and specifically in Peru. We all bought lots of chocolate (how could we not?) and moved on.

On our way to our next destination, we walked through the Parque del Amor which had a huge stature of lovers entwined. It was totally sweet and unbelievably creepy all at the same time. Took pics for other folks so they could all be in them. Hung out for awhile and watched the ocean. Walked into the next park, which was fronted by the Virgin Mary in full regalia...and that was the park where people were making out. We got the giggles again, b/c wth?? Is it better when she's watching? Maybe the seats were comfier?

Our next destination was Larcomar which is basically a mall. Cool location on the cliffs, open-aired and below the ground which looked awesome, but it was full of American stores (Gap, North Face, TGIFridays) and very busy. We were pretty beat by then and decided that we had wandered enough.

Our night wasn't finished, though. Again we decided that we were close enough to the hotel to walk back (don't ask, I don't even know...my knee was having fits and I wanted to beg for a cab but pride is a dangerous thing and I didn't want to be the one to give in...). We all agreed that we didn't want any of the American cuisine (hello? I don't even eat at Friday's in the states!) so went homewards with an eye out for a good place. We ran into Amaz , which was Brazilian fusion and sounded interesting. It was fantastic. Cool ambience, nice staff, and great food. The shocker came with our bill where we had spent S/98 on water! That's $35. On water. We didn't ask, and each had two. Lord, lord, lord. What could we do but laugh it off? Paid, headed home, and split in the lobby. Before we did, Lisa informed us that her pedometer showed we'd done over 10 miles. I believe it!

Word came that my missing roommate had made the flight and was on her way. Left the key downstairs for her and went to bed when she still hadn't arrived after midnight.

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