Peru ving that Lima's a great place

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Today we travelled from Santiago de Chile to Lima Peru.

Chile and Peru have competing claims to the origin of the Pisco Sour drink, so in the departure lounge of the Santiago Airport, the bar is called 'The Last Pisco Sour'. The plane ride today offered us our first example of poor service in almost a month on this continent. We were seated a few rows behind the curtain that separates business class from the rest of the cabin. While the crew were removing lunch trays, the aisle to the back washroom was blocked, and yet the flight attendant in the front section wouldn't let an elderly couple move forward to use the front washroom. They had to wait in a growing line that shuffled along behind the cart as it made its way to the back with dirty trays. We were surprised, and a bit angry to see that.

We hadn't done much research on Lima, and I expected it to be lush because it's on the Pacific coast. Turns out Lima gets 3 inches of rain PER YEAR. That said, we think we like it already. For starters, it is not as hot as Santiago. We have also found that this city is also more affordable.

Our hotel is in a district called Miraflores (there are 43 districts in Lima, each with it's own Mayor), which is very nice. There are beautiful parks, restaurants and an insane amount of shopping. We had almuerso at a nice restaurant near the hotel, and then went to see the animated movie 'Rango', completely in Spanish at the Cinerama El Pacifico. Understood about 1/3 of the story, but probably only about 10% of the dialogue. Still a pretty good movie.

Found a supermarket nearby so we can have bedtime snacks for Abbey. The market sells 'choclitos', which are cooked corn on the cobs that the staff member fishes out of a big cart with hot water in it. The corn, or 'choclo' is different from that we see in Canada. The cobs are shorter, fatter, and the kernels are at least twice as big. We will return to that store.

This district of Lima is very clean. No stray dogs, but a huge church here has dozens of cats prowling its courtyard. In the evening, the sidewalks are full of people. We have a city tour tomorrow, and will get some ideas of what we will do with our following free days. We expect that there will be lots to choose from.

No photos tonight. The computer in our hotel does´t appear to have the juice to handle a big file. We will try to get to an internet cafe tomorrow.

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Photos

Evening stroll
This lighthouse is a focal point on a long paved walkway along a high sea cliff. A very nice park with a stunning view.

Comments

[DcatsRcoolio]

Ooooo
Misty and Zacks ears perked up at the mention of the cats. I wondered about animals in the cities there.

[Bev]

Food, glorious food
I am enjoying your comments about the food you are enjoying. Looking forward to you being able to recreate some of it back home, and including me of course. I'll bring the wine.

[Juanita]

Phone call
It was great to hear allyour voices last evening. Sorry we got cut off. I would have tried to call back, but I was going to the library for a discussion on the life and works of Stieg Larsson.Tried to e-mail you, but my machine wouldn't let it be pritned. I shall have to talk to Dawna and get it fixed. Just love to hearfrom you often. Thank you for that. Local sports news: Jeff Stoughtron is in the 1-2 game at the Brier tonight. We are praying for 2 wins.Jets may be coming to Wppg.- or not. NHL having discussions on head injuries-what a unique idea! XXX OOO.