Day 15; Saturday, September 21st: "I think this Ceviche changed my Life"

Our alarm went off at 05:30 as we need to catch our Uber just before 06:00. Our fancy hotel had two large bags for a snack box to take with us as their breakfast service begins at 06:00 and we will miss it. Lana asked if they could pack us a snack box instead and they were happy to oblige. In our white takeaway bag was a large bottle of water, small juice box, apple, crackers, a loaf cake and a ham/cheese sandwich and a few small candies. It is about a 12 minute ride to the airport for 36 Sol. Yesterday our hotel quoted a price for a taxi to the airport at $16USD which is around 65 Sol! Yup, fancy hotels attract expensive rides. No thanks, we take an Uber.   👍

We need to get to the Jet Smart counter as we have no boarding passes. I did check us in online, but to get an electronic boarding pass you need to pay extra given I booked the flight through CheapOAir. We realize this costs us though at the counter. The agent looks at our luggage and I need to see if I can fit either into luggage sizer. Ooops, nope. We have been taking our luggage onto the planes in Peru no problem, but we have had boarding passes that take us right to the gate. It will cost us each 165 Sol to check in each luggage which is outrageous! 

Head up the stairs to Security and get in the left line which is for "Special Assistance" being disabled persons (Lana!) and a senior citizen like me. Nope, there are all sorts of passengers in this line that are young and more than capable. Either people don't read signs or just don't care. We have learned in Peru it is mostly chaos and nobody pays attention to the signs anyway. Kinda like their driving....   😏

We have our physical boarding passes and passports. Wow, the Security line moves very quickly. I am so impressed. You can bring water and fluids through Security no problem. Plus, you don't take off your shoes, belts nor do you take out your laptop. Our flight to Lima does not show a gate, but soon enough we are flying out of Gate 5. We have lots of time as our flight is scheduled for 07:28 and we were through Security about 06:45. This area is full of people even this early in the morning. Our plane is loaded by 07:20. We happen to start talking to a younger woman behind us in line and she is from Ottawa! 

Well, all good with the loading of the plane, but then we sit on the tarmac going nowhere for close to 30 minutes before we taxi to the runway. Lana upgraded to Row 2 and I am in Row 6 so pretty much front of the plane. Uneventful short flight. Interesting that there are three flight attendants yet zero service provided so why more than one attendant? Dumb question? We land at Lima at 09:00. I believe Lana napped for some time during the flight. No video screen on this plane. 

Of course, despite the plane landing right near the baggage carousel it takes a long time for our baggage to show up. Lana wants to check with Avianca for our flights scheduled for very early Monday morning, but discovers their airport office does not open until 11:30 so we decide to get to our Hotel in Miraflores neighbourhood. In my negotiations with an accredited taxi guy we can pay 60 Sol which is a better deal than Uber and with the taxi sourcer inside the terminal. Off we go and the fellow pulls our luggage to his parked car so that is appreciated.

Good driver as he is fast and like to change lanes. Traffic heavy as usual and he indicated that weekends can be more busy than weekdays depending on the time of the day. We arrive at the JW Marriott Hotel in Miraflores which is the same hotel we stayed at when we first arrived in Lima September 7th. Awesome hotel! We are checked in and Andres get speaking with us and takes us up to our 1214 corner suite room and it is beautiful. We are just in time to race downstairs to Level 2 in time to get some breakfast before it closes at 11:00.  

Online stock photo of Lima, Peru from Miraflores neighbourhood where we are staying. 

We both had a good feed at the huge and varied buffet. Lana says "the first proper cup of Earl Grey tea was a moment of pure happiness." Back to our room and we need to figure our priority restaurant options for the next two days. We are here tonight and then Sunday night we won't need a hotel reservation as we need to be at the Lima airport for our plane departure around 03:00 AM early Monday morning. Our first priority is Sonia Restaurant for one of the best Ceviche plates in Lima. There are other restaurants we are keen on visiting during our short stay in Lima. Plus, Lana is eager to book her seats for our upcoming three flights. She encounters issues with Avianca Airlines as they won't book her seats and Air Canada cannot get involved either.   😒

The oceanside is it usual grey and misty/foggy skies with no sun coming through. Same as when we were here previously. Lots of surfers down below. We were looking out our huge oceanside facing windows when we saw Paragliders drifting along high in the air and it seemed like they were so close to our hotel. This is Lana's VIDEO of one of the paragliders. As they are floating by, we can see their self-sticks, that's how close they are to our hotel!

Lana pretty beat from all our sightseeing and travel over the last two weeks. I was thinking of attending the top team in Peru's top football division that is playing tomorrow night at Estadio Monumental de Lima, but she's not really interested. Better for the both of us to take it easy over the next two days. We have not received an email reply from Sonia Restaurant so we will try to get a reservation for Sunday. We are at the front desk and Christopher approaches us to help and we ask if he can call Sonia Restaurant on our behalf to get us a reservation for Sunday afternoon. He can do that and will call us to confirm. When we return to our room around 18:00 there is no message from Christopher.

We thought you might enjoy Lana's VIDEO of a pedestrian traffic walk light. Pretty funny. The traffic lights and pedestrian lights will show a number countdown. It reminds Lana of Ampelman in Germany--the beloved green walk symbol that's got a cult following in Berlin. Our friend Thom Q. told us that people were up in arms when Ampelman was going to be removed as the universal walk symbol. 

It is a beautiful day for a walk. Sunny, warm and not hot with a slight breeze. Followed Google Maps to Canta Rana restaurant very easily. We have a reference book called "Where Chefs Eat" and it covers various cities around the world. Basically, well known chefs in those cities are asked where do they eat and that produces their listings. This is their description: "located in a Bohemian neighbourhood and known for ceviche/seafood and is budget friendly. Reviews rave about friendly atmosphere, service and quality food. Octopus dish raves."

This afternoon, I confirm it is open and open quite late to 22:00. We are getting peckish and ready for a walk. It is about 2.5 kms with no real elevation gain. It is a pretty hip area and not too busy with cars and people. If it is 1/2 as good as its ratings then we will have scored big as foodies.

The restaurant we are walking to is in the Barranco neighbourhood which is south of Miraflores.

On the way to the restaurant we see a Grocery store. Lana buys two packets of AJI AMARILLO PASTE. She indicates it is super expensive to buy online back in Canada (she had already done some research) and impossible to find in our grocery stores. We pay about 10.50 Sols for two packets which is an incredible savings. She will use it to make the Peruvian dish Lomo Saltado. 

Side story from the grocery store that we gave the Cashier a 50 Sol note and she did not want to take it as there was a teeny tiny hardly noticeable tear on the top edge. She consults with another cashier and she takes our note. By the way, we got that bill from a Peruvian ATM....  😏

We find Canta Rana on the corner and off the main drag. Very unassuming family type place and on our arrival, it is very busy. I think we get the last table? Yup, they know we are tourists and get an English menu although the title of each dish is in Spanish, but the description in English. Our server is very friendly and helpful and speaks a little English.

Interior of the restaurant. 

Menu.

Other side of the menu. 

Complimentary dish of Canchita. These delicious goodies are Peruvian popcorn and tastes similar but better than Corn nuts!

This photo is to capture the portion sizes. Gigantic plate of baked rice.

Specials of the Day and we have found that food does not translate well.

Our order of Mixed Ceviche comprised of shrimp, octopus, fish (unknown), squid, red onion, scallop and a piece of Pumpkin Squash. There was a delicious seaweed are garnish on top--we ate that too LOL. Eating this dish led to Lana's comment which is the title of our blog. Yes, this ceviche was that good! In case you are a newbie to ceviche it is usually seafood cooked in lime juice and thinly sliced. There is an acidic reaction and it leads to such a clean feel to eat. This was refreshing and retained the natural taste of each component. 

Our order of Grilled Octopus. Wow, this was amazing in every way. This is one of the restaurant's signature dishes. It comes with avocados, tomatoes, potatoes, capers and some ahi (yellow pepper--which Lana just bought at the grocery store) sauce and also what Lana thinks is some soy sauce. We both love octopus and this was one of our best ever. Lana actually ate some food tonight which is a good sign--although a lot of tomatoes and avocados to be honest. 

Aprés meal photo. Two very content and amazed diners who are both totally full from the meal! We barely finished and then waddled out of the restaurant. Check out the eclectic decór. We are so full we have zero room for dessert. Big happy smiles!

On our way back to our hotel, we walked by this Chifa Vietnam restaurant. We have not seen any Vietnamese restaurants so far in Lima or in Peru. Maybe another day we could check this out?

When we returned to our room around 18:00 the larger dessert below was a gift from the hotel to Lana. They value her 'trust and loyalty' given she is a lifetime Platinum member of the Marriott chain. One of the perks of her business travel over many years. Hey, travel has its rewards. 😃

We are both exhausted from getting up so early this morning and then the travel to Lima. We love this city by the ocean and its energy and helpful, honest people. Despite being relatively slow in terms of activities today we have enjoyed this day back in Lima. My stats for the day are 11,300 steps. Finished the blog before 19:30 which is a record on this trip. Probable I will try to go through our blog and try to do Trip Advisor reviews given they are helpful to other travellers.