Bienvenidos a Perú & a Dinner at Central!

Time for our next big adventure... South America for the first time!

Friday night we left for our South American adventure in Peru, which is basically a 7-hour plane ride straight south of Atlanta.  This is our first trip south of the equator.  Sorry, folks, the toilets don't actually flush in the opposite direction down here!

Our flight arrived in Lima at 11:30PM on Friday.  We spent all day Saturday in Lima and are heading to Cusco on Sunday. After 5 days in Cusco and the Sacred Valley, we're heading down south for a couple of days in Arequipa, then returning for another day and a half in this Pacific Ocean metropolis.  Many people skip Lima on their trip to Peru, and head straight to Cusco and Machu Picchu, however Lima is a large city of nearly 9 million people and holds the crown as the gastronomical capital of South America, so you know we had to check it out.

The seaside location of the city is quite dramatic, and a fog hangs over most of the city. The weather has been pretty good - it was in the 60s during the day, and got a bit chilly at night, but not too bad. Our hotel is in the Miraflores district, a nice/trendy area south of downtown on cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  After getting up on Saturday we got some breakfast at our hotel of eggs, bread and fruit.  The bread here is very good.  Unfortunately, there is not a subway system in most of Lima so we caught a cab to the historic district in the city center.  Cabs here are plentiful and somewhat cheap.  Our ride to the city center was 20 soles, or about $7.  We used cabs a lot in Lima.  I really think people exaggerate the risks of using taxis in developing countries.  Just tell the driver where you want to go and get a price up front and you're not going to get cheated.

The historic district in Lima is pretty interesting.  There are a lot of government buildings, plazas, and churches to see.  There aren't many modern buildings or highrises in this part of the city.  Overall, the historic district of Lima is similar to, but not quite as impressive as, Mexico City's historic area, but it was still interesting and full of people.

Plaza San Martin in Lima's historic center

Iglesia de la Merced, built in 1541

Iglesia de la Merced, interior

Plaza de Armas, La Catedral de Lima

La Catedral de Lima

Iglesia de Santo Domingo, a 16th Century church.  Three Peruvian saints are buried here.

Hanging out in central Lima

Guards in front of the Palacio del Gobierno (Presidential Palace)

Our favorite site in central Lima was the monastery and catacombs of San Francisco. Built in the 16th century, it holds the remains of tens of thousands of people. We went on a tour and saw plenty of bones in the basement. There's also a really impressive moorish-style carved wooden dome reminiscent of something from Sevilla or Cordoba, a Last Supper painting where the main dish is guinea pig (cuy), and an impressive library with 25,000 volumes of rare historic books. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed inside.

Monastario de San Francisco

View from downtown Lima

Look!  David is an ice cream here!

Chickens for sale at the Mercado Central

Incense for sale in Lima's Chinatown (Barrio Chino)

While in the Barrio China, we stopped at a Lonely Planet recommended Chifa restaurant (Chinese-Peruvian fusion).  Chifas are all over town!  Unfortunately, it's extra difficult to interpret the menu when it's Spanish versions of Chinese dishes, so we weren't super happy with what we ordered...but I'm pretty sure we'll give Chifa another chance before heading back to the States.

After leaving the central district, we went west to visit a museum and ride a roller coaster (of course!) before going back to Miraflores.

Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Arqueologia y Historia del Peru

El Gusanito at Coney Park - Paul's 561st roller coaster, and his first coaster south of the equator!

Surfers near Miraflores

Lima largely doesn't interact much with its oceanfront.  The city is perched on cliffs above the sea.  The water here is cold because of the Humboldt current, which along with its location on the lee side of the Andes Mountains profoundly impacts the climate of the city.  Lima is very humid and yet receives very little precipitation, and is cool year round despite its location just 11 degrees south of the equator.  As a result, almost nothing is air conditioned or heated, so everything has a very open air feeling which is pretty nice.  There are several parks that lead down to the waterfront, but not much development along the waterfront itself.  We did visit an open air mall called Larcomar built into the cliffs called in Miraflores.  It's quite beautiful, and we enjoyed a mid-afternoon dessert and drinks while looking out over the cliffs down to the ocean.

Desert at Larcomar - made with Peruvian fruit

This mass produced Peruvian beer (owned by Miller) was not bad. Much better than the normal "blanca" version.

Then we found some local craft beers at Lima Rugby Restobar. There's only about 5 microbreweries in all of Peru.

After relaxing at the hotel for a while, we had a reservation at Central Restaurante, which is ranked as one of the 50 best restaurants in the world. We had a fantastic meal of nuevoandean cuisine, and were absolutely stuffed by the end. Definitely a unique experience! It was very expensive by Peruvian standards, at about $80 per person, but it was well worth it.

Drinks!

Octopus with charred purple corn, lentils and olive

A beautiful fruit and seed ceviche

Hot ceviche with an amazing broth and edible yucca "charcoal"

Goat cheesecake with eucalyptus scented dry ice rock bowl

David's amazing "graviola tree" dessert

Coulant Cacao with lemon ice cream and passionfruit jelly

Our first day in Lima was a great introduction to colonial and modern Peru, topped off with some good beer and a fantastic meal. At our next stop, Cusco, we'll delve into Incan history. Stay tuned for more Peruvian adventures!