Day 338: Lima
We gave ourselves just one full day in Lima – enough time to hit the obligatory famous buildings and unique parks, and utilize some fast Wifi before heading out into the mountains. After breakfast in our hotel restaurant, the managers at the concierge desk tried to talk us into booking some half-day city tours. We retreated into our air-con room to peruse some brochures, but after some Google research we figured we could do a self-guided tour via taxi for a fraction of the cost.
Around 2PM (right when the paid tour would have started), we caught a taxi to the Plaza Mayor – Lima’s plaza de armas (historical main square). We walked around for a few hours, visited the Cathedral of Lima (which sadly was undergoing renovation work in the sanctuary), bought some double-scoop ice-cream cones to try and beat the oppressive heat, wandered down to the river, and finally returned to the plaza just before sunset to catch the changing of the guard.
Relaxing in our spacious Lima apartment, and fueling up with a big breakfast buffet
The 6PM changing of the guard at the Government Palace – Igor assures Lindsay that London does it betta’
The fountain in the center of the Plaza de Armas (where the gallows used to be!) and the Cathedral of Lima
Descending into the crypt of the Lima Cathedral – spooky!
Dead babies and a pile of skulls – I don’t think those are props…
Igor does his best to look interested in visiting a church…
…he’s not very convincing.
The cathedral has several monstrance on display – each with decorated with plenty of bling
The head of St. John the Devine and a mural of Inca converts
Except for the spotty llama, this riverside park is disappointingly boring
Instead of returning directly to the hotel (as we would have done if we booked tours), we stopped at Lima’s famous water park – Parque de la Reserva – thereby reducing the amount of time we’d spend sitting in traffic. For a USD $2 entrance fee we got access to a large park with about a dozen water fountains, all of which were colorfully lighting up as the sun went down. We brought bathing suits and a towel just in case we wanted to run around in the fountains, but found they were too crowded with little kiddies to warrant the bother of changing (Lindsay risked a small sprinkle of water to walk through one of the fountains). We stuck around for the 7:15PM water, light & music show which was just as corny as you can imagine, and left just as the evening crowd was really starting to pour in. We were a bit too lazy to venture far for dinner (which was a shame, as the touristy spots near our hotel were very disappointing) and called it an early night in prep for our morning flight tomorrow – to CUSCO!
Large colorful and interactive fountains at the Parque de la Reserva in Lima
Lindsay braves the droplets and enters the Fountain Tunnel
Lindsay gets drenched while posing for a picture
Admiring the changing colors of the fountains
A rainbow of lights and color at the Lima water park
“In 10 minutes, something fantastic will happen!” So they promised – then they started to give us a Peruvian history lesson
Meh – Vegas does it betta’. This isn’t really a “fountain” show, more of a laser show, using the fountain mist as screen.
Evening at the Lima water park
Choking down a huge plate of ceviche. We’re sure there are better places in town but we fell prey to a “quantity over quality” tourist trap in Miraflores. Boo.
Getting our drink on in Lima – free Pisco Sours as a welcome drink from our hotel and a ridiculously large mug of Cusqueña from the large portions tourist bar