The Road Less Traveled

Kitty had been informed by the Cultural Liaison Officer at the U.S. Embassy that there was a guided bus tour of Central Lima available for Embassy workers and their friends or family.  The cost was $5.  It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.
 

The Tour

We saw many sights including the Congress Building, the Church of San Pedro, Plaza Mayor, Plaza San Martin, and the Santo Domingo artisan market.  The two highlights of the day, though, were the Museo del Banco Central de Reserva (the Museum of the Central Reserve Bank) and the Church of San Francisco. 
 

The museum was not actually about the Central Reserve; rather, they used the former reserve bank’s space to display traditional ceramics. Its vault was used to store and display gold jewelry dating back several hundred years B.C.  It seemed more real to me than the gold in the museum at Larcomar, and this building had free admission.  The tour guide also said the museum had the cleanest bathroom on the tour.  At that announcement, my respect for her grew immensely.
 

The Church of San Francisco was either in a poorer neighborhood, was run by a less ostentatious religious order than other cathedrals and churches in the area, or both.  It was surrounded by pigeons and the doors and walls seemed worn down and in need of a paint job.  Two ladies were setting up tables to sell food to raise money for the church’s renovation.
 

The church has a 5 soles entrance fee per person, which the tour guide paid for all of us.  We saw the main altar, the beautiful garden courtyard with the brick walkways laid out in the shapes of crosses, and the library with ancient books in disrepair.  The tour guide said the Franciscans don’t have enough money to restore these treasures.
 

The last stop on the tour was the catacombs.  Here we saw hallway after hallway of bones and wells covered at the bottom with skulls and bones.  Some collections of bones were covered with glass because in the past people had been known to steal bones.  Not me.  I was so horrified by the first sight of skulls in a well I couldn’t even take a picture.  By the end of the tour, though, I was able to take a picture of one, as well as a picture of a sign that said “keep walking.” I thought it was ironic that this sign was surrounded by bones and a stairway that went nowhere.
 

By the time we got out of the church, the two ladies selling food for the fundraiser had opened the stand for business.  The tour guide bought some papas rellenos (stuffed potatoes) to take on the bus. I asked what they were exactly, and she said, “You’ve never had papas rellenos? Oh, you’re gonna LOVE them!” She then proceeded to buy me one because I didn’t have any small change and we needed to get on the bus.  It turned out it was mashed potatoes that filled with meat, beans, and corn, then rolled up and deep fried.  It was fattening but delicious!
 

A Tale of Two Taxis (and a museum)

We got on the bus and got back to the Embassy at about 1:00.  I’ve been advised not to take the combis in Peru, and you can’t take a taxi on the street because the driver might turn into an alley so his associates can rob you at gunpoint.  This is not an exaggeration—it has happened to many people, including one of Kitty’s colleagues.  Instead, I waited nearly half an hour for a taxi that I called from the Embassy entrance.  My destination: Museo de la Nacion. I thought it would be like the Smithsonian or the British Museum, but it was much more modest.  Of course, so was the price (7 soles).  There was a nice collection of pre-Columbian art and Inca Gold among the dioramas of Peruvian civilizations.  There was also an exhibition of Peruvian Indian handicrafts.  The bright, colorful fabrics, intricate pottery, and alpaca sweaters and rugs were more impressive than the main exhibits.
 

When I left the museum, there was one taxi waiting.  I didn’t like the looks of that so I went across the highway to Plaza Vea, a huge grocery store.  Sure enough, the store had its own taxi drivers.  The driver seemed nice, and suggested a fair price to return to Kitty’s.  Twice on the way to Kitty’s I shut my eyes because of his driving, but I wasn’t robbed at gunpoint so I feel it was a successful journey. 
 

My flights from Los Angeles to El Salvador and from El Salvador to Lima on TACA Airlines were great, especially since I lucked out and got an emergency exit row seat on both flights.  When I arrived in Lima at 6:25 p.m., I was shocked at what I saw out my window: darkness.  There was no escaping the fact that it was winter in Peru.  Later, Kitty told me that it doesn’t get dark much later in summer.  How depressing. 
 

A man was waiting from Taxi Real to take me to Kitty’s apartment in Miraflores, a luxury suburb of Lima.  It’s the nicest apartment I’ve ever stayed in with her. I didn’t see any concrete walls that weren’t painted.  There were modern American appliances and climate control.  There was a huge glass patio door which overlooked a park.
 

Even though Lima and Los Angeles are only two hours apart (three when daylight savings ends in L.A.), I guess with the short time for sleep on the overnight flight to El Salvador I had some kind of jet lag.  I didn’t wake up the next day until after 10 am.  Kitty’s maid, Elcina, was in the kitchen when I walked in.  She offered to make something for me.  I told her (in Spanish) that I didn’t have a maid at home, so it was hard to accept that offer. 
 

I brewed myself a cup of Columbian coffee—not the kind from an American can, but coffee that Kitty had actually bought in Columbia on one of her trips.  It was one of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever had.
 

Following Kitty’s advice, I walked to the nearby cafeteria (coffee house/shop) San Antonio.  It was a nice day, so I sat outside and used the chain on an extra chair at my table to lock up my purse.  For less than $5, I got a “butifarra” sandwich and a medium glass of strawberry juice.  The menu said the sandwich was made with ham and “salsa criolla”, which I assumed would be a spicy red sauce.  It turned out to be a mix of shredded cabbage, red onion, and spices. It was good nonetheless.
 

I asked the waiter where the nearest bank was, and he directed me up Avenida Angamos Oeste towards Avenida Arequipa.  I walked past colorful school buildings, day spas, high-end clothing boutiques, Italian and Chinese restaurants, taxis honking for business (or to warn you to get out of the way), and combis, the Peruvian word for minibuses that drive around on a bus route. (In Russian they are marshrutkas and in Romanian they are routieras.)  Sometimes men leaned out of the combi doors and shouted the direction or stops of the combi.  I also caught a glimpse of the local huaca, a kind of cemetery/ruins.
 

After getting my money, I turned right on Arequipa and walked until I reached a traffic circle.  I turned right again on Avenida Jose Pardo.  While walking on Jose Pardo, I saw a place called “Vivanda”.  Intuition told me it might be a grocery store.  Sure enough, it was.  It looked as good as Whole Foods, an upscale supermarket in the U.S.  There were glass cases filled with prepared salads, pastries, empanadas, meats, and fish.  There were trays with small samples of Edam cheese and queso fresco (fresh cheese). 
 

After looking around Vivanda, I kept walking down Jose Pardo until at last I reached the Malecon, the street and park that sits on top of a huge cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  The cliffs were jagged and covered at the top with a layer of small green plants, purple flowers, palm trees, and cacti. 
 

I started walking on the Malecon in the direction of Kitty’s apartment, passing a skateboarding and BMX bike area as well as a tennis court and fenced-in soccer field.  I had a cup of tea at El Punto, a small café with seats right next to the cliff railing.
 

When I got to Kitty’s street, it was only 3:00 in the afternoon.  It seemed too soon to go home.  I made a U-turn and continued walking down the Malecon.  I saw a memorial to the Peruvian Navy (a black and white lighthouse), “Parque Itzak Rabin”, and Parque del Amor, a park with beautifully tiled walls and a giant sculpture of a couple making out. There were several possible models of the statue in the park as well.  In addition, I saw several people parasailing. I was tempted to try it myself, but at $40 for 10 minutes, it was too rich for my blood.
 

My last stop of the day was Larco Mar, a luxurious shopping complex built into the side of the cliff.  It was a mix of U.S. restaurants (Tony Roma’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Hooters) and Andean art stores.  Once I saw that candles were $22 and alpaca coats were $300, I knew I’d only be window shopping.
 

I did find one (seeming) treasure at Larcomar—the Museo de Oro de Peru.  For 20 soles, I got a guided tour of golden trinkets made in the Sipan era and other empires over 1000 years ago.  I saw earrings, nose rings, heavy royal headdresses, hatchets (tumis), masks, and goblets from which they drank the blood of sacrificed humans. 
 

After all that, I took a taxi back to Kitty’s for 10 soles.  Elcina had prepared fried fish with tomatoes, onions, and yellow peppers, along with baked sweet potatoes and vegetables.  Suddenly I was warming to the idea of having maid service.