It’s been some time since I’ve posted a blog, but our trip to Peru gave me the needed inspiration. With our Candelaria Design Tours we keep going to the same countries and I have blogged about Italy and Spain several times but coming to Peru has definitely motivated me to once again put some words together to describe this trip and experience.

So why Peru? Good question! First Isabel and I have never been to South America and so it definitely was something on our bucket list. Of course there are plenty of amazing South America destinations to choose from but as it turned out one of my classmates from high school, Carl Schell,  lives and works in Lima so my thought was let’s start there as we will at least know someone who can tee us up a bit. At the same time, I was designing a home for another high school classmate, Herb Newbold and his wife Lynda, and Isabel and I were talking with the two of them about a year ago while in Idaho about some of their travels and they reminisced about their trip to Ecuador and how much they enjoyed it. We told them that we had never been to South America and we really needed to go check it out. We started talking about the fact our friend Carl was in Peru and one thing led to the other and next thing you know we had our calendars out and we were planning the trip for a year later. Team Lima was called to action and now here we are in Peru!

Our trip to Peru entails 10 days with our first stop in Lima then off to Cusco for a couple days and then we travel by train to Machu Pichu for a couple days, then to the Sacred Valley and back to Cusco then back to Lima for a few days to finish our journey. It’s July, so it is winter here in Peru and so a nice escape from the 114º temps of Phoenix. From Phoenix we flew to Dallas, switched planes and then flew seven hours directly to Lima where we arrived at about 12:30 am the next day.

We checked into our hotel and got a good night’s rest then started our first full day in Peru. We only had this one day in Lima before we would head to Cusco so we all decided to go to the Lima Cathedral and check out the area around there and then head to the Mercado Central and grab lunch.

Our taxi ride was quite the experience – wow let’s just say I am so glad I did not rent a car! The driving here is insane and even walking around you have to be super careful as cars, busses, motorcycles and any kind of motorized contraption you can imagine is whizzing by and honking at every opportunity. Its truly madness. Our taxi ride was nearly 45 minutes but only cost about 15 US dollars so not bad – even more reason not to rent a car.

We enjoyed a lovely walk around the plaza – sans cars – and then made our way to the cathedral where we toured this amazing Spanish Colonial structure built by the Spanish from 1602 – 1797. Having been to many amazing churches in Europe this cathedral in Lima ranks right up there. Truly magnificent. Then to see the tomb of Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro and the Candelaria family crypt was truly eye opening. Next door we toured the palace of the Bishop which was equally fantastic. Beautiful details and exquisite craftsmanship.

From there we did a little shopping including a stop in the Choco Museum where we sampled and then purchased some fresh chocolate which was off the charts scrumptious. The girls did a little shopping and then we were off the Mercado Central.

The Mercado Central reminded me of the Mercados in Spain – very similar. Everything from meats, to fish, to breads, vegetable, cheeses, etc you can buy here and there are plenty of small café’s in which to grab a bight. I think the sights and sounds were a bit much for my group and so we made and exit and on the next corner found the Peru Chinatown. There is a huge Asian influence here in Lima and I read how many great options there are for Peruvian-Asian fusion cuisine. We did some exploring and did find a great spot for lunch overlooking the street below.

 From Lima’s Chinatown we hopped into another wild taxi ride back to our hotel, a quick siesta, and then we were off to dinner in the Miraflores district of Lima and the restaurant  Huaca Pucllana https://www.resthuacapucllana.com/ where we rendezvoused with our high school classmate, Carl Schell.

We arrived a bit early and so the ladies did a little shopping and Herb and I had our first Pisco, a liquor made from the San Piedro Ximenez grapes – basically a grappa. My first pisco was mixed with fruit juices from the jungle and basically it tasted like Hawaiian Punch with a kick….. amazing!

From there we were off the dinner. The Huaca Pucllana restaurant is built right next to the ancient Huaca Pucllana ruins. http://huacapucllanamiraflores.pe/  Huaca Pucllana is a great adobe and clay pyramid located in the Miraflores district of central Lima.  Built from seven staggered platforms, it served as an important ceremonial and administrative center for the advancement of the Lima culture, a society which developed in the Peruvian Central Coast between the years of 200 AD and 700 AD. The restaurant looks right onto the ruins and at night the view is mystical and enchanting.

We had a great time reuniting with our high school classmate which both Herb and I had not seen since our ten year class reunion in 1988. So some 34 years later here we were in Lima, Peru – old ruins next to old ruins!

Dinner was great and we were ready to call it a night, get some sleep and get ready to go to Cusco the next morning!