On our second day in Lima, we first attempted to go to a military museum that wound up being completely closed. Instead, we decided to go to Lima's Chinatown and then to the Inquisition museum.
We ate a bunch of street food (om nom nom nom) on the way to Chinatown, and actually got a little lost, but then wound up in a shopping mall. We saw a display for the best brand-name ever - "Good Daughter-in-Law" brand household appliances. Below is the clothing steamer. If you can see the box through the handle of the steamer, you can see that the name is actually trademarked... or they just put "TM" next to the name. Either way, they're pretty confident in this brand.
Next, we found actual Chinatown, which was pretty small, and then wandered into a market looking for lunch. Upstairs was produce, along with the most gigantic pecans I've ever seen!! I'm regretting not taking a pictures of the pecans but they'll live on forever in my memory. They were huge!!
Here's some fruit stands:
Then we went to the lower level, where the meat and seafood markets are. At the end of the seafood market, they have a bunch of counters where folks were eating lunch. We decided to be gastronomically brave and eat some ceviche - raw fish marinated in lime juice. The plates we were given consisted of a pile of marinated fish strips, topped with raw onions marinated in lime, cilantro, and peppers, with a side of crispy corn kernels (choclo), sweet potato, and seaweed.
Trevor faces down his ceviche:
It was actually... okay!! It tasted pretty decent, though I wasn't crazy about the raw fish texture.
Here's a view of the counter - the woman to the left served us, and was actually very friendly even though she doesn't look that friendly in the picture.
On our way out, there was a crowd watching the Spain vs France soccer match - what better place to watch a soccer game than with giant cuts of meat hanging all around you??
Next it was on to the Inquisition museum. It was an interesting tour in a pretty museum, and they took advantage of any opportunities to have mannequins involved.
I am the happiest Inquisitor:
Gleefully descending into the torture chambers / pit of despair:
After the inquisition museum, we headed home, grazing our way back. We stopped at a stand in Chinatown and got some Peruvian/Chinese fusion street food - empanadas and meat dumplings, steamed bun, and some sort of caramel cookie.
When we got back to the hostel, we met two Canadian girls who were going out later in the evening to meet their Peruvian friend and go to a fountain/light show. They invited us to go with them.
The fountain/light show was a huge park filled with fountains that they light up at night. Here's the first one we saw when we went in:
Some of the fountains were big enough that you could get inside them! And pose dramatically!
There were a LOT of fountains - we got to a "what's different about this one" point eventually. The whole park led up to the BIG fountain - claiming to be the largest fountain in the world, which had a show of not only fountain and lights, but also lasers, music, and things projected onto the water. It was super cool but I couldn't get any good pictures - the lasers made everything look crazy in photos.
This fountain attracted a big crowd:
As it turns out, you could get INTO this fountain - there were strips of dry spots where you could stand.
But you could only get in the fountain when the jets died down momentarily, which led to chaos (and people falling over and getting wet) every time there were an opportunity to switch places. The center was the safest spot to stay dry.
Yesterday, we hopped on a plane to Cusco, and arrived at our hostel mid-afternoon. Life here... is not difficult:
Today was the last day of the Festival of the Sun in Cusco, and while we arrived too late to see the parade, the city center was still filled with people. We sat at a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the square and drank some coca tea.
The red and white flag is the Peruvian flag, and the rainbow flag is the Inca flag. On the far right, atop the pedestal, is the golden statue of the sun god.
We ate a bunch of street food (om nom nom nom) on the way to Chinatown, and actually got a little lost, but then wound up in a shopping mall. We saw a display for the best brand-name ever - "Good Daughter-in-Law" brand household appliances. Below is the clothing steamer. If you can see the box through the handle of the steamer, you can see that the name is actually trademarked... or they just put "TM" next to the name. Either way, they're pretty confident in this brand.
[click any photo to enlarge]
Next, we found actual Chinatown, which was pretty small, and then wandered into a market looking for lunch. Upstairs was produce, along with the most gigantic pecans I've ever seen!! I'm regretting not taking a pictures of the pecans but they'll live on forever in my memory. They were huge!!
Here's some fruit stands:
Then we went to the lower level, where the meat and seafood markets are. At the end of the seafood market, they have a bunch of counters where folks were eating lunch. We decided to be gastronomically brave and eat some ceviche - raw fish marinated in lime juice. The plates we were given consisted of a pile of marinated fish strips, topped with raw onions marinated in lime, cilantro, and peppers, with a side of crispy corn kernels (choclo), sweet potato, and seaweed.
Trevor faces down his ceviche:
It was actually... okay!! It tasted pretty decent, though I wasn't crazy about the raw fish texture.
Here's a view of the counter - the woman to the left served us, and was actually very friendly even though she doesn't look that friendly in the picture.
On our way out, there was a crowd watching the Spain vs France soccer match - what better place to watch a soccer game than with giant cuts of meat hanging all around you??
Next it was on to the Inquisition museum. It was an interesting tour in a pretty museum, and they took advantage of any opportunities to have mannequins involved.
I am the happiest Inquisitor:
Gleefully descending into the torture chambers / pit of despair:
After the inquisition museum, we headed home, grazing our way back. We stopped at a stand in Chinatown and got some Peruvian/Chinese fusion street food - empanadas and meat dumplings, steamed bun, and some sort of caramel cookie.
When we got back to the hostel, we met two Canadian girls who were going out later in the evening to meet their Peruvian friend and go to a fountain/light show. They invited us to go with them.
The fountain/light show was a huge park filled with fountains that they light up at night. Here's the first one we saw when we went in:
Some of the fountains were big enough that you could get inside them! And pose dramatically!
There were a LOT of fountains - we got to a "what's different about this one" point eventually. The whole park led up to the BIG fountain - claiming to be the largest fountain in the world, which had a show of not only fountain and lights, but also lasers, music, and things projected onto the water. It was super cool but I couldn't get any good pictures - the lasers made everything look crazy in photos.
This fountain attracted a big crowd:
As it turns out, you could get INTO this fountain - there were strips of dry spots where you could stand.
But you could only get in the fountain when the jets died down momentarily, which led to chaos (and people falling over and getting wet) every time there were an opportunity to switch places. The center was the safest spot to stay dry.
Yesterday, we hopped on a plane to Cusco, and arrived at our hostel mid-afternoon. Life here... is not difficult:
Today was the last day of the Festival of the Sun in Cusco, and while we arrived too late to see the parade, the city center was still filled with people. We sat at a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the square and drank some coca tea.
The red and white flag is the Peruvian flag, and the rainbow flag is the Inca flag. On the far right, atop the pedestal, is the golden statue of the sun god.
Wow, beautiful pictures of Cusco!!
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