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From the monthly archives:
May 2009
Miraflores was one of my favorite neighborhoods in Lima, primarily because of the vibrant colors of the buildings. Part of my travel experience is wandering around streets and neighborhoods and Miraflores makes it easy to appreciate. The flâneur will feel at home walking the quiet residential streets as well as the busy squares and center.
Lima proved to be a great city to start off my South America tour. I felt comfortable walking around on my own (during the day) and with friends at night. Miraflores is a safe neighborhood in Lima, therefore you should be cautious and avoid other neighborhoods at night (and even during the day). At my hostel one of the employees highlighted on a map which area I should avoid. You can ask your hostel or hotel to do the same. Below are some pictures of the Miraflores neighborhood.
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One of the popular places to go out in Lima is Larcomar. Larcomar is a small mall in the Miraflores neighborhood. It is nice because it is right on the cliff overlooking the ocean. At night you can hardly see the water, but you can smell the salt in the air and feel the breeze that blows in from the ocean. It´s nice to step outside for a breath of fresh air, especially because some of the clubs allow smoking.
I was a bit surprised to see this restaurant in Lima. Apparently Hooters translates into Spanish.
Fountain at Larcomar.
Larcomar at night.
Mama Batata is one of the bar/clubs in Larcomar. The sign suggests the bar is open from 8pm until whenever you choose to leave, however don´t let it fool you. The bars in Lima close around 4am.
There were a bunch of baskets hanging from the ceiling. Don´t know why but it made for an interesting atmosphere. There were much more tourists here than other bars we had gone too, however there is also a local crowd.
Don´t believe the sign. The beer is not free!
For more information about the restaurants, clubs, and stores at Larcomar you can check out the Larcomar Website.
 AuraFood Court |
| BARTINI Plaza Gourmet |
| Gótica Deck Food Court |
| Mamá Batáta Mezannine Plaza Gourmet |
| XCESS BAR Sótano de la Plaza Gourmet Tda. 302 |
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It took us about half an hour to get to Central Lima from Miraflores. Lima is a lot bigger than I had anticipated. In fact it is the 5th largest city in Latin America, behind Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro.
Plaza de Armas
Around the Plaza de Armas, many of the colonial buildings are still standing, however earthquakes in 1687 and 1746 left many buildings damaged.
Decorative balconies are a feature of the colonial legacy of Lima. Around the city, in particular the city center, you will notice these ostentatious balconies.
There were lots of school groups in Central Lima. All of them were wearing some sort of uniform. Must say I´m glad my Catholic school days are over.
One of the most interesting sites we saw in Central Lima were the catacombs in the Museo del Convento de San Francisco. You aren´t supposed to take pictures inside the catacombs, but I tried my bestto provide one. As you can see by the quality of the photo I didn´t do such a great job. I was scared of the tour guide! Not to mention all the possible curses from the skeletons buried in there. Definitely not taking any chances.
Just outside the catacombs there was a group of kids were playing a game. Basically they surrounded one another in a circle and two people were in the middle. One of the kids struggles to take a cloth from the other kids while everyone else cheers on. Then if they end up getting the cloth another contender comes into the circle to compete.
Plaza San Martin
Just outside the catacombs there was a group of kids were playing a game. Basically they surrounded one another in a circle and two people were in the middle. One of the kids struggles to take a cloth from the other kids while everyone else cheers on. Then if they end up getting the cloth another contender comes into the circle to compete.
Plaza San Martin
When you look around the Plaza San Martin, it seems almost as if you are in Europe. The buildings have a French style and lack the color of other plazas in Lima.
The Gran Hotel Bolivar is the oldest hotel in all of Lima. Today it certainly doesn´t have the splendor of its past, however it is typical to get a pisco sour within the hotel or tea. As soon as we entered we were offered pisco sours by a couple of hotel employees, however their upfrontness turned us off and we decided to get our piscos somewhere else.
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Peruvian food is famous throughout the world, and if you go to Lima you will see why. It is one of the most diverse cuisines and has currently become a popular cuisine to study by top chefs. Since Peru has such a diverse culture and multicultural background that includes, pre-Inca, Spanish, French, and Japanese to name a few, the food combines a variety of flavors. Not to mention the homegrown local ingredients that make the cuisine very unique. One of the highlights of my trip has been the soups we have eaten, where even a typically boring chicken soup (which they call diet soup) is just so good.
It seems like no matter where you go in Lima the ceviche is incredible. We ate some ceviche at a small restaurant in downtown Lima. The fish is fresh, as it should be considering how close you are to the ocean. If you look closely at the picture above you can see some Peruvian corn, or as I like to affectionately call it ´giant´corn. It is much larger than I´ve ever seen and has a softer texture.
The Pisco Sour is Peru´s national drink. It is pretty yummy, and made from Pisco, brandy made from grapes. Our bartender made a few Pisco Sour for us and showed us the process on how to make one.
Recipe:
3 parts Peruvian Pisco
1 part lime juice
1 part sugar syrup (jarabe de goma)
1 egg white
a drop of Angostura bitter
Astrid y Gastón is a popular restaurant in Lima and always written about in the guidebooks, however I can assure you that the food is incredible. Seriously I want the chef Gastón Acurio to be a part of my family so I can have his dishes whenever my little heart desires. He was born in Lima and has helped make Peruvian food a popular cuisine around the world, not to mention make little tourists such as myself smile with glee.
Of course we had to try the ceviche at Astrid y Gaston´s and so far it has been the best I have ever tasted. We tried the ´travieso´ceviche which was a mix of the catch of the day. I cannot reiterate how goooood the ceviche tasted.
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El Parque Del Amor
El Parque del Amor (Love Park) is along the Malecon. Guidebooks lead you to believe that the colorful ceramic, design is very similar to Park Guell in Barcelona, and it is, but on a much smaller scale. Couples sit on the walls as if no one is watching them. It´s a little voyeuristic. My gringa sensibilities make me a little uncomfortable to show that emotion in front of a bunch of picture taking tourists, but these guys seem to ok with displaying their amor in public.
On Valentine´s Day people go to the park and compete in a contest for the longest kiss. Not really sure what the winners get as a prize, but you can use your imagination.
There are quotes written into the walls of the murals.
Mi sangre esta alcanzando a las estrellas (My blood is reaching the stars) – Jose Maria Arguedas
Some othe quotes found in the park:
Te desvisto como quien pela una fruta
(I undress you like someone peels a piece of fruit)- Jorge Diaz Herrera
A ti como la luz del mundo a las ventanas
(To you like the light of the world in the windows)- Juan Gonzalo Rose
Somos un poco la sombra de lo que fuimos
(We are a bit like the shade of what we used to be)- Oscar Valdivia
In the center of the park is a statue of a couple fully embracing, seemingly pre-coital. It stirred up some contreversy since Peru is a fairly conservative country. The creator of the stautue is Peruvian artist Victor Delfin.
Someone wrote this quote on the ledge of the wall along the Malecon.(The views of a lighthouse are distant. Just like love, it seems far to never return).
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It was 8am on el dia del trabajo (day of work) and the streets were dead. El dia del trabajo is basically a Peruvian Labor Day. One particularity of Lima is the cloud of fog that creeps up from the shore, especially in the early morning.
The Malecon de Miraflores is a park that runs along the Pacific Ocean. I was extremely excited to see the ocean, but as you can see from the picture above, the fog was so thick you couldn´t see anything. It was a strange feeling not being able to see what was right in front of you.
There were tons of people jogging and working out along the Malecon. Everyone was very friendly and stop to smile and say hello. A few people saw me fidgeting with a map and asked if I needed help.
The faro (lighthouse) is small. Not sure how ships were able to see the lighthouse with the constant fog.
The Malecon is on top of a cliff overlooking the beach.
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As per usual I was rushing to the airport, but as luck would have it, they tell me to cut everyone on the line. What can I say, sometimes it pays to be late. While sitting at the terminal, bored and anxiously awaiting to board the plane, I notice two grown men wearing pink, Disney princess dresses. Why you might ask? Good question but it is one I cannot answer at the moment. Both dresses were frilly with poofy sleeves and lace trim. The dress pinched at the waist and flared out underneath. Let´s just say I´m almost positive one was a man, but the other princess clad individual was a bit more questionable. He had more delicate features and a daintier voice, although I´ve been fooled before. A good guess is that they are in their 50s. Ah yes and how can I forget the pictures of the Disney Princesses on the bottom. Two thumbs up for these guys. I hesitate to leave the house without concealer and these guys can do just about anything, it seems. 
I really wanted to ask them why they were wearing the dress of littl girls´ dreams, however I was too tired, anxious, and sleep deprived to attempt normal conversation. (If you can call talking to a grown man wearing a princess dress normal). It was too early in the trip for absurd encounters. I was still in Newark, New Jersey for crying out loud. Not to mention the pill my friend had ever so politely given me was starting to kick in. Take that fear of flying! Soon I entered my pill induced stupor.
In Newark there were some people wearing masks because of the fear of swine flu, but for the most part everyone seemed calm. Only a few people on my flight had the mask on however the guy next to me would not stop sneezing or coughing. Each plegm filled cough made me more and more nervous. The antibacterial gel came in handy, as I applied it every half hour and held a tissue to my face. All politeness went out the window as I turned completely away from him and avoided eye contact. It`s pig flu for crying out loud. Not taking any chances. At the Houston airport a good majority of people were wearing masks which didn`t help with my anxiety. Damnit for not thinking ahead and subscribing to mass hysteria.
Endless wandering around the airport as well as an impromptu call to a friend caused me to loose track of time. All of a sudden I hear my name over the loud speaker. I run to the terminal and apologize. While entering the plane I received lots of dirty looks from perturbed passengers. I could feel their disdain behind those blue medical masks. Their eyes were throwing tiny daggers.
Time for the other half of my plane fear pill…. mmm nice calm.
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Lima Smells Like Saltwater
by Elena on May 1, 2009
Finally I set foot on South America! There was so much fog coming into Lima that we could hardly tell when we were about to land. As much as all of us couldn´t wait to get off the plane after sitting still in uncomfortable seats for six hours we were forced to wait before Peruvian doctors (donned in white coats and white medical masks) came aboard and made sure none of us were carrying the swine flu virus. Not sure what they were looking for exactly. I mean I have successfully faked sickness throughout middle and high school. I´m assuming it may be possible to feign health right? As we disembarked we passed by many airport employees each wearing this mask. Ok now I was starting to feel a little insecure. There were literally hundreds of people waiting outside to pick up customers. I look through the crowd until I finally see my guy holding up my name.
In Lima the air smells like sea, salty a little musky and just a bit humid. The airport is near the biggest port in Peru, which may be why there is a slight scent of industry in the air. Fog covers the streets. The cab driver decides to drive along the beach in order to avoid the traffic lights. All we could see was endless darkness. Can´t wait to see it in daylight.
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