Trip to Peru: Lima Day 2

We woke up not too early on our first full day in Lima. Breakfast was in the executive lounge upstairs that we had access to thanks to my sister and all her Marriott rewards. We drank coffee and tried various hot and cold foods.
Our plan for the day was to go downtown to the historic district and explore various museums and monasteries. After talking to some other Americans in the lobby, we decided to hire a hotel limo, which was really a small Mercedes sedan, to takes us there. After a detour around the historic area, which we had seen the day before, he dropped us off near the Monasterio de San Francisco, I believe. During our tour the day before, we found out that this place had underground catacombs. The entrance fee included a mandatory tour, and we quickly joined an English speaking tour guide. She rushed us along up and down stairs, getting unpacient with the slowness of the group. I somehow always ended up at the front, which was good because she spoke very quietly. Finally she led us underground into the catacombs, where the overhead was very low and I had to be extra careful not to hit my head, or even my damaged nose! We looked at hundreds of bones and even skulls, which I guess I had never see anything like this before. The tour ended rather soon and we then were left to exit the building and explore Lima.

Our next stop was a museum on the other side of the historic district. We meandered along the streets, stopping to take photos and listen to some music being played for some ceremony outside a government building. The day before, the tour guild kept telling us to watch out for pick-pockets when we were outside the van. I must say that I didn't feel any less safe than I did walking through Central Park in New York. Yes, there are people there who would like to snatch my camera away, but most people were just going about their daily business. I had joked earlier that the 40% of the population that was unemployed were out waiting for us. I saw no sign on any unemployed people.

We finally ended up at the Museo de Arta de Lima. It had a mixture of old and new painting and many Inca artifacts. There were the usual paintings of the last supper and the crucifixion of Christ, which weren't quite as gory as the ones in Barcelona. However, just like last year, all museums begin to look alike. After we felt we got our moneys worth, we left. Time was going by fast and we decided to go back to the hotel. Rather than calling the hotel to be picked up, we went to a nearby hotel and pretended to be guests needing a ride to the plaza across from our hotel. Their limo was a Toyota, but it had more room than the earlier one.

We were all worn out from walking so much, so we ate dinner once again in the plaza. This time I tried a Pisco Sour, the official drink of Peru. This much hyped drink was not all that good. It contains a local brandy, egg whites and a liquid sugar. It was too sweet, but nice and strong. I needed a beer to wash it down, so I tried the "other" Peruvian beer, Cristal. It was no better that the Cusquena I drank the day before. This vacation ended up been almost alcohol free due to bad beer, high altitude and exhaustion.

After our early dinner, we walked up the main street in Miraflores, the nice district we were staying in. We were looking for a huge bazaar, and finally found it, we think. I had no intention of buying anything, so my sister and I headed back to an internet cafe while the shopper in the group stayed behind. I did attempt to blog in Lima, but Blogger was down.

The night ended with a sampling of desserts in the executive lounge. We needed to pack for our flight to Cusco the next day. Cusco is the gateway to MachuPicchu and that's where the adventure of this trip really begins.