Grand Old Colonial City

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I never envisioned that the landscape of Peru would be so arid, so desert like. As we left Trujillo to make our way to Lima on our 12 hour bus ride, I saw nothing but stretches of sand, broken every now and again by glimpses of the coast in the distance & a very nice pepsi sign or two.

We got to the suburb town of Miraflores in Lima late in the evening, leaving us with only enough time and energy to grab a bite of Pizza along Pizza St and of course, a drink or two of pisco sours to wash it down. We ended up in a Cuban bar filled with locals strutting their stuff on the dance floor - far too good for us to even contemplate going on the dance floor with them, so we quietly sipped our drinks and watched them at it before slipping away home and crashing out.

We only had one full day to visit Lima and I wanted to make the most of it. Our tour leader told us that it was not the safest of places to stay in after sunset, so we had to get in & out rather quickly to see as much as we could and to avoid the worst of the rush-hour traffic. We caught a taxi into Plaza San Martin and made our way along the main streets to the Plaza Mayor - a large square surrounded by the Archbishop’s Palace, the Cathedral of Lima and the Palacio del Gobierno. We caught a tour at the nearby Monestario de San Francisco, which is famous for its underground catacombs filled with the bones of over 10,000 bodies, its library filled with antique texts dating back to the Spanish conquest & its many paintings & freesias. The church is one of the best-preserved Colonial churches in Lima and has been restored to its original baroque style.

We made our way back to watch the back end of the changing of the guard at the Palacio del Gobierno before stumbling along a Museum housing some Inca gold jewellery and other ceramic art. The surrounding buildings along the way were wonderfully preserved in the old Spanish Colonial way and were painted in various shades of yellow, pink & cream & were covered in ornate wooden balconies.

We made our way out of Lima before sunset after stopping off for a late afternoon Pisco at the Hotel Bolivar along Plaza San Martin, one of Lima’s oldest Hotels. Sadly, I didn’t have enough time to visit some other Inca Museums in Lima, given our limited time here but it was time to move on once again. Another long bus ride tomorrow to a new destination, this time to the towns of Pisco & Nasca!

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Photos

The Cathedral
Plaza Mayor

Views from the bus
The sand-dune scenery of Peru

Plaza Mayor
Lima

Not another church?
A good one to visit if you want a change in career or anything work related. It certainly deserved a photo

Plaza Mayor
All these buildings have been newly renovated and were just sparkling yellow

Me with the Guards
In front of the Government Buildings - Plaza Mayor

Monastery of San Francisco
Lima

Changing of the Guard
Government Palace - Lima

Changing of the Guard
Government Palace - Lima

Museo del Tribunal de la Santa Inquisicion
Lima

On the road again.
On the bus to Lima

The streets of Lima
Colonial Old Buildings & Verandas

A museum we stumbled across!
I think this was in an old mint - but it contained some lovely Inca Gold, pottery, weavings & weapons.

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On the way into Lima

The long way there.
On the bus to Lima

A glimpse of the beach from the dunes
On the way to Lima