August 4, 2007: Shopping and Eating in Puno
We had breakfast at the hotel, then I had two presentations in the morning. During lunch, we (me, Kitty, English Language Specialist Dr. Jodi Crandall, and Marcela) took an extremely short cab ride to Calle Lima, a long pedestrian street. We did some shopping, then dropped into a restaurant for lunch. It might have been called El Porton Colonial; if not it was right next door. What I do remember is that the inside it was shaped like a boat and the walls were made of woven reeds.
We all ordered “chicken diet soup”, which is basically chicken soup. Then we went back to the conference. In the evening, we took a taxi to Plaza de Las Armas, which had a beautiful topiary, a statue of Bolognesi (a famous general), and a cathedral. The cathedral had beautiful baroque carving on the door outside. Inside it had plain stone walls with white carvings at the front of the cathedral. It was just the kind of cathedral I like—a mix of beauty and simplicity.
We stayed a few minutes for the service, then walked down the hill to Calle Lima. Vicky from BNC Arequipa joined us for dinner at a restaurant she recommended, Coca Kintu (Coca Leaf). Since we were so close to the lake, the logical food to order was trucha (trout). I ordered Trucha Escobechada because I thought it would be like ceviche (sometimes called cebiche in Spanish). Instead, it was lightly breaded and covered with olives, onions, and a kind of Peruvian paprika. It was good anyway. So was the trout in creamy Andean herbs and the trout in creamy Andean herbs with pine nuts that Kitty and Jodi ordered. Vicky ordered “trout from three corners”, trout prepared in 3 ways. I only tried the kind that seemed like sashimi; it was excellent. Marcela ordered “chulpas”, small potatoes stuffed with meat and cheese at the top so that they resembled tombs (chulpas) in the region. We broke the rules of altitude sickness prevention and washed it all down with a bottle of Peruvian red wine.
Tags: Food, Peru, Puno, restaurants, Travel
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