Lima

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Hello from Peru!
Our trip here on Monday was easy despite a short connection in Atlanta. Things got more interesting when we arrived in immigration area in Lima's airport. The long line went fairly quickly but just as we got to the desk, all the computers crashed. At midnight, we spent the next 45 minutes with a very friendly and apologetic immigration agent and several hundred people waiting behind us. The help desk in Bombay finally figured it out (ctrl/alt/del?) and we reached the hotel in the Miraflores area around 130am.
We only have one full day in Lima and considering our lack of sleep we covered a lot of ground today. We took a cab to the historic Centro area to visit a the main plaza. The changing of the guard at the president's official residence was fun, and very different from the British version. We wandered around the cathedral and the kids were most interested in the contents of the crypts. That theme continued when we visited a church called Iglesia de San Francisco. I thought I was buying tickets to visit the catacombs only but we ended up on a 45 minute guided tour of the entire building....entirely in Spanish! The catacombs, naturally, were the last thing on the tour so we had to wait to see the thousands of human bones but the good news is that we are all now totally fluent in Spanish. Muy bien mi amigo.
Our late lunch was all good Peruvian stuff....cerviche, lomo saltado (beef, onions, peppers etc) and a pisco sour for Sand and my first local beer. The kids discovered Inca Kola...a yellow fizzy drink that tastes just like Irn Bru. You Brits will know it well, but Americans will have to stay confused as there is no US equivalent.
Already 4pm, we made a quick stop at an interesting little museum all about electricity and then took a look at the Pacific from the top of the cliffs before returning to our hotel. We're planning to eat nearby as we leave early on Wednesday morning for our flight to Cusco, where we are going to rent a car to drive to the Sacred Valley.
The weather here today was perfect for walking - around 70f and not too humid. It is winter here, but this is not what Minnesotans call winter! Cusco is at a very high altitude so it will be cooler but still pleasant.

Onwards!

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Comments

[Rob]

Hola de Londres!
Hola Nick, Sandra, Ben y Carys. Gran saber de usted y amar al Blog. Disfrute de Perú y no puedo esperar a leer acerca de los Incas. Mucho amor Rob, Harry, Rosie, Sam y Jonnie xxxxx

[Sand Nick Carys and Ben]

hola!
Hola a la familia de Perkins! Estoy muy impresionado con el español. ¿Ha estado tomando lecciones o que te también utiliza el Traductor de Google? Espero que todos estén bien. Gran amor de la familia Summers!

[Lawrence Nemecek]

Lima
Hey - I lived there for a year as you know. Make sure you try the anticuchos with aji - yummy. Have some cevich and a Pilsen Callao to wash it down with. Have fun!