Lima,
Peru
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Lima is quite the trip. From the airport i passed through many different environments, most leaning towards the heavily industrial. Staying in central lima at the moment at the hostal de los artes, which, as it turns out, is not as advertised on the internet. New ownership started may 1st. No more dorm rooms, no more 5 dollar nights. Though I argued a bit, and somehow ended up with a private room with two beds for 10 bucks. Not bad, though not sure why i need two beds. All at once Lima reminds me of new york, budapest, and what i imagine detroit must be like (or maybe how i know minneapolis to be). Staying near the plaza de los culturas which is one of the coolest parks ive ever seen--all sorts of odd sculptures and monuments. Wandered into this temporary market/plaza/bar/performance area and got to see what i thought was a mediocre mime performance, but the limeņos seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. Had some sort of molases cocktail though i made her leave out the raw egg yolk. Accidently bought myself a bottle of port for about a buck 50, and its actually quite good...for port. May go check out miraflores/barranco tomorrow. Who knows. Had what I can only describe as hominy on the cob--seems to be a popular street food here. Quite tasteless on its own, and very meaty, but when combined with the 6-7 salsas available, absolutely delicious. Especially for about 40 cents.
While I was in San Jose yesterday the cows were on parade. You know, the statues. Coolest ones ive ever seen. Particularly enjoyed the stripper cow complete with pole and 9 inch stilletos.
