Hey Sweetie!
Well, I'm off to a busy start! Slept pretty well considering, woke up about 7:20 and got up right away, re-packed my new carryon bag for just the stuff I needed to take with me today, and was out walking over to the bus stop well before 9:00. I had already purchased my ticket online last night, but I wanted to make sure I could find the stop. Turned out to be no problem. This is an interesting section of Lima. The neighborhood is known as Miraflores, and it's the upscale part of the city, and directly across from the hotel is a mall, partly open air, partly underground, and right next to the Pacific Ocean, though it's above it on a cliff! Amazing geography here. Anyway, I "hopped on" the Hop On Hop Off bus, settling down on the top deck, which I was surprised to find had a roof, though it was open air (and we had to keep watch that tree branches didn't scrape as we went by!) and it made it's way all the way back north to the Historical Center, which took nearly two hours with traffic. I barely had time to take a quick turn around the main St. Martin Square before time pressed me to walk three blocks to the San Francisco Cathedral to join in a tour around the catacombs. Then I passed through the main Government Square where a band was playing and there was the changing of the guard going on. I stopped for a few minutes, but moved on to find the next bus stop and picked up the bus heading back southbound. I passed my original stop and then got off at Kennedy Park (I didn't quite follow why the park was named after JFK, but apparently it was), where I walked to a restaurant called Kauza, known for it's true Peruvian food, exactly what I was looking for, and exactly what I had. It was seafood, shrimp and octopus, spiced up and put on top of a mound of mashed potatoes. Delicious! There was also a little appetizer of roasted corn kernels, and they were delicious as well! Left there, paused at an alpaca outlet store but didn't find the kind of hooded poncho I'm looking for, then, since I had missed my bus by luxuriating over my dinner, walked up to the archaeological site known as Pucllana. This is a massive temple that was build between 400 and 650 AD. I went on a very informative group tour (in English, fortunately), and learned a lot. Also had done some climbing and lots of walking today (15807 steps according to my watch!), so I should sleep even better tonight. The hotel, the AC Hotel by Marriott, is very modern and comfortable, and I'm glad I chose it over the one downtown, which, though it may have been famous in a previous lifetime, had a lot of poor ratings, and I'd rather be sure than sorry! I was going to catch the last Red Route Hop On Bus, but it was going to take an hour to get back to the hotel, and I wanted to see the sunset from the mall, so I called an Uber instead, and he was there to pick me up within minutes. Much more comfortable way to travel, I must say! So glad Uber is so prevalent here, a very easy way to get around, as long as you don't have a heart attack by the way all traffic just pulls into intersections and expects everyone else to stop in self-preservation! Got back to the hotel in plenty of time for the sunset, exchanged some currency at the mall so I would have some local money, then promptly found an ice cream shop and got a cone to finish off my night. Got back to the hotel, took my shower, and now I'm just getting caught up on my diary and preparing for tomorrow. Fortunately, my pickup time was moved from 4:10 to 5:00 am tomorrow, so I should have no trouble getting enough sleep tonight. So that's what I'm off to do now! Good night, darlin'! Love you!
Speak Your Mind