Colonial Lima and Weekend Wanderings

We spent our first day in Lima at the travel agent arranging our tours for the sacred valley and Machu Piccu.  Then we started our explorations of Lima itself.  As a first excursion in Lima we took a city tour of Lima with our guide, Javier.  We went to the old part of the city and visited some churches and the Arch Bishop's palace. 

 

 

The square has been reconstructed to its colonial glory, and was very impressive.  Many of the buildings had unique looking balconies (apparently in the Moorish style) and were brightly painted.

 

 

 

The highlight was a visit to the catacombs...which are in a church which was built in the 1500's.  There being no cemetery (and the culture did not require one) bodies were buried beneath churches in large and very deep catacombs...it was fascinating...in some graves entire families were found from baby up to father...

 

 

The Basilica was truly beautiful...with many small chapels which have been restored in recent years, and so are very striking indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

We spent the following weekend wandering around Miraflores.  It was an experience indeed.  We walked for miles and soaked up the ambiance of this part of this massive city.  With nine million people, it is no surprise that all parts of the city are busy with activity. 

We walked to ruins which are close by.  These predate the Inca's and are right in the middle of Miraflores.

 

 

 

Having arrived at high noon, with the sun beating straight down on our white gringo heads, we took a quick look and then moved on to walk on the Malacon.  This is a walkway along the top of the cliffs which fall down to the sea at the edge of the city.



We enjoyed a tranquil afternoon sipping coffee and people watching.  We also visited the Inca Market which had many wares on offer (including winter clothing which we found hard to imagine in 30 degree weather!!!)  Some spectacular art work was available, but we resisted as we have limited luggage space to take things back and a long way to go yet.
 

To top Saturday off, I tried a pisco sour...a local alcoholic drink.  It packs quite a punch so I ended up fast asleep for the evening and night.
 

The following day, being Sunday, the Malacon was full of families strolling through parks past beautiful flowers. 

 

 

We took the long walk from the cliff tops down to the sea where we relaxed in a café by the water.  We then went to the beach to watch the surfers.



As the sun began to set we made our way back up to the top of the cliff where we watched the sun set while the paragliders threw themselves from the cliff tops and soared past us.