Another Satuday in Lima...plus Monday

Friday morning, soon after arriving at work, I found out that Monday and Tuesday of this week would be Dias Feriados (holidays). Tuesday, August 30th was the Day of Santa Rosa de Lima, patron saint of the national police. It was too late to plan a trip outside of the city so we were in town for the 4 day weekend. Saturday we went to the Inka Plaza and looked at the traditional handicrafts.

Hand-stitched Mural

Woven Rug

Plates

From there we went to the National Museum to check out exhibitions on the discovery of Machu Picchu and the plight of Peru during the time of the Shining Light Revolution...both very interesting. That's where my camera batteries gave out.

Later we went to a nice shopping center and looked for sofas and lamps. It's amazing that we can go to a major department store, and in the home decor section, only find 2 lamps. 

Monday, after scouring the "Lima Survival Kit, a Guide for Foreign Residents" we mapped out a city search for lamps and pianos. We took a taxi to the store furthest away and then worked our way back towards our hotel. We were amazed that we could find all 7 stores, they were all open, and we actually found pianos to rent or buy and furniture that was not ultra modern. We looked down one street and saw a lot of fun congestion about 2 blocks up. Following our instincts, we happened upon Kennedy Park, full of kid's playgrounds, art for sale and sidewalk restaurants. We bought 2 paintings and carried them for about 2 hours.  Another 7 hour day of walking and discovery.

This just seemed too happy to pass up.

A restful reminder of Europe (painted by a Peruvian)

This is in honor of...

Julie's brother Dave.

A long Walk along the Ocean

Not being ones to sit around, Julie and I decided to walk down towards the beach.  It turned into a marathon of over 4 hours.  We knew that there was a cool mall somewhere down the coast but weren't sure we could walk that far.  Nevertheless, we started on our way.

Our hotel (and apartment) are just 1 1/2 blocks from a huge golf course.

You are never far from a little street vendor, be it flowers...

or fruit.

Right at the coast we found the open market for our part of town, San Isidro.

Very clean...

very orderly...

but not very exciting.

Would you like one chicken or two?

Right in the middle of the local cheeses and goodies, what do we see, but a bag of pine nuts from Costco.  Definately not local.

Gas stations are small but tucked away in handy spots all over
 town.  Gas is sold by the gallon...between US$4.50 and 6.50 depending on the grade.

Since it is always overcast in Lima we were surprised to see islands off shore.

We were at the north end of a very long boardwalk (malecon), had not been walking long, so we decided we needed more exercise.  We headed south towards the mall.

I should have taken up surfing when I was younger.

Soccor park...

Strolling park...

Flower park...

Along the way we ran into a couple that was on the plane from Atlanta with us.  (no picture)

We talked for almost an hour.  They gave us some good tips regarding life in Lima.

Kite park...

Sitting park...

Skate park...

more Strolling park...

and more Strolling park...

Lighthouse park...

the Park of Love...

Gee could you tell?

Pretty cool restaurant.  We hear it is pricey, but...

but has a good view of the surfers.  It reminded us of Ruby's (Coronado, San Diego style) on

the Seal Beach pier in California.

We knew we had walked a long way, but there was so much to see along the way to the mall that it did not seem too bad.  (I'm pretty sure we'll never do it again)

Pretty modern stuff.

Tony Romas's, T.G.I.F., Chile's, Dunkin' Donuts and a whole lot more.

Pedicure for the bride.

Nice Italian/Peruvian restaurant

Great company...best of friends!