9th-11th October: Lima

After a comfortable ride from Paracas on Cruz del Sur, we arrived in Lima around mid-afternoon. We were picked up by a taxi sent by the hotel, which saved us the hassle of finding a reliable taxi.  It is easy to get used to these little luxuries.  After dropping our bags, we went for a walk to Parque Kennedy in the Miraflores neighbourhood.  The display of dinosaurs had attracted a significant crowd, composed mostly of young families, on this Sunday afternoon. There was nothing to keep us there (we even managed to resist the temptation to hop on a tour bus around Miraflores), so we walked down avenida Larco to the seashore.  There some para-gliders were distracting those strolling along the shore.

One of the para-gliders along the seashore 

It was hard to miss the huge commercial center by the shore and we decided to wander around.  There was nothing very exciting so we left quite quickly, without having to resist any temptation. I managed to convince John to trade the US burger chain (not McDo but TGI Friday) for a Peruvian-Lebanese restaurant. Back at the hotel, there was a US football game on, which capivated John while I worked on the blog.

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The next day, we visited Huaca Pucllana, a ceremonial site built by the Lima civilisation around 500 AD. The archaeological excavations on the site only started a few decades ago, and the site suffered a lot from erosion over the intervening centuries. The walls were built in layers of vertically-aligned adobe bricks (with fragments of shells added to make them more resistant).  This construction enabled it to be more flexible and to resist earthquakes. The archeologists found bones of women, whom they thought had been sacrificed.  They also found ceramics and offerings to divinities.  Allegedly, it was a matriarcal society, but there were not many elements to prove it.

Ruins of Huaca Pucllana

Huaca Pucllana with suburbs of Lima in the background 

We then took a cab to the Plaza de Armas, in the city center.  20 minutes later, without too much traffic, we arrived at the Museum of the Inquisition.  We were told that the next tour would be about 20 minutes later, so we had a quick snack and returned.  It was a bit difficult for John to follow as the guide only spoke Spanish but there were good explanations on the panels so we stopped listening to the guide. There was not much to see in the museum apart from the various ways the Inquisition had found to torture "heretics."  We then went back to the Plaza de Armas to visit the Cathedral and the Archbishop's museum. The Cathedral was large and impressive but did not compare to Cuzco.  The Archbishop's museum contained an attractive collection of paintings, but the building itself was most impressive.  There were an extraordinary number of rooms, all very richly decorated.

In front of the Archbishop museum

We finished our visit of the centre at the Convento San Francisco.  Again, the guided tour was only in Spanish so we wandered on our own. We enjoyed in particular the library, one of the largest and oldest in South America, and the earthquake-damaged patio.

Convento San Francisco

After chilling at the hotel for a few hours, we dressed up (well, I managed to get John into a shirt, athough the effect was rather ruined by the hiking boots) to go to the restaurant in the splurge section of the LP: Astrid y Gaston. We ordered a good bottle of Argentinian malbec, and were offered some amuse-bouches composed of sea food and suckling pig (not together, thankfully). I then started with an entrée of monkfish and perfumed rice, while John enjoyed "cuy" to be rolled in crepes with veggies (Peking Guinea Pig).  It was delicious.  John then had lamb and I had suckling pig, which was very tasty! We decided to skip desserts, but were offered a little box of chocolate treats, which satisfied our sweet teeth.

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The next morning, we headed to the airport for our flight to Santiago de Chile.  Unfortunately, it was delayed by an hour and a half, due to technical problems (always reassuring).  Our friend Macarena very kindly picked us up at the airport and took us to her home.  After dropping off our bags, we went to a fun bar in Bellavista, the more bohemian area of Santiago.  We ordered wine and empanadas to share, and enjoyed music played by a guitarist. A bit later, an Argentinian guy took the microphone and told us a few stories.  However, he was speaking a bit too fast for us to appreciate everything.  Right behind him was a big portrait of Che Guevara, which went well with the micro and his movements to emphasize dramatic moments.