A Weekend in Lima...

Yay!!  Finally the weekend.  When Craig got off on Thursday we went out with his fellow interns from Thunderbird.  It was great to finally see who he is working with.  They were all very friendly.  I snapped this picture on the way out as we were waiting to get a taxi.

My hottie. ;)

On Friday morning Craig had a short meeting with his group so I came with him and just waited at a café across the street sipping on hot chocolate and reading a book from my kindle.  The hot chocolate here is SO yummy!  After that we had to run a few errands: getting to the bank, grocery shopping, and what not.  In the afternoon we went on a long romantic walk through old town Barranco. Barranco is one of 43 districts in Lima.  It's considered to be the city's most romantic and bohemian, being the home and working place of many of Peru's leading artists, musicians, designers and photographers.

There is a beautiful walkway to the sea that runs through Barranco, called the Bajada de los Baños. Crossing over this walkway is the Puente de los Suspiros, or Bridge of Sighs. The walkway is bordered on both sides by grand houses, and the legend goes that a wealthy man's daughter living in one of these grand houses fell in love with a lowly street sweeper. Her father forbade the union, and she lived out her days as a spinster, waiting at her window for a glimpse of her beloved. Those who walked across the bridge could hear her plaintive sighs.  The tradition indicates that those who see the bridge for the first time and cross it without breathing will be fulfilled one desire.  We of course made our wishes as we crossed.

It was a very romantic walk all the way down to the beach and la Rustica restaurant where we enjoyed a freshly sqeezed frozen lemonade.

Just starting out on our walk.  This is just a block from our apartment.

Views of the ocean along the way.

Posing in front of a cathedral in old town Barranco.

So happy to be together.

Craig standing just in front of the Bridge of the Sighs that we walked over earlier.

Beautiful views of Barranco and Mira Flores coastline.

On our way down to the beach.  

La Rustica restaurant where we shared some frozen lemonaide.

Craig took this picture of La Rosa Náutica ... which is where we dined later that evening.

La Rosa Náutica is a restaurant located on pier 49 of Lima's beach.

After our super romantic walk through Barranco and down to the beach we quickly got ready in the nicest clothes we brought to dine at La Rosa Náutica ... one of Lima's finest restaurants.  Since this is the only weekend we will be in Lima during my vacation here in Peru Craig wanted to take me out to the finest restaurants here to experience the best of the best.  Lima is considered to be the gastronomical capital of the Americas.  We had LOTS of fun.

Posing in front of the La Rosa Náutica.

What a romantic night.  The food was spectacular, the service and presentation was amazing, the ambiance and view were out of this world and I was with the person I love most .... my sweetheart, Craig.  

We ordered:
Fried squid with tartare and yellow chili sauces, Fried ceviche fisherman specialty,Parmesan scallops, Seafood wontons with tamarindo sauce, & Crunchy wrapped shrimps served with oriental miso sauce. 

What a feast.  I loved that they brought it all out on this amazing platter of seashells.

That's not an alcoholic drink above - it was our dessert.  Craig's favorite: 

“Suspiro a la Limeña ” served on a cinnamon crunch with port merengue.

On Saturday Craig got his driver to take us to down town to experience some of the historical sites Lima has to offer.  Our first stop was the Plaza de Armas of Lima.  Located in the Historic Centre of Lima, it is surrounded by the Government Palace, Cathedral of Lima, Archbishop's Palace of Lima, the Municipal Palace, and the Palace of the Union.  We purchased tickets to visit the Cathedral of Lima.

The Basilica Cathedral of Lima is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the Plaza Mayor of downtown Lima, Peru. Construction began in 1535 with the first stone being laid by Francisco Pizzaro and the building has undergone many reconstructions and transformation since, however it still retains its colonial structure and facade. It is dedicated to St John, Apostle and Evangelist and holds the tomb of Peru's conquerer Francisco Pizzaro.  I enjoyed all the artwork.

Craig walking through the Cathedral of Lima with me.

The tomb of Francisco Pizzaro.

The cathedral also houses tombs of all the ArchBishops that presided there as well as rich contributors that paid to be buried there.  We also saw what looked like children's caskets in the gloomy tombs below.

The artwork was amazing.

On our way to the Monestery of San Francisco.

The Monastery of San Francisco.

Convento de San Francisco is the Spanish name for Saint Francis Monastery:

It is considered by some to be the greatest architectural complex of its kind in Latin America. Its construction was started in 1542 and completed in 1674 and is made up by the church and the convent of San Francisco, as well as of the chapels of the Solitude and the Miracle. The convent, the cloisters and gatehouse are decorated with tiles from Seville. In the basement there is a network of underground galleries and catacombs that were a cemetery at the colonial time of the Viceroyalty. The catacombs, or public cemetery, where slaves, servants, and others without money were buried until 1821 (rich citizens were usually buried in their home chapels). The underground labyrinth is a series of wells, some 20 meters deep, where bodies were stacked and covered with lime to reduce odor and disease. After they decomposed, the bones were stacked elsewhere. The monestary is also the headquearters of the Museum of Religious Art and the Francisco Zurbarán Room. The Spanish in conspiricy with the Roman Catholic Church made every attempt to keep the native people in line by the use of religion. One attempt that is shown in the Monestary is a painting of "The Last Supper" by Marcos Zapata, a master Quechua painter,. It shows Christ and the Apostles about to dine on guinea-pig, papaya, and yucca, washed down with a glass of chicha! 


We took a tour of the Monastery of San Francisco and it was my favorite place.  It truely felt like an Indiana Jones adventure.  Unfortunitly, they do not allow photos to be taken so here are a few that I pulled from the internet:

We watched the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace.

 

The Presidential Palace.

After a day full of walking the streets of downtown Lima and touring museums we went back to our apartment and took a nap, then we got ready for dinner.  I would like to introduce you to Gastón.  He is one of the most famous people in Peru. The people LOVE him ... they love him enough that some even think he should be the president of Peru which is a bit ridiculous since he's a chef and not involved in politics.  He is the owner and head chef of Astrid Y Gastón: the best restaurant in Lima.  It also made the list of being one of the top 50 restaurants in the world.  We had quite an experience there.  It was extreme fine dining.  We decided on the tasters menu which was absolutely amazing.  They bring you 12 different courses over a 3 hour period.  Even though the portions are small.. it's SO much food and it's all so good you can't stop eating.  I tried all sorts of things I had never tried before ... like sea urchin, veal cheek cooked for 20 hours, cuy other known as ginuea pig, and octopus.  I also decided that I do like scallops when they are cooked right.  The desserts were beyond amazing ... maracuya sorbet ... Mmmmm.  It was an experience like non other.  Craig totally made up for being away for our 8 yr. anniversary.  We are having an amazing time here together ... and if I wasn't showing before I definitely am now. ;) wink wink.

Octopus in a antichuco sauce.

Sea Urchin with black pasta.

Fine dining at Astrid Y Gastón in Lima, Peru.

Yum Yum!