Cenral Lima
Trip Start
Feb 15, 2008
1
3
57
Trip End
May 31, 2008
Lima,
Peru
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Latino Breakfast is pretty simple; bread, fruit, coffee, little frankfurts and perhaps fish or some other meat thing. I generally just stick with the bread, fruit and coffee though that morning Milagros' dad was getting into three boiled fish heads that he'd cooked for himself; I think he knew he was grossing me out and was enjoying it too.
The first mission for that day was to take the car that I'd rented back to the airport.
Milagros's dad, Alejandro
We'd only had it 2 days and I'd planned to keep it for 4. As much fun as it is to drive on the other side of the road and toot the horn every 5 or 10 seconds, driving a car in a 3rd world city is nerve racking, dangerous and you're more likely to get lost, crash or just get stuck in the wrong lane with everyone behind you blasting their horns than, actually find your way to where it was that you wanted to go... and that's with a local in the car trying to give directions. As chaotic as this sounds, for 8 million people here and another couple of billion or so people in other similar cities across the world, this is just part of life.Next we took a taxi into the centre on Lima and stopped at what is known as the church of miracles which was built in the 1700's. I get lost with Spanish when the stories start getting too complicated but as I understand there was a bad earthquake in this particular location sometime ago and all the buildings in the area were destroyed, expert this church which survived unscathed. The people then believed that this had been the result of a miracle and from then on, those looking for a miracle have come here... and come they do... all day there are people here kneeling... then perhaps stopping to buy a souvenir or some such trinket for luck or a blessing... you name it they sell it; statues of saints, virgins, christs, plus candles, pictures etc... This is Milagros' story, her parents had 3 boys all in reasonably close succession then 9 years later when her mum was 41 and her dad 48, her mum came to this church and asked for a baby girl.
Pilson Callao, the local brew and it's not bad.
This sounds unlikely and even if she did fall pregnant with a track record of three boys one would expect the result to be yet another boy. They tell me that three days later she was pregnant with a baby girl so they called her 'Milagros' which is Spanish for miracle.Next we went for a walk around a few of the sites in central Lima. Lima was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, as the City of the Kings. It became the most important city in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru and, after the Peruvian War of Independence, the capital of the Republic of Peru.
We later took a look at the museum of the inquisition which is all about horrific things they did to people who didn't want to confess and become catholic. I got a bit lost with what the tour guide was saying though the pictures of people being burnt at the stake and the exhibits with mannequins being hung up by their wrists, whipped, dismembered, strangled or having hot oil poured down their throats seemed to speak for themselves. I guess it must have worked since nearly everyone here seems to be catholic.
If you were looking for the modern part of Lima you won't find it in the centre. Most of the people with money seem to drive their cars to the super centres in the suburbs. The most wealthy and modern part of Lima is a Mira Flores which sits right on the coast. There you'll find all the major hotels chains such as Sheraton charging up to $500 per night for a deluxe suite. Parts of Mira Flores differ so greatly from the rest of Lima that one may even forget which city they are in.
That night we splurged and took a visit to what is most likely Lima's best restaurant - Huaca Pucllana. This restaurant is located in a breathtaking setting within the ruins of the Huaca Pucllana, an archaeological compound built between 200 and 700 AD by the early inhabitants of this area. The adobe pyramid, digs and walls of the complex are illuminated by night creating some amazing views from the restaurant's covered terrace.
This place is absolutely magic! The atmosphere, service and food are all beyond words. If you are going to Peru don't miss it. Expect to pay what you would normally pay at an average restaurant in a western country. The best thing I ate was Anticuchos which is a Latin American meat dish; I thought I was being told that it was made from the cow's heart though after a little research I believe they were telling me that it was the centre cut of the meat.
To drink we got into the national cocktail, Pisco Sour. I don't normally do cocktails but these are fantastic and they're not so sweet. They contain Pisco (a regional brandy), lemon and lime juice, egg whites and regional bitters.
