LIMA

Miraflores

After a 7-hour non-stop flight on United Airlines, Big Ron, Virginia and I landed in the Callao district of Lima, Peru ready to start our adventure. Unfortunately for us, we arrived late at night and after a day of traveling we were only looking to sample Peru’s famous drink, the Pisco Sour, grab a quick bite to eat and head to bed.

The Pisco Sour is an iconic Peruvian cocktail. Pisco is a liquor that is created by the distillation and fermentation of grape juice, and the sour part of the cocktail is a combination of egg, lemon, sugar and ice. Though I tend to not discriminate against cocktails, I have to admit that the Pisco Sour did not make it to the top of my adult beverage list. Dad however, happened to be a fan.

July 2^nd was our first real day in Lima and we traveled to the district my brother Ronnie had been living, Miraflores.

A little history on Peru… First off, I did not realize what an enormous country Peru is! It is the third largest country in South America (Brazil is numero uno), and the twentieth largest country in the world. It is larger than the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Spain and France (to name a few). For all of my European lovers, you can definitely relate to the fact that this is clearly not a country that can be seen in just one short visit. We sectioned our trip off to two areas of Peru, the Capital City Lima and Cusco. 

The Peruvian currency is called the Nuevo sol (new sun) and is represented by the symbol: (s/. ) As of today, $1 = s/. 2.78, so for all you shoppers, the exchange rate is in our favor. During our stay, we would either divide or multiply by 3 to figure out (about) the difference with the exchange rate. The sol was a lot easier to manage (and save money with) than the Euro was during my travels through Europe. (Now, one Euro is equal to 1.33 U.S. dollar…)

The official language of Peru is Spanish, and there are other dialects such as Quechua, which is spoken by the Andean people in the mountains. Being that it was winter while we were there, it was surprisingly chilly! We needed to buy one of the popular Peruvian exports, Alpaca wool, in order to help us keep warm at night.

La familia

Parque Kennedy

Miraflores is the top tourist district in Lima. It is a beautiful place that sits right alongside the Pacific Ocean. Peru has three main ecosystems: coastal, mountain and jungle that all run longitudinally from west to east.

We met up with Ronnie in an outdoor mall called Larcomar that has many stores, and restaurants that overlook the Pacific, and gnarly surfers on the beach. While eating lunch at La Bonbonniere Ronnie informed us that during the winter months, it is typically cloudy and humid every day, but we were lucky and the sun was shining for us and all of our photo ops . 

The rest of the day we hung out, walked around Kennedy Park, and heard what my brother had been up to during his five-week stay prior to our arrival. Later that evening we headed for diner at one of the most beautiful restaurants in Lima, La Rosa Nautica. Since Miraflores is part of the coastal ecosystem, fish plays a large role in the diet there, and if you want to eat fish or are willing to try, La Rosa Nautica is a must. This beautiful upscale restaurant sits literally right over the Pacific Ocean. So much so, you can hear the waves crashing beneath you while you dine. The ambiance was romantic, the service was impeccable and the food was heavenly. La Rosa Nautica is a foodie's paradise and a must go to for any tourist visiting Lima. 

View of La Rosa Nautica from Larcomar

muy bonita