The meeting went very nicely, and we expect that Victor will be an excellent guide. The others in our group are (total of sixteen):
- A family of seven: two parents and five children ranging in age from 12 to about 20, I would guess.
- Steve and Dave from Phoenix, Arizona, former residents of Columbus, Ohio.
- Greg and Lisa from the Los Angeles area.
- Christina and Camille, mother and daughter from Dallas, Texas. Camille is about 18 years old.
- Claudia, an employee of A&K, from Chicago.
After the meeting, we were free until about 1:45 PM, at which point our bus tour of Lima would begin. Rob and I consulted with the hotel concierge for a recommended walking route through Miraflores and also to exchange some dollars into Peruvian Soles. We received our recommendation and a map and also learned a new Spanish word, "ambos," which means "both."
We began our walk by visiting the large, relatively modern, but nice looking church about two blocks away. It appeared a wedding was in progress, so we didn't attempt to look in. We then proceeded to the Marriott hotel, which is at the terminus of the main shopping street called Larco, named after Rafael Larco Hoyle, a prominent archealogist in Peru and founder of the Larco Museum. We simply strolled up the avenue admiring the shops, stopping to look into the two main shops for Peruvian knitwear: Kuna and Sol -- beautiful sweaters, but not cheap! We also saw fast food restaurants like Popeye's and McDonalds! At the end of the avenue, there is a traffic circle and a park named for John F. Kennedy with a small status of him inside the park. The park was lovely with nice flowers and a tango dance party! Unfortunately, the day was still somewhat dismal weather-wise. We walked back toward the beach along an avenue called Bievenides.
As we walked along Bienvenides and got closer to the shore, we were parallel to a large ravine that is filled with sporting venues like tennis courts. The ravine eventually meets the ocean at a nice beach area. Our pathway cuts under the oceanside highway to get to the other side where we could see surfers down below. Then we walked along the path at the top of the cliff, which was above the ocean/beach. We were headed back in the direction of the hotel. When we reached the terminus of the Larco Avenue again, there is an ocean side shopping mall called Larcomar. The mall is mostly below the street level and slopes toward the ocean about three levels. We went in to find a place for a simple lunch. There is a fast food court and we selected a chicken place called La Luche, where we could order simple chicken sandwiches (not fried) and eat quickly -- perfect and pretty tasty, too. With no time to waste, we returned to the hotel in order not to be late for our 1:45 PM tour.
Our Lima tour guide today was Anna, and she had a lot of information about the city to tell us about. As we set out on the bus, she told us that the site of Lima was originally a settlement called Caral, a city from 3,000 BC. Pizarro founded the modern city of Lima as "The City of Kings," which was the city's official name for 300 years. The name of Lima comes from the name of the river that flows through the city, which was called Rimac by the native people. The native people (who were not Incas) always referred to the city as Lima, and that is now its official name as well.
Our starting point was Miraflores. It is one of forty-three "sub-cities" that comprise the metropolitan area of Lima. There is an Inca market in Miraflores that is popular, but we do not pass it directly. She also made a reference to a war with Chile. (This was the War of the Pacific, which took place from 1879 until 1883. Chile won.) We passed Kennedy park in the bus where we had previously walked earlier today. Miraflores' main church overlooks this park. The town hall is next door. As the bus continued on, we passed a large archeological excavation site, which is very large, called Huaca Pucllana. It is a religious site of a prehistoric temple, which is called a "huaca." The size of the site is fourteen acres. Victor grew up in this neighborhood and told us that as children he and his friends rode dirt bikes on top of the site. He said that everyone knew that there was something historic underneath, but that Peru had no money at that time to excavate. That has obviously changed. Our dinner tonight will be at a restaurant overlooking this site.
Next we drove through the neighborhood of San Isidro, a wealthier neighborhood than Miraflores. In San Isidro there are financial firms and embassies (but not the U.S. embassy). It once was a predominantly Italian immigrant community but no longer. Along the way, we passed many signs that read "Chifa." Chifa signifies a Chinese restaurant with the food adapted to Peruvian culture, tastes, and ingredients. It is the most popular type of restaurant in Lima.
We then entered Lima proper. We passed a water fountain park and then the U.S. Ambassador's house (mostly hidden), a public square known for having wild parrots, and then we entered the city's historical center, which has been a UNESCO heritage site since 1991. We saw the Park of the Exposition that contains a city museum, an art museum (with 3,000 years of art, including newer artists), the Moorish pavilion, among other sights. Then we drove through where the old city walls had been where there is a monument to Grau and a lovely building called the "French Building." It was built in 1921 and was originally an apartment building, but is now an office building for lawyers. We also saw the 1938 supreme court palace. By the way, Grau was a very renowned naval officer in Peru and fought in the war against Chile.
Passing the side of the French Building, the streets became narrower, which signified that we were driving on the old street design of Pizarro's city plan. Traffic was very bad, but we were told that a subway system, begun three years ago, should help matters. We then pulled into Plaza San Martin, which was built in 1921 to celebrate Peru's 100 year anniversary of its declaration of independence. San Martin was the first president of Peru, followed by Simon Bolivar. Actual independence was achieved in 1824 in the Battle of Ayacucho. When it was first built, the Plaza San Martin was very fashionable, then became a little run down -- now it is coming back. As we passed the plaza, Union Street, a pedestrian shopping street was pointed out to us.
We also saw the impressive Bolsa (stock market) building. As we continued in the bus, we learned a few new Peruvian expressions: "playa" (the Spanish word for beach) means parking lot in Peru. If you see a street called a "jiron," abbreviated "jr," it means that it is a one way street longer than two blocks.
We reached our ultimate destination: the main square of Lima where Pizarro founded the city, called the Plaza de Armas. Coincidentally, the sun emerged from the marine layer. We disembarked from the bus and were able to walk around a little bit.
We saw the cathedral, the presidential palace, the archbishop's house, and the municipal building. We learned that Lima's nickname is the city of wooden balconies.
No public demonstrations are permitted in the main square, and we noticed that there were rainbow flags everywhere. This was not a demonstration of support for gay rights, however, but a display of the official flag of the city of Cusco. The flag was created by Tupac Amaru.
After admiring the square, our group walked to the House of Aliaga, Lima's oldest mansion, perhaps the oldest house in the Americas. It was originally built in 1535 by Jeronimo de Aliaga y Ramirez, a compatriot of Pizarro, who was an educated accountant for the early settlers. The house has been occupied ever since and until the current day by descendants of Aliaga, seventeen generations. It is open to the public for touring. It features a lovely atrium in the middle.
Most notable in the house are the portraits of family members throughout its history.
We were offered a refreshment of Inca Cola there, but I passed (I have tasted this before -- it is bubblegum flavored yellow soda that is sickeningly sweet).
After touring the house (main floor only), we walked a short distance to the church called Santo Domingo, passing a small plaza called Peru Square. At the center of this square is a fountain today, but this had been the place where a statue of Pizarro had stood for many years. At the Santo Domingo church, we admired a lovely cloister and learned about the three people from Peru who have achieved sainthood.
We also learned that the Dominicans composed the Peruvian national anthem, and it was first performed at this church.
We returned to the bus and drove to a part of Lima called Pueblo Libre, which is known for having a lot of green space. We also passed a park called Las Americas. Our destination was the Larco Museum, a museum dedicated to Peru's ancient artifacts that have been collected by the Larco family. We saw a vast amount of old pottery, most of it pre-dating the Incas, and the museum was extremely educational in terms of providing information about what we were looking at. Anna, our guide, also provided a good tour.
Rob and I especially enjoyed seeing examples of quipu. Used by the Incas, quipu are groups of beads strung together to provide information. The Incas had no written language, so the quipus were their alternative to verbal communication. We had read about them in an Inca history book.
The sun had gone down, and it was time to say good-bye to Anna. Earlier in the day, we had had an amusing conversation with her. She knew of the restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, called El Pollo Rico, which serves Peruvian style chicken. Her brother lives in Maryland and drives to Arlington just to get this chicken! We told her that the restaurant was extremely popular with all people (including us), not just Peruvian immigrants!
Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Huaca Pucllana (same name as the site). It overlooked the huaca archeological site that we had previously seen from the bus. The starter for the meal was called "causa." It was a layered dish with a kind of thick layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom, then a layer of shrimp with seasonings, then a layer of the mashed potatoes on top -- really good! The main was a local river trout called "paiche," which is a firm mild white fish that was also delicious and was served on a bed of mashed yucca!
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