Finally made it to Peru

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We flew into Lima on Sunday (yesterday) and spent the day wandering around the city. Lima is poor and run down, but set against the vast sea of dingy, partially costructed cement dwellings, are the remenants of a few old, yet beautiful colonial structures.

The highlight of Lima was the amazing seafood, and for this I don´t regret making the stop on our way to Cusco. After taking pictures of the Plaza de Armas and visiting the San Francisco Cathedral with its catacombs below, we headed over to the Larcomar outdoor shopping center for some cocktails and ceviche. The mall is quite literally constructed against a cliff, and to our dismay dotted with name brands like "Chilis," "Tony Roma´s," and "TGI Fridays." While I can do without the chain restaurants, the location has lovely views of the coast. The restaurant Vista al Mar has a beautiful balcony overlooking the ocean, delicious and fresh ceviche mixta (white fish, squid, scallops, octapus, and shrimp), and stiff drinks.

For dinner, we stopped at Las Tejas, a restaurant in the barrio Miraflores just accross the street from our hostel. The food here was FANTASTIC! They brought out a variety of salsas, some spicy some not, that are the best I think I´ve ever had. I ordered some kind of seafood gratin which consisted of two small crabs stuffed with their own meat, plus fresh shrimp and scallops. Brian had the Chupe de Camarones (a kind of shrimp chowder, creamy but not thick, loaded with fresh shrimp and rice) that was quite delicious also.

I regret not being able to experience a peña in Lima: this is a restraurant or cafe with live local music, but I fully intend to go to at least one in Cusco!

So much to do, so little time, but I feel so fortunate to be here.

We arrived in Cusco this morning and the weather is amazing. Clear with bright blue skys and about 70 degrees, a far cry different to what we were expecting (weather.com told us it would be raining all this week!). Cross your fingers for us that weather.com was horribly mistaken.

Our hostal in Lima was charming, but the one we have here in the Barrior San Blas is even nicer! It´s another old colonial house with a pretty garden coutyard and polished carved wood. There are cobblestone streets and bright blue doors on all the old buildings and the neighborhood is a pleasant mix of locals, artists, tourists, students, and school children. And so far everyone has been super nice!

We are slowly acclimating to the altitude, but man it´s tough! Climbing up 2 or 3 steps leaves you dizzy, winded, and your heart pounding out of your chest. We seem to be doing all right though.

Will post pictures later!

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