Lima, Peru

Lima Luxury Hotel Inkari.

We woke around 8:00, had a leisurely breakfast and met our tour guide Jenni at 10:00am. Jenni and her driver picked us up at the hotel and we drove first around the Miraflores area, sort of like the Rosedale area in Toronto, and saw Kennedy Park famous for its 100 or more stray cats who have lived here for over 20 years and are protected by the municipality of Miraflores. It was named after JFK, even though Jenni said he had never been to Lima. Then we drove to Larcomar, a dining, shopping and entertainment complex overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We continued along the road to stop at the famous Parque del Amor or Love Park. We saw the beautiful tiled stone walls that wound along the edge of the cliff finally arriving at the main area which had the famous "statue of lovers"-El Besto- by Peruvian artist Victor Delfin. We also saw the Parasailing jump area and restaurants jutting out into the ocean. We saw a bride and groom at this park and took a couple of pictures of them with champagne toasting with their family. Jenni had her picture taken with them and she said it is a local custom and was supposed to bring Jenni good luck.

We drove past some colonial buildings on our way to Centro Historico of Lima. Beautiful old buildings which now house mostly offices and shops and then Plaza des Armas.

We ate a typical Peruvian lunch at Kasa Mama a chain of restaurants with a lunch buffet. We also had a pitcher of Chicha Morada, a beverage that originated in the Andean regions of Peru. It's made from dried purple corn mash, along with fruit and spices, full of antioxidants. It tasted like mulled wine, only cold and non- alcoholic. Lunch was the equivalent of $10.00 per person. A real bargain.
We passed a news stand with a frontpage picture of Lima’s “Joker” on the cover.
We walked through the Centro shopping mall area -no cars allowed and all wide walking routes between old housing once owned by the wealthy now used for shops.Read more