Our final stop was Lima, Peru. Lima is the capital and the largest city (10 million) in Peru. We were docked there for a day and night before we had to debark from the ship. On the first day we took a bus tour of the town with a couple of stops.
The city is a contrast between poor parts and very modern and beautiful parts. On the right is one of the churches across the street from a very nice park.
Driving in Lima would be very stressful. Lane changes are rapid, and seemingly random. Near misses are rampant. Horns are used often to say, “I’m here. Be careful”. But, like in other countries with different driving cultures, traffic moved and no accidents were observed.
In our drive, we went around the ruins of a very large temple that is in the middle of the city. Years ago it was unprotected and people would ride dirt bikes on it among other insults. It is now fenced and more secured.
Our first stop was at a park on the Pacific coast. There was a large art installation (see the pictures below).
Above left: Part of very large mosaic wall. I was lucky to get a picture of a beautiful woman peaking through the hole. Above right: The two of us in front of a very large statue of a couple.
Our second stop was at Museo Larco. The museum is in an old hacienda that was originally a ranch house before Lima grew. It is a beautiful house with a gorgeous garden. On the right is a picture of a piece of the garden. Lima is another city that doesn’t get a lot of rain, albeit more than Salaverry.
Left: One of the many artifacts from the ancient Peruvian cultures. This one is evidence that they learned how to use molds to make multiple copies. Right: A sample of jewelry worn. Not sure if this was everyday or special day wear or if it was men or women’s wear. Whatever, it couldn’t have been comfortable.
Our last night on ship was spent packing and having a nice dinner with our friends. Our last fun thing was hearing our good friend Dick sing with the piano player in one of the lounges.
We got off the ship the next morning and were taken to a hotel to spend the day. Our flight was scheduled for 1:50 AM so we had a lot of time to kill. We went to a very nice Peruvian restaurant for lunch with Dave and Maureen. Dave and I had the national drink of Peru—a Pisco Sour. I had one of the Peruvian national dishes for an appetizer—ceviche (see picture on the right. It was made from sea bass and was very good.
The rest of the day was spent being bored. I had been watching the status of the flight that was coming to Lima, which would be our plane for returning to the US. It was delayed in Houston because of the nasty weather there. It was reported to be taxing so I figured it would eventually take off and would get to Lima. We were due to leave for the airport 4 hours before the flight and it still had not left Houston as were getting on the bus. Caroline had texted Kim who was coming to pick us up and she texted back that the flight had been cancelled. I immediately called United and sure enough, our flight had been cancelled. We had to make a very fast decision—go the airport and deal with it, or get our luggage off the bus, get room at the hotel, and deal with the issues in the hotel. We opted for the later.
It was a good decision. Our flights were changed and we got seats for the next day. We had a very nice room and didn’t have to deal with the mess that would have happened at the airport.
So, we had another day in Lima. We good a nights sleep and had a great breakfast. We took a walk in the morning and went to a very nice park. I keep running into this gorgeous woman and have to take her picture. The park was almost as beautiful. Full of olive trees that were very old.
After the walk we stopped in a coffee shop and had a little snack (desert) and a pisco sour (Chuck) and a latte (Caroline).
In mid afternoon we went out to find lunch. The concierge recommended a restaurant by one of Peruvian’s famous chefs. It was a foodie’s menu with odd combinations and unusual dishes. You can see the guinea pig Chuck ordered and Caroline’s reaction to it on Chuck’s FB page. Read the comments if you want to be amused.
We left for the airport and it took over an hour to go 7 miles. Luckily we had tons of time. Our two flights were uneventful and we made it home mid-afternoon.
It was a great trip.