Goodbyes are said in Lima

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Our hotel in Lima was fantastic, a little b&b called Second Home. I have written extensively about the hotel elsewhere, so I wont' repeat myself too much. Just a little - it was a tudor home located on the cliff-front in Barranco. The artist Victor Delfin still lives and produces art there, and his gorgeous, colorful and erotically charged art is all over the house. Barranco is a cool suburb of Lima, very artistic and beautiful with tree-lined streets and old mansions, some decaying, others in good shape. It's right on the cliffs and the sound of the ocean is very relaxing. The weather in Lima was cloudy but comfortable.

Alli was very sick with a fever and in bed. We had doctors come and check her out, and we got some pills for her at the pharmacy. We left her in bed to sleep and went out for a day of sightseeing.

In the morning, we spent a while over breakfast chatting with Lilian Delfin, the innkeeper. She is such a doll. She took really good care of us. I had some very interesting conversations with her about life.

We took a cab to Plaza San Martin, a plaza so grand that it's hard to believe it isn't the main plaza, and walked up the pedestrian street Jr Union. This is a big shopping street, and filled with people even on a Monday afternoon. Interbank sponsored a parade, with a marching band, stilt-walkers, and girls in short peruvian "costumes" dancing. Completely impromptu and random. We stopped for ice cream and ate it as we walked. When we got to the Plaza Mayor, it just happened to be 11:45 on the dot, and we got to witness the changing of the guards at the Palacio Gobierno.

From here, we found the Monasterio De San Francisco, which we visited only to see the catacombs. However, we did find it was an interesting place, beyond the catacombs. We had a very educated guide here, for free, who told us all about the monastery and its history. From a very colonial perspective, which is different from Cusco where you get a very indigenous feeling and perspective. The catacombs were pretty cool, even when you consider that the designs that the bones had been set in were actually done by archaologists when they were excavating, not the way they originally were set up. originally, it was just a cemetary for the entire city of Lima, where bodies would be put into their slot, quicklime poured over them, and then comes in the next body. No markers, just lots of bones. Over 25000 people were buried here.

To cap off our morbid morning, we went to the Museum of the Inquisition. Very interesting, again. It's quite shocking what they did during the inquisition! It was really awful to know this was happening. They were especially concerned with finding and killing Jews, not unlike the nazis. The old dungeons are still under the building, and rumor has it that they connect to the catacombs. We got to explore a small part of them as part of the museum.


We took a cab across town to Miraflores, and saw Victor Delfin's Parque Del Amor, a beautiful park he designed that reminds me of pictures I've seen of Barcelona. It is dedicated to love and appropriately a huge statue of two people embracing is its centerpiece. Here there is a lovely restaurant called Segundo Mualle, and it is top-notch for ceviche. As we enjoyed our ceviche lunch, we noticed paragliders taking off from the cliffs.

Michael and Tricia decided to do it and I said I'd watch. I did watch and took some pictures. Michael had my little camera with him and was doing videos from the sky. It looked like so much fun that it didn't take much convincing to get me up there. I cannot do it justice - it was amazing to soar above the beach and cliffs and skyscrapers and wave down at the Starbucks drinkers at Larcomar. To climb on the wind, legs dangling in the sky. It was amazing and an experience I will never forget. We were all rushed with endorphins when we all hugged for the last time in Lima, declaring it the best vacation ever, definitely the best people to travel with.

That night, we made the effort to go to Trujillo. It was a mistake. Alli was still very sick and neither of us enjoyed the rest of the trip. We should have stayed in Lima and left with Tricia and Michael. At the airport, I bought Alli an adorable teddybear made of baby alpaca fibers. It's the softest shaggiest bear ever. I thought it might help her feel better when she was sick. We named him Qapac and he kept us both company through our illnesses that were to come that week.

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Photos

Goodbye in LIma
Exhilarated from our flight, we say our goodbyes, as Tricia and Michael are off to return to America, and we are travelling on to Trujillo.