After our first evening enjoying Lima’s culinary treats we slept in, had a quick toast and coffee breakfast and then went off walking in the Miraflores district where we are staying. We walked over to South American Explorers and joined their organization which gives us access to the club houses in Lima, Cusco and Quito (Ecuador) as well as to planning etc. resources for our trip here in Peru. We also get discounts with a lot of hostels and such which should help cut costs. The Lima house is in an old building with a French architecture influence which is quite common here as is Italian and Spanish Colonial (what a surprise). I suppose some might say it is all Spanish but it just doesn’t look that way. One of the people at SAE turned us on to a local architect who leads individualized tours in Lima and I am thinking of setting one up since the architecture and culture here is worth it. We were told by a guide at the Archbishop’s Palace (now a museum) that Lima used to have a lot more interesting old buildings but they have been torn down over the years to make room for skyscrapers and various mid-size condo developments - some things are just the same the world over.
We also wandered over to El Sol, a Spanish language school over near the imaginary (to us) border between the Miraflores and Barranco districts and signed up for a two week intensive to boost our skills. We have been getting a lot of practice in Lima speaking Spanish as few people do which is very refreshing after Costa Rica. I have been having fun practicing although I pity the locals who have to listen even though they all protest that I speak well (rubbish but nice to hear). The staff at the hotel we are staying at speak Spanish mostly except for the owner who is unfortunately (for him) in hospital with a badly infected leg. This is a bummer for us as apparently he really makes the place (it has been very quiet, too quiet).
We are looking into a home stay for the next couple of weeks which is cheaper than hostels and comes with most or all meals and we will get to practice our Spanish daily. This will be good for both of us, particularly for Darcie who is struggling with differentiating words let alone interpreting them. Some locals speak with a strong accent (relative to Mexico for instance) but most speak clearly and make an effort to pace things so we can absorb them. For instance we had a guide (part of the entrance fee) at the Archibishop’s Palace Museum and she led the whole tour (it was just the two of us and her – very individual) in Spanish after verifying with us that this was ok (she spoke great English, however). For the most part we got what she said which made us both feel good. The main problem seems to be that we spend a lot of brain resources in translating and while at the time we understand we don’t remember much of the info later, at least I don’t (not surprising anyway since my memory is a little lousy anyway). I like to think our brains are spending a lot of time understanding and not so much recording (lol).
We stumbled across the local version of Whole Paycheck (Whole Foods) and it is quite impressive. The Peruvians, or rather the Limenos, really have good food sources. Bought some nice cheese, a great salami, a dark whole wheat loaf, bottle of Malbec from Argentina (yay – wine is back on the availability list), salady things and several different types of sausage (our favorite is the Argentine-influenced morcilla which are small blood sausages with rice and spices – extremely delicious). We have cooked at home a couple of times since and had lazy evenings in front of the babble box just letting our brains rot.
Yesterday we borrowed the hotel bikes (nice, newish Specialized mountain bikes) and went for a five hour wander through Miraflores and Barranco. Mainly we trolled up and down the sea front which has a really well developed pedestrian path system on the cliffs above the ocean. The government is in the process of building a sea front park that stretches for the whole Costa Verde section of the beach system but it looks to be a good year off before it is up and running. In the meantime the ocean front is a wasteland of dirt. That said one can see that in a couple of years this will be an amazing addition to the neighborhoods. As it is the cliff-top trails are wonderful and everyone just gets along, pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders and bladers alike and the views out over the Pacific are great.
We watched the local yacht club races for a while although they were a bit tiny and distant. Not sure where the sailors dock since the nearby harbor was full of big motor-cruisers.
Eventually we reached Barranco and wandered into the town square which was in the middle of a festival celebrating local food and culture at least that is what the banners proclaimed. While we were there it was just a celebration of food. We had dessert only even though the meaty dishes all looked great. This was mainly as the dessert lady was quite the hustler. We washed the dessert down with a pitcher of chicha morado, a local fruity drink made with purple corn – it is delicious. There was also a wandering troop of musicians playing Andean influenced covers which were fun to listen to – they were unfortunately brought to a halt when the roadies setting up the stage for the music portion of the fiesta fired up the speakers. We hung out for an hour and then pedaled home.
Tomorrow we start our lessons – Let the Flogging Begin.
wow purple corn, interesting!
ReplyDelete