We both had good sleeps which for certain was needed. The usual grey skies hang over the ocean below and not sure if temperature inversion/foggy like San Francisco or partly due to the smoggy conditions in this huge city by the ocean? Nope, this is what I find online to explain: This mysterious sea mist is caused by the interaction of warm inland desert winds (don't forget Lima's a desert!) and the cool water streams of the Pacific Ocean.
We had great news last night as we got a phone call on the hotel phone confirming they had made a reservation for us at Restaurant Sonia for 14:00! This was one of our key foodie destinations for this trip. It was a restaurant visited by Anthony Bourdain many years ago and he loved it. It opened in 1979 so 45 years ago. The background story to the humble restaurant's beginnings is very cool so worth opening the link. It is supposed to have some of the best ceviche in the city and the city is known for the best ceviche in the world. It is an eleven (11) minute drive south or a walk of 70 minutes.
Sunset outside our hotel tonight (last night in Peru).
This will be a long day given our first flight out of Lima is scheduled for Monday morning at 02:55 to Bogota, Colombia. Lana has a late check out with our hotel for 16:00 which is much appreciated. Plus, we will be able to use all their facilities until we leave for the airport. One challenge is yesterday and this morning we cannot check in with Avianca Airlines as their webpage is not working for check-ins. There is an error message and when Lana phoned both Avianca and Air Canada yesterday they were not able to assist. She was told to head to the airport prior to the flight and check in directly with the airline there. Ugh!!!
We head down to the breakfast buffet and a table beside the window overlooking the ocean. We have a leisurely breakfast given we are in no rush the entire day. Usual excellent choices and service. We will miss this free feature! Lana checking on a lounge at the Lima airport and she does have access to Sumaq VIP Lounge through her Visa credit card. So we can at least be in this lounge until 2 AM when our flight will likely board!
We have our lunch reservation and Lana is good with giving it a try to walk to Restaurant Sonia. It is 5.1 kms and Google Maps indicates a 70 minute walk although we don't begin until 13:00 so we are cutting it close as you lose your reservation if more than 10 minutes late. Another beautiful day for a walk as it is not too warm, sun hidden by the misty skies and similar walk to last night except much longer. Lana is pretty good as we make it by 14:05 and our table is ready for us.
We are looking forward to more Peruvian cuisine and at this particular location given how long it has been in business. On our arrival it is very busy with very few empty tables. The menu has Spanish titles to the dishes, but includes an English description. Very lively atmosphere and lots of families. Our server (Junior) is friendly and his English is pretty good which is helpful for us. There is a 10 Sol cover charge for each table. Our total bill was 209 Sol inclusive of the cover charge. We added 10 Sol cash as a tip to our server.
Front of the restaurant with Lana in the foreground with the fellow is kind of a valet managing parking on the street for customers. He doesn't speak any english but Lana figures out he's asking if we drove a car there and need assistance with parking. Lana does the "walking" sign with her fingers and he understands.
Very eclectic interior. This is a phot of the piano player. The music reminds us of an old Western saloon from the movies.
When we sat down and Junior came very quickly his first question was to bring Pisco Sours? We need some time to figure out what we want first. The drinks are 29 Sol each. Both tasty and very strong alcohol. Lana's order is a Maracuya Pisco Sour (orange drink) which means Passion Fruit. Lana can't finish her drink as she is getting "tipsy"...
Usual complimentary salted corn nuts (Peruvian popcorn) that can be addictive.
Our order of the House Ceviche for 68 Sol. Lots of seafood being Octopus, Squid, Crab, Flounder, Shrimp, Seaweed and the usual orange Squash. Another brilliant ceviche! This house ceviche included the Peruvian corn called Choclo. It was much more tasty given it was doused in the lime juice. I think the ceviche reminds me of Sashimi. The lime juice and red onion makes the ceviche "refreshing" according to Lana. Maybe the squash is a pallete cleanser?
Our order of Chicharrón Mixto. Fish, Squid and Octopus for 48 Sol. More yummy and the green dip was fantastic! Lana thinks it was some type of mayo with an unknown herb mixed in.
The original owner Fredy comes on 'stage' and gives some type of speech. There is lots of applause and most of the patrons went up for pictures with this local icon. He had 3-4 fresh sole fish hanging from a line (huge fishes) that you could hold and take a picture with him.
We know that we need to be back to our hotel by 16:00 so we finish by 15:30 and Lana organizes an Uber pickup for 20 Sol. I was thinking of dessert, but the only dessert was Picarones (sweet potato donuts which we've already tried) and not keen on them.
The views from this side of the bay are spectacular and you can see our hotel (tallest building on the horizon with a black edge on either side/partially covered in front by other buildings) in the distance! This area has beaches that are easily accessible.
This is the awkward situation that we are still in our room yet we are past the late checkout of 16:00. Lana taking the opportunity to have a nap. We have done everything we wanted to do in Lima so more tourist stuff is not needed. We are figuring to leave the hotel around 23:00 as we should be at the airport by 12 Midnight in order to check-in as we can't do it online. We will have access to the second floor area and access to the executive lounge and later in the day it will have some food/goodies. I did some research and La Lucha is a casual place open until 22:00 so that may be an option for later. The address Jose Larco 999 is within a short walk.
We agree that around 17:15 we should leave our room as we are feeling like squatters. We have a long time before we should leave for the airport using Uber. Relaxing can be a good thing? 😏
Sunset tonight from our Hotel.
Online funny ad courtesy of Lana. She said when she was suffering from heat stroke she felt like the sick Llama below.
OK, we are lounge area on level two. Comfortable seating by the window. We have an electrical outlet close by so we can power up our devices. Lana did ask the hotel if we could keep our room until we left around 22:00 tonight, but they have the room booked. It is a long wait. I did take advantage of the food in the lounge and some Peruvian Sauvignon Blanc so at least I had dinner. Lana's knee acting up so no chance of leaving the hotel to try the Peruvian sandwich place. The background music is techno-beat and slowly driving us both batty.
It is almost 20:30 so we have about 2 1/2 hours before an Uber takes us to the airport. Across the street from the hotel and down about 30 metres is a KFC! Yup, there are some KFC in Lima and Pizza Hut as well. And they have "auto rapido" = drive through! The lounge is pretty loud right now as there are a lot of guests and the bar is close by. Lana: Who knew the bar in the hotel was so happening? Clearly we were missing out when we were in our hotel room in the evenings watching the news and updating our blog LOL.
Overall, we have loved our time in Peru. We did not rush the trip and taking our time turned out to be a good thing. Lana getting sick in the jungle and then carryover in terms of lack of appetite for the remainder of the trip not good as she really wanted to be enjoying Peruvian food but just couldn't eat anything. Her knee was not too bad except for this afternoon. For certain, Machu Picchu and the Amazon jungle were the highlights giving us awesome memories.
We both have bug bites on our arms and in Lana's case additionally her legs. Yup, in the jungle you get bit quite often even with spraying bug deterrent. If everything is bigger in the Amazonian jungle why didn't we ever see those bugs? Super itchy and red for days. Oh well, maybe a reminder that the jungle is not for us civilized humans?
Not to forget that one of us did a good job of eating our way around Peru. I love Peruvian food and their culture. There are a few authentic Peruvian restaurants in Vancouver. Although, I don't think they serve Alpaca and Guinea Pig.... 😏
Basically, tomorrow being Monday is a whole day of travel. Our plane from Lima to Bogota departs we hope at 02:55 and arrives in Bogota at 06:05. We leave Bogota on AC099 for Montréal at 09:00 and arrive Montréal time 16:35. Then we leave Montréal at 18:10 and arrive at YVR for 20:39. We decided we will check in our luggage as it is easier than hauling it around with us between flights if carry-on especially if a flight is delayed and we have to run through the airport to make our connection. Let's hope our check-in late tonight works well and we have uneventful flights.
Stats for walking today about 11,500 steps.
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