Big day touring Lima Centro.
All of the showers have these builtin electric heaters for hot water. It's a little unnerving seeing a bunch of wires sticking out over your head while showering.
This guard at the Governor's palace was leaning against the wall texting his girlfriend when I asked him if I could take his picture. He said Si then sprang into the alert guard posture for the picture.
The monastery of San Francisco. I took the tour but no picture were allowed. The inside was incredible, built in the 1600s with amazing detail. Our guide would show us one section, for instance the monk's library, then say "but in the earthquake of 1734 it fell down." The monk's dining room with detailed frescoes, "but in the earthquake of 1827 it fell down." Or the mosaics in the courtyard, "but in the earthquake of 1912 it fell down."
This kid was going crazy feeding the pigeons in the courtyard.
Across the street at a coffee shop.
Near the Plaza des Armas, some policia with their horses.
There's a small demonstration down the street but everyone seems relaxed.
I go into the Museo de la Inquisición in the Senate building to see the torture displays.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition....
From the 1700's when they still crucified people.
More of the Inquisition
After finishing my tour I go back to the front door but they aren't letting anybody out. There's a lot of shouting on the other side of the door, but finally they let myself and a few other gringos out. Suddenly I'm in the middle of a demonstration on the Senate steps, facing the wrong way into the mounted police. The police and demonstrators seem to be getting along but the trucks with the water cannons and machine guns are right down the street (the driver wagged his finger at me when I asked if I could take a picture of them) so I figure it's best to scoot out of there to the back side of the policia.
Down the street I get a great lunch of spaghetti and meatballs with a tamale and juice for 6 soles.
Lima side street
The Peruvian flag.
Looking across the river to the slums. For some reason in Peru the poor people live on the hillsides, with the good views, while the rich people live in the city center.
A turkey on the railroad tracks.
Llams in the petting zoo.
Typical bodega...great colors.
Inka Kola and another Peruvian pizza.
Christmas is coming.
The soccer stadium is by the highway back to Miraflores, there is a national playoff game today and people are lined up for a mile to get into the stadium.
Back in Miraflores it's still foggy by the ocean.
I head to an Asian restaurant for dinner. The menu is Chinese translated into Spanish which is a little hard to understand; everyone in the restaurant speaks Spanish with a heavy Chinese accent if you can picture that.
I get this mixed grill plate which comes out steaming so much they had to open the front door to clear it out. The picture is after it cooled down for awhile, still steaming like crazy. It was very good although I still have no idea exactly what it was.
