We showered and it was glorious (this is becoming a trend). Then we asked for a lunch recommendation and ended up at another set menu place that was fantastic. Very heavy food, but so so good.
We wandered around the city, through the Plaza de Armas, and ended up at a church of San Francisco. For S/ 2 each, we had a wonderful tour through the entire thing, which turned out to be quite huge. The tour was in Spanish, but the guide spoke slowly and we were able to understand quite well. Except something about a well and corpses.
Back at the hostel, we talked to some of the other guests, who were fairly interesting. We were too tired to go for a drink with them, and planned to go to bed early so we could wake up at 2am for a Colca Canyon tour the next morning. That evening, craving light food, we went to a pizzeria (ubiquitous here, surprisingly) for a small pizza, a pisco sour, and wine. It was perfect.
That night, we were in bed by 9pm, our day pack prepared for Colca.
Showing posts with label peruvians are so friendly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peruvians are so friendly. Show all posts
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Day 4: Ceviche but no ice cream
We woke up late, just in time to check out and put our bags in storage. We ate breakfast at the hostel and then walked up Arequipa St and then down a residential street to an archeological site called Huaca Pucllana.
It´s the site of a massive temple. It had been built near the ocean, one of the people´s greatest gods, but the coast had moved over time so now the site is farther inland. The section that we saw is only a tiny portion of an enormous area full of temples (complete with bones of sacrifices) on which the city of Lima was built. The portion that had been somewhat excavated and restored was a hill only thirty or so years ago and had to be bought from a rich family that owned much of the land in the area in order for archeological exploration.
Our guide, Alejandro, was very good and spoke English very well (especially considering he claimed to have learned it through giving tours). The whole site was fascinating and it was great to see it, as it was our first archeological site of our trip.
We wandered back to Parque Kennedy after grabbing some coffee, hanging out until it was late enough for lunch (usually 12:30-1:30pm, as we´ve realized). Alejandro had suggested a good, cheap cevicheria, where we learned about set menus--of increasing price (but only about S/6 to S/ 9)--with different options for sopa, segundos, y postre. The ceviche was wonderful, and the rest of the meal was so good.
From there we walked to another area of Miraflores and sat in a park watching the numerous sanitation workers do upkeep. They all wear masks or fabric to cover their nose and mouth while working. All over Peru.
Running out of places to go, we decided to search for an ice cream place we had passed previously. I swear, it disappeared and we could not find it no matter how many times we wandered through the same area. So we grabbed snacks from the grocery store (pan) and walked back through the park. We noticed some guys pointing and taking pictures of us, so we returned to the hostel to wait for the bus.
We played go fish, finished our bag of goldfish (from airport snacks), and talked to the strange american with the bracelets. We mentioned that we´d had ceviche. He countered with a story about how he´d gone somewhere with four different sizes of ceviche, so he got the second to largest. Very interesting guy.
There was a miscommunication in terms of timing and, thinking we were late, we hurried to grab a taxi to get to the Cruz del Sur office downtown. The driver was chatty, but his accent was difficult to understand. He also asked us if we were married. Odd. It only took about 20 minutes to get there even though it was 4pm, and we were just in time to hang out a bit longer waiting for the bus. There was a show playing in the waiting room with adults in the roles of children. Very odd.
It´s the site of a massive temple. It had been built near the ocean, one of the people´s greatest gods, but the coast had moved over time so now the site is farther inland. The section that we saw is only a tiny portion of an enormous area full of temples (complete with bones of sacrifices) on which the city of Lima was built. The portion that had been somewhat excavated and restored was a hill only thirty or so years ago and had to be bought from a rich family that owned much of the land in the area in order for archeological exploration.
Our guide, Alejandro, was very good and spoke English very well (especially considering he claimed to have learned it through giving tours). The whole site was fascinating and it was great to see it, as it was our first archeological site of our trip.
We wandered back to Parque Kennedy after grabbing some coffee, hanging out until it was late enough for lunch (usually 12:30-1:30pm, as we´ve realized). Alejandro had suggested a good, cheap cevicheria, where we learned about set menus--of increasing price (but only about S/6 to S/ 9)--with different options for sopa, segundos, y postre. The ceviche was wonderful, and the rest of the meal was so good.
From there we walked to another area of Miraflores and sat in a park watching the numerous sanitation workers do upkeep. They all wear masks or fabric to cover their nose and mouth while working. All over Peru.
Running out of places to go, we decided to search for an ice cream place we had passed previously. I swear, it disappeared and we could not find it no matter how many times we wandered through the same area. So we grabbed snacks from the grocery store (pan) and walked back through the park. We noticed some guys pointing and taking pictures of us, so we returned to the hostel to wait for the bus.
We played go fish, finished our bag of goldfish (from airport snacks), and talked to the strange american with the bracelets. We mentioned that we´d had ceviche. He countered with a story about how he´d gone somewhere with four different sizes of ceviche, so he got the second to largest. Very interesting guy.
There was a miscommunication in terms of timing and, thinking we were late, we hurried to grab a taxi to get to the Cruz del Sur office downtown. The driver was chatty, but his accent was difficult to understand. He also asked us if we were married. Odd. It only took about 20 minutes to get there even though it was 4pm, and we were just in time to hang out a bit longer waiting for the bus. There was a show playing in the waiting room with adults in the roles of children. Very odd.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Day 1: PDA and Mayonnaise
We settled for an expensive taxi to the hostel (S/ 55), and showered. It was glorious. The hostel guys spoke some english, which was useful.
After discovering that our feet stunk to high heaven, we left the hostel to explore Miraflores (a suburb in the south of Lima). We walked to a café for coffee and soda, then headed to a park by the beach called Parque del Amor. PDA central.
The breeze was nice and we ended up talking to guy from la selva (the jungle in the north of Peru) named Amaru. He didn´t emit any creepy vibes, and seemed like a very decent guy. He spoke some English, and with my little bit of Spanish, we were able to communicate rather well. We walked with him for a while, got some restaurant recommendations, and agreed to meet up the following day to see Barranco (a suburb to the southeast of Miraflores). He walked us to an exhibition of nativity scenes made by artisans from around the country. The theme was Andean Nativity Scene, and while a lot of them looked quite alike, some of them were outstanding. No pictures allowed, which was lame, but it was wonderful to see them all--we would not have found the place on our own.
It was getting dark, so we parted ways. We promptly forgot his dinner recommendations after discovering that one of them was more bar than restaurant, and walked down a tourist trap (presumbly) known as pizza st. (The guy at the hostel had suggested sushi--really?) We stopped at one with waitresses who promised us a free drink. We sat down, and were not given free drinks. The meal deteriorated from there.
First of all, we blind ordered two things off the "Peruvian Food" menú that sounded good--yellow mashed potatoes with chicken, and avocado with vegetables. The waitress appeared to have lost her wits somewhere earlier in life and was confused about how many entrees we were ordering. However, she soon figured out that we wanted one of each.
When she brought out the glass bottle of water with metal cap, she took a wine opener and attempted to open the bottle. Being unsuccessful (lack of sufficient pressure, I believe), she retreated to the kitchen to get help. She returned with the open bottle and pour water for each of us. It is unknown whether she noticed our giggles.
A few minutes later, she made a big deal of putting down our napkins and silverware horizontally and very carefully. The whole process took a full minute.
By this point, Carrie quipped, "Well, at least the food can´t be that bad."
The waitress brought out two plates of food on a serving tray, and seemed to be untrained in lifting one off without almost dropping the other. At this point, I must say that we completely regret not photographing our food before eating, because each plate was truly a work of art.
Mayonnaise art. Each plate was decorated with curly-qs of mayonnaise, with paprika sprinkled on top. The mashed potatoes entreé was in the shape of a small round cake, vertical sides and everything. The top was also decorated with lattice decorations of mayonnaise, and there were four sliced black olives atop it. I barely noticed the two half hard-boiled eggs on each side of the cake potatoes.
However, the other was even more epic. They had taken an avocado, sliced it in half, and filled it with chicken salad. Atop the avocado itself was a giant glob of mayonnaise, about the size of the entire avocado itself.
After giving each other the look of impending doom, we dug into the entreés, unsure what we would find. It turned out to be mayonnaise-y chicken salad. I think. Now, Carrie´s not a huge fan of mayonnaise, and I have to admit, I can only eat it in relatively small quantities. Ergo, the entire meal was digusting.
The food had been expensive, but not knowing enough Spanish to complain, we decided to chalk up the meal as "an experience", pay, and leave. We paid S/ 29 for the entire mess and ran.
Right into a really short guy trying to cross the street who started talking to us (in English) as we walked into the park. It was his New Years (still drunk, perhaps?) and he offered to buy us drinks. But "no sex". Though we were "fucking attractive". "Me, I am 31." He looked 51. We shook him off, as you would a tiny yapping dog.
I steered us back to a tiny hole in the wall restaurant, where I got a cheese sandwich and Carrie got a fruit salad (I had to pick out the bananas for her). It was much much better and we laughed about the mayonnaise, which became something of a running joke until we encountered another fantastic inside joke the following day.
After discovering that our feet stunk to high heaven, we left the hostel to explore Miraflores (a suburb in the south of Lima). We walked to a café for coffee and soda, then headed to a park by the beach called Parque del Amor. PDA central.
The breeze was nice and we ended up talking to guy from la selva (the jungle in the north of Peru) named Amaru. He didn´t emit any creepy vibes, and seemed like a very decent guy. He spoke some English, and with my little bit of Spanish, we were able to communicate rather well. We walked with him for a while, got some restaurant recommendations, and agreed to meet up the following day to see Barranco (a suburb to the southeast of Miraflores). He walked us to an exhibition of nativity scenes made by artisans from around the country. The theme was Andean Nativity Scene, and while a lot of them looked quite alike, some of them were outstanding. No pictures allowed, which was lame, but it was wonderful to see them all--we would not have found the place on our own.
It was getting dark, so we parted ways. We promptly forgot his dinner recommendations after discovering that one of them was more bar than restaurant, and walked down a tourist trap (presumbly) known as pizza st. (The guy at the hostel had suggested sushi--really?) We stopped at one with waitresses who promised us a free drink. We sat down, and were not given free drinks. The meal deteriorated from there.
First of all, we blind ordered two things off the "Peruvian Food" menú that sounded good--yellow mashed potatoes with chicken, and avocado with vegetables. The waitress appeared to have lost her wits somewhere earlier in life and was confused about how many entrees we were ordering. However, she soon figured out that we wanted one of each.
When she brought out the glass bottle of water with metal cap, she took a wine opener and attempted to open the bottle. Being unsuccessful (lack of sufficient pressure, I believe), she retreated to the kitchen to get help. She returned with the open bottle and pour water for each of us. It is unknown whether she noticed our giggles.
A few minutes later, she made a big deal of putting down our napkins and silverware horizontally and very carefully. The whole process took a full minute.
By this point, Carrie quipped, "Well, at least the food can´t be that bad."
The waitress brought out two plates of food on a serving tray, and seemed to be untrained in lifting one off without almost dropping the other. At this point, I must say that we completely regret not photographing our food before eating, because each plate was truly a work of art.
Mayonnaise art. Each plate was decorated with curly-qs of mayonnaise, with paprika sprinkled on top. The mashed potatoes entreé was in the shape of a small round cake, vertical sides and everything. The top was also decorated with lattice decorations of mayonnaise, and there were four sliced black olives atop it. I barely noticed the two half hard-boiled eggs on each side of the cake potatoes.
However, the other was even more epic. They had taken an avocado, sliced it in half, and filled it with chicken salad. Atop the avocado itself was a giant glob of mayonnaise, about the size of the entire avocado itself.
After giving each other the look of impending doom, we dug into the entreés, unsure what we would find. It turned out to be mayonnaise-y chicken salad. I think. Now, Carrie´s not a huge fan of mayonnaise, and I have to admit, I can only eat it in relatively small quantities. Ergo, the entire meal was digusting.
The food had been expensive, but not knowing enough Spanish to complain, we decided to chalk up the meal as "an experience", pay, and leave. We paid S/ 29 for the entire mess and ran.
Right into a really short guy trying to cross the street who started talking to us (in English) as we walked into the park. It was his New Years (still drunk, perhaps?) and he offered to buy us drinks. But "no sex". Though we were "fucking attractive". "Me, I am 31." He looked 51. We shook him off, as you would a tiny yapping dog.
I steered us back to a tiny hole in the wall restaurant, where I got a cheese sandwich and Carrie got a fruit salad (I had to pick out the bananas for her). It was much much better and we laughed about the mayonnaise, which became something of a running joke until we encountered another fantastic inside joke the following day.
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