Day 15 - Walkabout in Miraflores

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We moved into our new hotel today, El Patio. It is a very cute bed and breakfast set back, off the main streets, in the heart of Miraflores. Compared to the Amaru Hostals or Casa Tintin it lacked a little in service and cleanliness but overall we were comfortable and happy. El Patio's best attribute is that it is quiet, a rarity in Peruvian hotels(especially in the big cities). The courtyard is pretty and colorful and the breakfast breads were excellent. There was an hour in between check-in/check-out times for the two hotels. We checked-out of Tinkus, stashed our luggage in the office of El Patio, ate second breakfast at the corner cafe, and went on a walkabout to shop and explore Miraflores. We found three markets one block off the main drag, Avenida Arequipa. They were the Inca Market, The Indian Market, and the air-conditioned market. The Inca Market is the one to visit. All three sell exactly the same stuff but the Inca Market has the best listed prices and cashiers that are willing to bargain. The air-conditioned market looks just like a large department store from the outside but is just a market with stalls in a big building. The cashiers hassle you just as much as an-open air market but the asking prices are three times more than the other two. Don't bother. After our walkabout we checked-in at El Patio and were ready for dinner. I was a little cash poor at the time so we needed a restaurant that accepts plastic. That is how we found Manolos(mmmmmmm). Manolos started as a small sleepy cafe back in the 70's. Now they have a full menu and the place is always packed. It is an excellent place to sit and people watch while you eat a vanilla churro and sip cafe con leche. It is the most efficeint restaurant I have ever witnessed. The team of waiters dash from table to table hollering out orders to the cashier. There are 2 guys dedicated just to making expresso in huge, old fashioned, coffee presses. The food runners whip around with your food and huge batches of churros for the counter. It was quite a show. Once the waiter took our order our food was on the table in about the same amount of time it would take for a waiter in the states to ring your order in to the kitchen. The service was excellent, the food was excellent. Patty had fetuccine alfredo and I had arroz con pollo(chicken and yellow rice). Prices are about what you would expect to pay in the states. The whole scene was pretty cool. After dinner we chilled out in the room for a while and went out for a walk after sunset to check out the Miraflores nite life.

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