Day 2: Saturday, September 7th in Lima and we found Paddington the Bear!

We don't want to bore anyone with the travel details from yesterday and this morning, but that is a lot of air miles! This will be a longish day for me given no sleep, but it comes with travel and is a very small price to pay. Lana got some sleep on two of the legs so she will be more rested. I noticed that her walking was not good as her injured knee has suffered with being in an airplane seat for prolonged periods with minimal movement.

Immediately, we have picked up on the 'mañana time' of being in a Latino country. Basically, it means 'some time' or it happens when it will happen and not sooner...I hope that none of our Latino friends feel offended as it is not meant in that way. It is more about the approach to life and not being rushed or worrying about prioritizing tasks or functions. This will be good for me personally to practise patience and empathy which is a positive. I truly believe this approach to not being in a rush means you will live longer! Yup, it can be very frustrating for us Type A personalities...Maybe, this is what a holiday is for?  😏

The views of the Andes were spectacular from our plane!

                                                   Another view of the Andes from 35,000 feet.

Lana's view from her seat on the other side of the plane.

We made it through Customs without any problems except for the fact the agent needed to take our pictures with her camera. We had carry-on luggage for the entire trip. This meant the luxury of simply walking off the plane and no need to head for the baggage carousels and waiting and waiting and waiting for your luggage. Sometimes they lose it....  

When we got close to the exit from the terminal there were a couple of kiosks inside that were for taxi service. We decided to pick "Green Taxi" and paid 65 Sol by credit card to the lady and then she found the driver in the main hall. He then took us to his taxi parked at Arrivals outside.

What is the exchange rate right now for Peruvian Sol <-> CAD dollar? It is 2.80 Sol equals 1 CAD $. So roughly 3 Sols equals our Dollar. For Americans the exchange is much better at 3.80 Sol to a USD $. We brought a fair amount of American dollars to pay for any tips we need to pay and translator services at Machu Picchu. 

Later we did find a Bank of Nova Scotia fairly close to our hotel and it had an ATM. Withdrew 400 Sol each which worked out to around $171.93CAD, plus a fee for using the ATM/money exchange. 

You always need to be wary of taxi services at the airport and confirm it is a real taxi. This situation was a guarantee of authenticity for us. Plus, you cannot hail a taxi at this airport. Our driver was fantastic! He drove fast, careless and weaved his way in and out of traffic which appears to be the norm here. My kinda driver! Many of the streets don't have painted lanes so the cars and larger vehicles navigate all over the place. Much like my experience in Mexico.     😊

Another aspect of our drive into Miraflores area was the gritty neighbourhoods around the airport and then the wealth and vibrancy of Miraflores neighbourhood on the coastline. It was about a 45 minute drive to our hotel. Along the way there were so many mini soccer fields and all with artificial turf. A number of players of all ages on the fields. Plus, many entertainment areas along the seaside. Surfing beaches, parking, restaurants equalling quite a busy place. 

As you can see from the map below Miraflores is south and east of the major airport. 

We could not officially check in to our room at the JW Marriott Miraflores given our room was not ready. Lana has special status due to her work usage and had selected a nice room with a great view of the beach. They took our luggage, but we kept our backpacks. No idea of when our room would be ready, but we did drop off around 10:45. We were told the free breakfast offering in the restaurant on the second floor ends at 11:00. Jumped in the elevator and it goes down instead of up so we will now be late for 11:00. 

We had luck as Rosalie handled us at the restaurant and was fantastic. She got us take-out containers and we were allowed to go into the restaurant buffet and take whatever we wanted. Lots of selection of hot and cold food. With my sugar cravings I got some French toast and a pancake. Smoked salmon with capers on a beautiful piece of bread. Lana got more of a European style breakfast and we were in the lounge area with window seats. Down below at the plaza between the main road and the wall it was busy with BMX cyclists performing many incredible tricks on their small bikes. Palm trees, walkers, families...

Pretty obvious Miraflores is an upscale neighbourhood near the beach with nice restaurants, mall, shops and all the conveniences that money can attract. The hotel itself is super upscale and the staff are impressive in their attention to service. 

    Lana's cup of English tea at the hotel. Nothing like a nice cuppa after a long trip. 

Lana loves Paddington Bear. In fact, we were looking to title our blog "Finding Paddington Bear". Lana was not the only poser having their picture taken with this iconic statue. There were many other tourists and Lana helped take their photos. 

                                    This is what is under the statue of Paddington Bear.

As we described earlier, the hotel and surrounding properties and the mall are all far above the beach level below. You cannot walk down to the beach either as it is a cliff face. You may not be able to see in this photo all the surfers trying to catch a wave, but there are many. 

             Very close to our hotel is this very tiny kiosk selling all many varieties of 'junk' food. Look closely and you'll see a man sitting behind all the chips on the left. 

This provides a scale to the picture of how tiny the kiosk really is. Not the job for a person suffering from claustrophobia!

                     Mundo Alpaca World is located very close to our hotel. Admission is free! We learned all about Alpaca's and how their wool is grown, collected and processed. Alpaca meat is also eaten as a protein here. Lana says pass on that--they're too cute to be eaten.

Lana could not resist taking a pic! Wall-E garbage cans. 

As you can see we did a lot of touring of the immediate neighbourhood and down into the mall area below the hotel. At first we were really enjoying this neighbourhood, but the fact we had no idea when we could get into our hotel room was giving us both some grief. We didn't think we could access the hotel wifi unless we had our room number but Lana was given a code we could both use. Yup, the fact was whenever we came back to the check-in desk there was never any idea on when our room would be ready.... 

This is a pic Lana took of our JW Marriott Hotel located in the Miraflores area of Lima. Five star hotel located right in the heart of Miraflores and so close to the beach. We are in Room 1603 and another perk to Lana's work travel given the points she racks up while out of town. 

 

I wasn't sure if this was indeed an elevator when we got in the first time. Back of the elevator is all windows and open to a view of the ocean. But there's a foyer in the elevator. Spectacular!

Around 15:30 the sun was beginning to break through the many layers of clouds and it was warming up. Lana was ready to get back into the hotel even if our room was not ready. OK, this is now more than five hours and our room is not ready as the answer was always housekeeping working on it. Views from the area in front of the hotel are pretty incredible though with Morro Solar point in the distance and a flat top like a huge mesa. Skateboarders, roller-bladers, families and everyone enjoying the vibe and scene. 

Yes, we finally made it into our room. Room 1603 was worth the wait. Huge suite with amazing views and very well appointed. Plus, we have access to all the lounges and their food, wine and drink. I get to doing as much as I can on our blog while Lana sends some pictures and gets in the shower. Wow, that shower was memorable after such a long time travelling today and yesterday. The towels could engulf you and getting dry was so easy. All and all we are loving the hotel, our room and the incredible staff. Fantastic start to our Peru vacation. 

Lana's picture of the view from the windows hoping to capture the view looking over the beach, coastline and the ocean. Wow!

Another view but taken from a different angle capturing the corner of our large room that has a table and chairs and the view. I already have my MacBook Pro set up to begin doing some blogging. Never blogged before with this kind of a view!

Lana's Causa dish at the hotel. Peruvian dish of yellow potato, crab and ají amarillo paste (yellow chilli). Delicious!

Dessert delivered to our room as a thank you for Lana's "loyalty". We saved it for after our dinner. Look closely and you'll see Marriott Boney in the chocolate rectangle!

I had done some research previously on potential restaurants and cuisine we needed to try while in Lima. Lana reviewed my notes and decided we should try the Peruvian barbecue that Anthony Bourdain raved about years ago and other reviewers have also given it awesome reviews. I concur that is a great choice for our first real meal in Lima. The only downside was it is quite a distance from Miraflores to the Lince neighbourhood. To get to the very casual place we needed to use a taxi and there is a long taxi stand very close to our hotel. 

We were told by the taxi driver the cost would be 40 Sol. The traffic was very heavy and we took many turns to get to this neighbourhood which is very obviously gritty and for locals. I think the only tourists here would be persons like us who had researched past records on unique places to eat. Our taxi driver was not a go-getter, but got us there in one piece. Interesting that when we first approached the taxi stand we were asked if it was one-way or return? Never had that question before in renting many cabs in many cities.... When we did arrive at our restaurant we asked if our driver would get us back to our hotel and he indicated he would wait for us. That worked out great for both parties as he picked up another 40 Sol fare and we had no worries about how to get back from this working neighbourhood to Miraflores.

ANTICUCHERIA DOÑA POCHITA at Avenue Ignacio Merino 2328 in Lince 15046. Neighbourhood in the middle of Lima and not a tourist destination. 

As anticipated the entire menu was in Spanish and the server did not speak English. Fantastic! This is the kind of experience we want. We do have Translation apps which can take text or audio to translate into English as well as it can be. It does not do a great job but were able to figure out the food options. Part of the fun is in the interaction with a person who doesn't speak English and we are not speaking Spanish. 

Dessert menu outside the restaurant. For sure I ordered the Picarones which are Peruvian donuts made of squash and sweet potato. Lots of syrup made from chancaca. Cost = 12 Sol for about five of these donuts. I loved them although for certain the syrup really elevated their sweetness. Picture coming up!

OK, I am in a super casual authentic Peruvian bbq place so a cold Peruvian beer seemed to be the right pairing. Yup, chilled beer with bbq and donuts was masterful. 😏

Lana's order of Churrasco 7525 steak with papas (potato), chocli (corn) and creams (spicy sauces) for 30 Sol. The steak was a short rib cut that had been marinated in onion and garlic--very tasty! The large corn tasted like corn but not a strong flavour--surprising given how large the kernels were. Two sauces in the back were very "piquant" but delicious. 

Randy's order of 2 Palos de Anticucho for 28 Sol with same sides. Wow, this beef heart was sublime; tasty, tender, perfectly grilled and a good portion size. Not sure if I had ever eaten beef heart, but I will be ordering it again and again. 

Randy's order of Picarones. As described above, this ancient recipe from the Spaniards to the Peruvians was sweet enough, but not too sweet and given the ingredients no reason to feel guilty in indulging. 

We finally paid for our meal in Cash as we don't have access to the app mostly all other customers were using. Total bill was 82 Sol. Quite a deal given the portion sizes , beer, dessert and quality of the meal in this extremely unassuming restaurant. We did find our taxi driver waiting for us after Lana found this fruit store on the main street.

Some mystery fruit in the fruit stand near our restaurant. 

Not sure what these are but they looked interesting!

We made it back to our hotel and the taxi stand. We pop into the Executive Lounge and picked up to take back to our room a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc, some mini-desserts and yummy Granola cookies. Lots of time to finish complete our blogging for today and Lana to catch up on Chicago Police Department. As well, Lana needs to review the blog and maker her edits and additions/deletions before we can 'publish'... It is now 21:05 local time and we have completed our blog. Lana used a remote control for motorized blinds. This place has everything!

What a great start to our Peru vacation/adventure! We have a full day tomorrow (Sunday) in Lima and then Monday we are on a plane to the Peruvian Amazon jungle. Today we put in about 9000 steps.