Return to Lima

Trip date: January 2019

Our big Peru adventure was coming to an end, we had flown back to Lima from Cusco, and were staying at the Inkari Luxury Hotel in the lovely Miraflores neighborhood. I have a theory that if a hotel has a descriptive name, it's usually the opposite experience (Comfort Inn/not comfortable!, Holiday Inn/that carpet does not a holiday make!) And the Inkari Luxury proved my theory. Not horrible but just enough fake luxury to make me annoyed. With so many well priced hotels in Lima I'd look elsewhere next time. You're welcome.

We dropped our bags and headed directly to Mayo Bar for cocktails. Chef Virgilio Martínez moved his famous Central restaurant into a stunning new complex in the Barranco district and just recently opened Mayo and another new restaurant Kjolle in the same space.

The drinks were very interesting, and incorporated ingredients from different parts of Peru. My drink, for example, was to represent the sea and had sea lettuce in it! We also had some casual bar food (suckling goat!) that was delicious if not overly rich.

We'd had a long day, both sightseeing in the Sacred Valley and traveling, so we headed back to the hotel where Forest and I taught the bartender to make a passable martini.

The next morning we made a quick stop at a grocery store for interesting things to bring home and then walked to a very cool shop called Dedalo back over in the Barranco. This place was amazing! There are a bunch of small rooms inside housing different artists' & designers' works. Everything you could want from jewelry, to clothes, to pottery, etc is here and everything is handmade. There is also a great outdoor patio cafe where you can get a beverage and a snack. Highly recommend this shop while in Lima!

The neighborhood is very nice to walk around in also, lots of old houses with very colonial design. It's definitely a hip and trendy area of town.

We were starving so made our way to our lunch destination Isolina, currently number (lucky?) 13 on the World's 50 Best list. We hadn't really planned this one well as we realized it was a Sunday afternoon and 1/2 of Lima was lined up for a table at the no-reservations restaurant. We put our name in and had a couple of pisco sours at a random spot a few doors down (which were delicious btw!)

After an hour we went to check in only to be told it would be another 30 minutes. We opted for another round of pisco sours, this time from the restaurant and served to us on the sidewalk.

We were finally seated after 2 hours of waiting! And we were famished! Luckily we had had time to peruse the menu and were able to order the minute our asses hit the chairs. Everything was absolutely delicious, especially the ceviche and the crispy pork ribs. I'd highly recommend but maybe work your timing out better than we did!

Caitlin had to dash for the airport and Thibault decided to head back to the hotel for a swim, leaving Forest and I up to our own devices. It took us all of about 5 minutes to decide to head back to Bar Ingles, which we'd visited when first in Lima 1 1/2 weeks earlier.

Thibault, Forest, and I set out the next morning to explore the Old Town. We had our Uber driver drop us off at Plaza San Martin, where the city's first hotel still stands. If you get up close to the woman on the statue you will see a tiny alpaca perched on her head!

We walked up the pedestrian only Jiron de la Union where honestly there isn't much to see until you get to the Iglesia de la Merced. The church is as old as the city and held Lima's first ever mass.

Besides the pretty alter, and impressive and funny Christmas manger scene they had constructed, the church also is home to a large silver cross that once belonged to Father Pedro Urraca who was known to have visions of the Virgin Mary. Worshippers were lined up to place a hand on the cross in hopes of receiving a miracle.

Next, we came into the Plaza de Mayor, the birthplace of Lima. It is huge and absolutely gorgeous! On one side is the cathedral and Archbishop's Palace. The Government's Palace is at the far end. The pretty fountain in the center use to be the city's gallows! That would make for a really different Instagram!

 

Businesses, shops, and restaurants are housed in grand yellow buildings on the other 2 sides. It's really one of the most beautiful squares I've seen!

It was also very hot! So after splitting up for a bit to explore the square on our own, we met back up at the Museo del Pisco bar for, you guessed it, a pisco sour! It's a cute little bar, just steps from the square, which made it a great spot for a sit down.

For our last lunch in Peru we decided to try some traditional roast chicken, Pollo a la Brasa. There are many, many "fast food" style places selling this most popular dish in Peru. We chose to go to Pardo's which was close to us and was a restaurant with outside seating. Their chicken gets marinaded in a tangy bath with 10-15 different spices and then is spit roasted. The skin is very crispy and the chicken is very juicy. What's not to love?

Then we headed back to the Museo del Pisco as we had learned while having a drink there that they do pisco tastings. It was very fun and interesting to have the bartender take us through the history of pisco, the distillation process, and taste through a few different styles.

We headed back to our neighborhood to do a bit of shopping before hitting the pool at our hotel for a refreshing dip.

My flight wasn't until 1am so I had one last dinner, unfortunately it was a Monday and many restaurants were closed. We opted to go back to Kennedy park and ended up at a cafe next to where we had been before. I had one last meal of cuy and we also tried the skewers of beef heart which are popular in Peru. There was also a stand in the park selling the picarones, fried donuts made of sweet potato, so we got to try those too!

I had arranged a driver to take me to the airport, which was strangely extremely busy at 11pm! I was on American Airlines in business class so I went to wait in the lounge but the line to get in was so long I skipped it! The cabin and seats were fine but again, as on my LATAM flight into Peru, not at the same level of business class flights as other airlines. I mainly took advantage of the lay flat bed and slept.

I had a 2+ hour layover in Dallas and then was in 1st class on American back up to Seattle which I had cashed some miles in for. On my way home I rode on the Alaska Way Viaduct for the last time, it would close 3 days later and be torn down! Crazy!

Getting to see so many sides of Peru, from the big city of Lima, to the remote & dangerous Amazon jungle, to the ancient wonders of the Sacred Valley, was an amazing way to learn more about this country. And a great bucket list experience!

All Lima photos here.

Other posts from this trip:
24 Hours Miami
Lima City of Kings
Welcome to the Jungle
Piranhas and Pink Dolphins
Ringing in 2019 in the Amazon
The Sacred Valley of the Incas
Discovering Machu Picchu
Dining at 11700 Feet
Cusco Daytrip

Lima, City of Kings

Trip date: December 2018

After spending Christmas in Miami, Forest and I are were off to Peru (my 46th country) for our annual New Year's Eve trip! We had business class seats on LATAM airlines and were looking forward to a relaxing and boozy flight.

Now I've flown in business class on many different airlines (and it's hard to complain about any business class) but I have to say that this LATAM flight was soooo disappointing! The seats were really old, the leather ratty, and the buttons sticky. ugh. They did lay flat, and they were comfortable so that was good. There were no amenity bags; no slippers, no eye masks. For a 5 1/2 hour evening flight? I've flown coach internationally and have had that!

There were no menus handed out, no courses to the meal (the salt on the tray was Himalayan pink salt which we thought was quite bougie however), and we had to continually ask for beverages. Really poor service, if that is how business class is, I probably would be really disappointed in their coach. Needless to say, I won't be flying LATAM internationally if I can help it again. Entitled rant over.

We arrived in Lima at 10:30pm and had a car waiting for us. A friend of mine who lives in Peru was extremely helpful in recommending her car service, and arranging for them to pick us up. The driver greeted us with our name on a sign, took our luggage, and away we went into town. Note: taxi drivers do not take credit cards but they do take American dollars or Peruvian Sol (you can get either from cash machines in the airport or bring your own dollars.)

It only took us about 30 minutes to get to our Airbnb in Miraflores where we met Caitlin and Thibault who had arrived a few hours earlier. The apartment building had security person at the front destk and the elevator opened directly into our apartment. Very cool! It had 2 bedrooms and a small "maid's quarters" room off the laundry room. A big living room/dining room and kitchen as well as a small balcony. It was perfect for us and I'd recommend it to others.

Since it was late when we got in, and Thibault had bought some empanadas for everyone, we just had a little bite and a nightcap and were off to bed. But the next morning we all headed out to explore our Miraflores neighborhood and walk around the city.

First stop was Parque Kennedy, the central park of the area. The park is filled with beautiful gardens, lots of vendors selling traditional Peruvian snacks, and cats! The cats were initially introduced to help get rid of a rat problem. Now there is a group that takes care of them and puts on adoption drives. And people go to the park just to play and hang out with the cats!

We stopped for our first pisco sour at Cafe de la Paz, across from the park.  Pisco sours are the national drink of Peru, the local liquor pisco is a distilled clear brandy. We planned on trying a lot of them while in the country!

Being so close to the park, we had a tiny kitten stop by our table. She was not much bigger than my hand. Awwwwww!

From here we continued on our walk and headed to Larcomar, an outdoor shopping center with fantastic views of the sea.

This neighborhood of Lima is really quite pretty, and upscale. We never felt unsafe except for the near run-ins with joggers!

Lima also has a good network of Ubers so we called one to pick us up and whisk us to the Country Club Hotel for a pre lunch pisco sour. The hotel, which dates from 1927, is very old-school glamourous. In the wood-paneled Bar Ingles, we found a lovely menu of cocktails, both classic and contemporary.

The drinks here were much more expensive than we'd seen elsewhere. But the bartender was great, explaining all the different styles of pisco, and which ones lent best in certain preparations. We all ordered a round with a different expression, and all of us thought they were delicious! In fact, they'd be at the top of the list by the end of the trip.

Thirst quenched, we Ubered to the very popular La Mar for a late lunch. This restaurant, known for their ceviche, doesn't take reservations, so we figured showing up late on a Thursday would reward us with a shorter wait. Wrong.

From what I could tell, this place is always packed. And for good reason! The food was some of my favorite of the trip! We waited with another pisco sour before being seated after about 30 minutes. We decided to go with a combo of 3 styles of ceviche; the classic with white fish, the mixto with primarily shellfish, and the nikkei with tuna in tamarind marinade, referred to as leche de tigre. All were fab, but that tuna was really something!

That evening we headed to The Reserve Park to take in some of the incredible Magic Water Circuit. This beautiful park is filled with lit fountain displays of all sizes that run daily (except Monday). It's pretty incredible and I'd highly recommend it!

Because of our tight schedule, we didn't have as much time to wander around as we should have. I'd give this a full hour if not a few. The park is large with lots of different fountains to see.

Drinks were had at Carnaval Bar, a very fun spot with unique and creative cocktails. We were greeted with little bottles filled with a boozy libation to sip on as we perused the menu.

The bar was really busy and originally we were at a stand-up, but soon the bartender found us a little booth we could share with some others. We settled in a for a couple of rounds of great drinks, great service, great atmosphere! I'd say it's a do-not-miss!

After tabbing out, we made our way to Astrid y Gaston, housed in the amazing Casa Moreyra, a 17th century palace. The space is absolutely beautiful, with many rooms filled with gorgeous people dining on gorgeous food. I was surprised as I had expected something smaller. But I wasn't disappointed.

I had made reservations for the á la carte menu as I wasn't sure what everyone would be in the mood for. When we inquired if we could change we were told no. I could have sworn I had read on the reservation site that it wasn't a problem to switch. But I just went to reread it and the menu isn't served past 9:30pm. A little miscommunication due to language barriers led us to believe the service was a bit snotty.

We were all pretty worn out from our full day of running around so it was for the best that we did the á la carte. I started with this fantastic duck taco!

And then I had my first cuy (guinea pig). This one was anything but traditional (grilled whole and served on a stick). Crispy, tender, and served with corn gnocchi, the flavor and texture reminded me of suckling pig.

Everyone enjoyed their dishes but we all agreed that the mains were entirely too big and the sauces were all a tad sweet for us. But the presentation and ingredients were lovely.

Book well in advance if you plan on dining here!

We'd be back to explore more of the City of Kings in 9 days, but the next morning we were up early, with our car service driving us through crazy insane traffic, to the airport so we could catch a flight to the Amazon River!

All Lima photos here.

Other posts from this trip:
24 Hours Miami
Welcome to the Jungle
Piranhas and Pink Dolphins
Ringing in 2019 in the Amazon
The Sacred Valley of the Incas
Discovering Machu Picchu
Dining at 11700 Feet
Cusco Daytrip
Return to Lima