Lima- June 21st- first full Day

Lima, Thursday June 21^st

 An 8 am alarm signaled the beginning of the first full day in Lima. The restaurant, located on the 8^th floor of the hotel provided an impressive view of the city as well as the Pacific ocean, less than ½ km away. The sky was overcast and would remain that way throughout the day, the temperature hovering between 16 and 18 degrees.

  We spent most of the morning walking along the Malecon, a scenic drive/walkway that followed the cliff top south along the western side of Miraflores.

  By way of background, Miraflores is one of the principal districts of Lima, and perhaps its most affluent, with over 70 parks and dozens, or even hundreds of high-rises, office buildings and expensive apartments.

   Lima has a population somewhere between 9 and 10 million people, and judging by the traffic, they are constantly on the move, Based on my experiences today, the risk of being run over on a crosswalk is probably the Number One cause of death in this city, followed a distant second by being run over by a skateboarder,

  Strangely, the area is without the abject poverty, homeless people and beggars that were so common in the cities of Central America. Judging by the obsessive way  city workers were cleaning streets and picking up garbage, I would not be surprised if there was not a program in place for keeping the “detritus” of society hidden from the eyes of the tourists and the local yuppies.

  All the local dogs seem well cared for, walked and leashed by doting owners or their assigned “dog walkers” Only cats seemed to show an element of homelessness with several dozen wandering in groups around the Plaza Central and Cathedral. Unlike the ferile cats of other cities, these all appeared well fed and cared for, perhaps a prodject undertaken by the local Catholic Diocese which seemed to put out food and water for them in the parks

   A quick lunch of chicken, cooked vegetable salad (carrots, beans, avocado , beets and carrots) was washed down with an Inka Cola, a rather fluorescent green/yellow beverage of unknown content (other than lots of sugar.)

 Following lunch we boarded an open double decker bus for a brief tour of Miraflores before travelling to Central Lima, where we had an all too quick tour of the Principal City Squares, as well as the major buildings, the main Cathedral, Art Gallery, Museums, various Government Palaces, Churches etc.

Leaving the city centre for a smaller district we stopped at a building known as the Larco museum, home to a large collection of Ceramica, textiles and jewelry dating back to the time from several hundred years BC and following a time line to the Inca reign and the Spanish Conquest.

 A “highlight" of the museum is a gallery of Pre-Columbian ceramic erotica with clay figurines placed in poses and depicting a variety of X-rated activities that would have made J&J very wealthy if they had invented K-Y Jelly in 1200AD!!!

  (And NO, I didn’t take any photos- although they should be on the internet!)

Returning to Miraflores and the Cathedral area we made a meandering journey to the hotel, stopping on the way at the Wong Supermarket, where one could buy a roast chicken and fries for a little over $5. One could also buy the chicken raw, buy a pot to cook it in, buy the stove needed to cook it as well as the dining table, utensils, as well as the video camera to film the event. The only thing they didn’t have for sale was a truck to take it all home.

 After a brief rest/shower, back at the hotel we set out in search of a seafood restaurant, locating one in a strip of pizza restaurants and bars near Diagonal street ( one of the principal streets in Miraflores,)

   I ordered a pescado ala plancha- grilled fish topped with sauted vegetables and fries, Somehow the order got lost in translation and I ended up with Ceviche de Pescado, Deciding not to have a fruitless argument with a waiter in a language I am poorly proficient in, I decided to enjoy what I had- and enjoy I did. I figured if the traffic doesnt kill me the raw seafood might. Luckily the chef seemed to have done a great job of marinating the fish and I am feeling well enough to face another day, the itinerary for which remains to be discovered.