Lima, Peru

On May 13 we flew from Buenos Aires (Argentina) to Lima (Peru). This was the first time I’d ever been in Peru, and I found it different from Argentina and Brazil. My first observation was that walking on the streets was a lot scarier, the drivers are pretty crazy, don’t obey any road signs, and use continuously honk their horns. During my first day in Lima I saw 2 almost-car crashes.

I did kind of feel like Lima was just another city. Although I enjoyed my time in Lima, I kind of felt that there wasn’t anything too spectacular or memorable about it, especially after visiting other cities with so much more to offer.

I started off my time in Lima with a huge surprise! My cousin Eddie (who lives in Mexico and who I only see approximately every 2 years) was in Lima for a work conference. I had known he was going to be in Peru around the same time as me, but I hadn’t been able to coordinate anything with him. So imagine my surprise when I check into my hotel and realize he is checked into the same hotel as me in Lima!! We quickly found each other:

It was so great to see him, and I was so happy to be able to spend some time with him as I’m not sure I’ll be able to see him when I go to Mexico in a few weeks.

Back with the tour, we went to the Parque del Amor (Park of Love). It is along the coast of Lima, and it looks very much like Gaudi’s Park Guell in Barcelona. I really enjoyed the park and it brought back really great memories of my summer living in Barcelona.

The park is famous for the sculpture “El Beso” (The Kiss), which was sculpted by Victor Delfin. Because of this sculpture the park is a popular spot for lovers.

The park is also in a beautiful location that overlooks the water:

We also visited the Huaca Pucllana, which is a very large clay pyramid dating back to 400 AD. It is still being excavated, but people are still allowed to visit it. Unfortunately we did not have enough time to explore this pyramid more thoroughly.

Walking around Lima was pretty cool, it has a slightly European look, and Lima is also known for having lots of balconies!

From there we visited Plaza Mayor, which is a central plaza with a large fountain in the middle. Surrounding the Plaza is the Cathedral of Lima, the Government Palace and Lima’s City Hall. Seeing this plaza reminded me of plazas I’ve seen in Mexico, which represent the center of the city, and which historically have represented the central meeting point of the people of the town/city.

There was a large fountain in the middle of the plaza:

Below is a photo of the Cathedral of Lima, which stands on one side of the plaza:

We went for a tour in the Monastery of St. Francis, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. We were not allowed to take photos inside, but we were able to tour the catacombs underneath the monastery. In the catacombs we could see bones and skulls lined up inside the graves. It was a little bit eerie.  

It made it a bit more eerie when we realized that there were a number of vultures circling around the monastery!

In the evening we visited the Parque de la Reserva, where they have the Magic Fountains. This is a park in Lima that houses 13 fountains, all in different styles. Some of the fountains are interactively designed so you can walk through them. 

But the main attraction at the fountain park was the final fountain show! It combined lights, music and water in order to make a pretty awesome experience.

That evening we also had the chance to experience a Peruvian dinner show with a Peruvian dancing performance. This was the first time since being in South America where I felt strong similarities with Mexican culture. Some of the food dishes at dinner were very similar to dishes I eat in Mexico (tamales and black beans for example), and some of the Peruvian dancing we saw also reminded me of some styles of Mexican dancing. The performance was really good, and we saw many different dances in different authentic costumes and styles.

Another thing that happened in Lima was that I realized my luggage was too big and heavy (I blame the 3 Starbucks mugs and 3 Argentinian Mate cups I purchased earlier in the trip), so, as I have done in many of my previous travels, I purchased an extra duffel bag, loaded it up with my belongings and left it at my Lima hotel so I could pick up in a couple weeks. I also had to make room in my luggage for some authentic alpaca wool clothing which I will have the opportunity to purchase when I’m in the mountains in Peru!

Overall my stay in Lima was enjoyable. It was a place I spent some time relaxing and doing some chores (ie. my laundry), and I was able to see some cool sights, performances, and have some much-needed family time with my cousin.