Hanging out in Lima
Trip Start
Jul 16, 2008
1
20
84
Trip End
Ongoing
Lima,
Peru
Thursday, October 2, 2008
I spent my time in Lima hanging out with Margie, Christy (her sister), her grandparents (they were very welcoming and I actually ended up staying there for a few days), and all of Margie´s friends. I also spent time at my hostel which was a fun place to hang out with lots of interesting people. Visited a few museums, walked through the city, and ate at a fancy restaurant.
My favorite museum I saw was the Museo de Rafeal Larco Herrera. There was an extensive display of ceramics from all different time periods in Peru. There was also a display of gold and silver, which was not as extensive as the display in the Gold Museum but was laid out more effectively with better explanations. Some really beautiful jewelry. I also went to the Gold Museum which had a ton of weapons on the top floor that I didn´t understand and didn´t have any explanations. Downstairs there was a ton of jewels, very beautiful stuff. I found the textiles more interesting, just the fact that hundreds of years ago people wove some very intricate material and they lasted for so long, in such good condition.
I managed to figure out the buses a little bit. And they weren´t as bad as I was expecting. Much less crowded then they looked appeared my first visit to Lima. People were very helpful when I was looking for the buses, although everyone would tell me to go a different way. But, eventually I would get where I needed to go.
I enjoyed a delicious meal at Astrid y Gaston, a very fancy restaurant in Lima. Although I am paying for my whole trip on my own, my parents offered to treat me once a month to a nice meal. So, I went with my friend Merena (a friend from Cusco). I ordered duck, which was prepared two different ways. She got some ceviche. Both were delicious! For dessert she had a tiramisu and I had some kind of pumpkin donuts stuffed with banana filling with some sorbet. The meal was wonderful, a real treat and a big change from how I usually eat (although I did eat a little better in Lima since I was going out with friends a lot to nicer restaurants and I wasn´t about to eat ceviche for 6 soles...I splurge when it involves raw fish!).
The other big excitment of my time in Lima was Viviana´s wedding. Viviana is Cristina´s sister and Margie´s best friend (and the reason Margie was down for the week). The wedding was on Saturday, in Chaclacayo, about an hour and a half outside the city. The wedding started late, of course...it was in Peru. Viviana looked beautiful and she and Hugo (the groom) both seemed very happy. The ceremony was in a Catholic Church so I did feel a little out of place as I wasn´t exactly sure what was going on. Luckily I was sitting on the side where there wasn´t a spot for kneeling down so I was excused from that! The party started right after the ceremony ended, around 2:00 pm, on the lawn of a beautiful house near the church. There was an enormous tent (I think there were 800 people at the wedding!) set up on the lawn with a big dance floor. As soon as the party started the drinks were flowing and they didn´t stop until after midnight! There was a buffet around 4:00 that ran out of food before the bride got to eat and they ran out of toilet paper in the bathroom. But, they never ran out of whiskey! It was quite an experience for me and I definitely enjoyed it. We stayed the night in military housing in Chaclacayo (Margie´s grandfather was a pilot in the military so he has a bungalow there that the family can rent out) which was very nice.
I definitely enjoyed my time in Lima although I am ready to move on! Next stop...Huaraz to visit Alli and Gonzalo!
