Lima, Peru

I am south of the equator for the first time in nearly 8 years, and it´s winter here. Winter in Lima is characterized by a thick fog that decends upon the city in April and lifts sometime in October. The sun does not burn through the clouds in the afternoons, and it´s hard to tell how much of the grey is from pollution, and how much is the fog.

I spent the day wandering around the city center. One highlight was the Monasterio de San Francisco, with beautiful moorish architecture of mosaics and carved wooden ceilings, and famous catacombs containing the bones of over 25,000 people, many of which are arranged in decorative circular patterns in pits of unknown depth--they haven´t been fully excavated yet.

Sorry, Annie, I didn´t kick refined sugar for long. I had to sample the amazing churros at what is touted as the autentico Churreria de la Virgen del Carmen. Evidently the Blessed Mother only gets her churros from one place, and who am I to pass that up? They are fried in a huge pot and served piping hot.

My Spanish is coming back quickly, and I find myself talking with the limeños at every opportunity. They all want to know how many children I have back in the States, and why my parents have let me travel by myself so far from home. Mom, Dad -- anything to say for yourselves?

During lunch at Govindas, the Hare Krishna place just of the Plaza Mayor, I sat down next to Carlos, who works at a printing press across the street. His fingers were stained red and his palms were black from ink. He is a vegetarian Monday through Saturday, but on Sundays he eats chicken. I found out that the area around the main plaza is where most of the books and magazines are printed in Lima. After lunch, Carlos took me to his printing shop. It was located in an alleyway that was full of printing presses, with impresoras making everything from magazines to restaurant placemats.


After wandering around the streets some more and taking a great photo of a dog dressed entirely in Peruvian handicrafts, I stopped in the Gran Hotel Bolivar for what is supposed to be the best Pisco Sour in all of Peru. Pisco is the national drink here, and it´s incredibly strong. Lightweight that I am, I caught quite a buzz, and then caught a taxi back to Miraflores to wind down for the night.

ps. If you´re ever in Lima, don´t bother going to the Museum of the Inquisition unless you want to see wax figurines of people being tortured. At
least admission was free.