I say finally because I had planned to come through last year but never made it farther than the transfer lounge in the airport. Anyway so it was off to Lima. We stayed at the Marriott, which was really nice, had ocean views and a casino on the ground floor. Actually we noticed tons of casinos on the way in to the hotel. It seemed like there was one on every corner!?
We had a normal week really, just work but what got us was the overly gracious hospitality. We had several long lunches but they were needed to try the variety of food on offer. A couple of nice dinners also provided a the time to try the local liquer- Pisco (its a grape brandy). Unfortunately it also meeant that we had to work a bit later to make it all happen. We played a little football one night with a bunch of the people, they even have an inter-department league - they take it pretty seriously. One of the guys we meant in Bolivia (thats where hes from) we saw again in Peru since he is in that office after spending a few years in Baar. I realized he actually went to UNC aroudn when I did and actually played soccer there. A younger guy, Francisco, in the office had just graduated from UNC, always interesting who you run into.
On the weekend we went out and to a local market - Polvos Azules. You can get anything there, some of it real, some fake, a lot of it questionable. Clothes, TV, DVDs, and all other manner of goods (electronics, you name it). Bought a few things, some good, some ok and some bad - sorry Orlaith... They do have big, modern shopping malls too... One night we did go down to the old part of town and look around. It was a really nice area but had all the typical things - cathedral, old colonial arcitecture, plazas and a big pedestrian shopping area.
Lima was nice. The food was great quality and great variety. Apparently there has been a recent (last several years) string of new restaurants and almost a sort of food revival in Lima, mainly do to Gaston Acurio - look him up, check out his places. We went to severa of his restuarants. They were all great, awesome food. In short, I liked Lima, the people were great but the traffic was about the craziest I have seen!
Lima was nice. The food was great quality and great variety. Apparently there has been a recent (last several years) string of new restaurants and almost a sort of food revival in Lima, mainly do to Gaston Acurio - look him up, check out his places. We went to severa of his restuarants. They were all great, awesome food. In short, I liked Lima, the people were great but the traffic was about the craziest I have seen!
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