Lima Day 3- This morning we toured Lima’s colonial city center on foot, explored the catacombs of the Church of San Francisco, and toured the Larco Museum. All before lunch!
We toured a middle class neighborhood across the river from the Colonial center of Lima. It is Jr. Trujillo Street and was full of citizens making their way to work
As we walked down the street a woman was selling the standard breakfast food, a corn meal tamale wrapped in banana leaves. We each took a taste and it was delicious!
We approached the back of the Presidential residence and office as we walked toward the Colonial center of Lima.
The Rimac River runs to the sea, with levels showing what is left after the water filtration plant takes what is needed to provide water for the city. Lima is actually in a desert.
We saw an arcade that formerly had stained glass ceiling but it was destroyed in earthquake tremors years ago. The structural beauty is still amazing. The Lima post office is in this arcade.
Across the plaza looking one can see the Lima Cathedral. There were few people there because the police were clearing the plaza because they were expecting a demonstration. We were able to take a few photos before we were kicked out.
The area has several private residences of wealthy folks in Colonial times. Note the balconies of carved wood.
The Presidential residence and offices are in this area.
The Archbishop of Peru resides next to the cathedral. The residence has closed balconies of intricately carved wood. Legend has it that this was so women could sit and view the Plaza and gossip without being seen.
There are many wood carvings on the balconies on the residence of the Archbishop.
Basílica y Convento de San Francisco is the Spanish name for Saint Francis Monastery (on the left) and church (center). We entered through the monastery for access to catacombs.
In the catacombs there are thousands of bones of the dead. The skulls and femurs of people placed in the catacombs after the bodies were decayed with the help of lime.
The Peruvian Congress Building is also in this area.
While we were looking at the Congress Building, there was a demonstration of about a thousand people protesting the closing for 30 days of a local open market
Near this area there is a very nice, and nicely maintained Plaza San Martin. This was a circular plaza that had private residences surrounding it all painted light blue. So pretty!
Lima is a unique city. We were driving by office buildings and neighborhoods and suddenly another ruin appears!
We took a tour of the Larco Museum which is definitely worth the time. The are stunning flowers outside the Museum.
The Museum contains many examples of vessels made in early Peru cultures 1250 BC- 1 AD. We saw these large Inca storage vessels, 15th century that were used to store grain and other food items. We also saw another Quipus which was used by the Incas to record information. There were several Ceremonial gold bowls from the Chimu (800 AD – 1300 AD) many of which contained intricate patterns. There were Gold necklaces of frogs, each with turquoise eyes. Funerary Attire (1250 BC – AD) Vicus culture. Look at the size of the nose rings and earrings! It is a good thing these were only worn by the dead.
We spent the afternoon exploring the Malecon Miraflores which is two-mile strip of parks, gardens and green space on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Miraflores. We timed our visit to catcha spectacular sunset. Then after a dinner near the beach with our tour group, we went to the Magic Water Circuit on our own.
We watched the sun set over San Lorenzo island.
Dinner was at the La Planka (Spell) that is one the ocean. From the restaurant we could see the cliffs in Chorrillos. A bright light in the distance a cross that was ablaze with lights which was built, not necessarily a Christine symbol but more of a symbol of national hope and unity after the defeat of the terrorist group, the Sinchis that was defeated in the 1980s.
After dinner, and two no-show UBER rides, the restaurant host found us a gypsie cab to take us to the Magic Water Circuit.
Traffic in Lima is a mess. It tasks a long time to get anywhere via automobile. The shows we wanted to see started at 9:30 PM and was scheduled to last about 20 minutes. Our Gypsie cab driver did not speak English and our Spanish is virtually non-existent. But. With the help of Google Translator we were able to convince him to return and pick us up. We wanted to stay until 10:30 PM but he was adamant that we leave at 10:00 PM. After the two failed UBERs we did not want to chance being stuck half way across the city.
The Park has the Guinness Book record for the largest fountain complex in the world, displaying 13 distinct fountains and many are interactive. All of the fountains are illuminated at night, many with continuously changing color schemes. A colorful laser light program synchronized with classical and Peruvian music makes the fountains sparkle. It was a mere 40 Soles ($1.20) to get in. Fantastic!
There was a water fountain tunnel that changed colors. Families loved racing through it. Another fountain was interactive and couples made it to the center without getting wet, but couldn’t get back!