[Itinerary Page]The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
October 27 - Lima
On our overseas trips, we are used to flying east-west where the object is to sleep on the plane so as to stay in the sleep cycle. On this trip, though, it was a different plan. Lima is on the equivalent of US Central time, so the idea is to stay awake on the flight. Not that easy to do.
Lima airport was an amazing confusion, but we figured it out and after a bone-jarring bus ride through neighborhoods I wouldn't want to walk through in the daytime, we finally arrived at our oasis in the city, the Hotel Antigua Miraflores. This is a lovely place that feels more like an old house than a hotel. Facilities are basic and the bath is small, but the rooms are clean, we can get English-speaking channels on the cable and there is Internet access. Pretty much all we need to make it work.
Travel does take its toll, though and it was noon before we ventured out. The first stop was lunch at a delightful local restaurant called Brusas de Cachiche. I have no idea what the name translates to, but I must say for my first experience with Peruvian restaurants, I was impressed. For more on the restaurant, follow the link below.
We wandered around the Miraflores district, generally considered the nicest and safest part of Lima. It is not the historic center -- perhaps we will get there when we return at the end of the trip. Our goals today were just to get a little exercise, find an ATM to pick up some local currency, and get a feel for what the shopping deals were like.
There are dozens of shops offering basically the same array of local crafts. I suspect that they purchase them from the areas we are headed to, so we may find better deals at the source. We at least know what we have for a fallback position if necessary.
Lunch pretty much did us in, but we couldn't resist stopping at a sidewalk cafe for a gelatto and a cup of espresso. Perhaps we have been spending too much time in Italy? We also wandered down a restaurant row of sorts known as Pizza Street. It was a three-block pedestrian-only area that was literally one restaurant after another, all with people on the path trying to entice us in. The area looked like fun and we are planning to check it out when we come back through Lima on our way out.
But tonight we are not feeling like party animals, so it was back to the hotel to nap, pack and watch Game 4 of the World Series. Having grown up on Cape Cod, my heart is forever with the Red Sox and I am pleased that the game is carried locally, even though the commentary is in Spanish.
Tomorrow morning we bounce back to the airport to catch the flight to Cuzco and trade in the "modern progress" of the 20th Century for the Inca ingenuity of the 15th.
Brusas de Cachiche and Pizza Street
© 2004 Restaurant Doctor