#travelpost - Lima, Peru

I have no idea where to start with Lima. There's a million things to do and see and a million things that we never got round and never would get round to doing. First of all, it's huge. There are forty three districts and we visited three of the main ones the old El Centro, the touristy Miraflores and the bohemian Barranco. We decided to stay in Barranco, an area built up in the 19th Century by wealthy Limeños escaping the city heat... Because of this, the place is full of decaying mansions and villas. Some have been made into museums, restaurants, cafes and hotels and others are just growing old. The whole district is set on a cliff overlooking the sea with a park running along it... When you look over, all you can see is Lima running into the distance. 

We did our usual city stuff in Lima... Coffee shops, window shopping and people watching so I'll stick to some of our favourite things...

Our first morning in Lima we walked down to the MATE museum... The museum of the Peruvian, world famous photographer Mario Testino. It was in one of the big old colonial houses I was telling you about, with tiled floors and a small courtyard cafe. The cafe wasn't open properly because I think there was a gala on the night before so I shed a tear as they passed me with all of the empty cava bottles... I really, really miss cava! There was a collection on the models, film stars and musicians he'd photographed (a lotta Kate Moss!), a room dedicated to princess Diana and my favourite, a collection of photos and videos on the traditional dress of Cuzco and its people. We spent a little too much in the gift shop and followed it up with a coffee nearby. 

The same day we hunted down a restaurant called La Canta Rana (yes, another Anthony Bourdain special) and... I'm not just saying this now because I know I say it a lot.. We had some of the best food we've ever had. It was a ceviche dish called kiss of the sea and it was fish with a layer of squid in an almond batter on top. The place was filled from floor to ceiling with football tops, scarves and photographs of famous customers. To us we felt like we'd completely splashed out but when we actually worked it out it was 7 pounds each... 

We had some great food here... One night we ate at a Basque-Peruvian place so we had a few of our favourites from Spain, we went to a cute chocolate shop and bought some bon-bons and on our last full day we went to La Lucha! We'd read about La Lucha before we got to Lima and immediately decided we had to go... It was described as a Lima institution. It's a fast food style sandwich shop and it's packed most days with queues down the street. We timed it well and scored a table... I ordered a roast pork sandwich, Harry ordered Chicharón a belly pork style meat, both came with pickled red onions, chips and it wouldn't be Peruvian without the over half a dozen sauces they serve it with. They were increeedible. 

On our final night in Lima, we'd read on a poster that there was a special festival for our neighbourhood Barranco so we went for a walk to see what we could find. Dotted around the main square there were different shows and music concerts decorated with colourful banners; Harry's favourite was a Black Sabbath-esque band playing down a little pedestrianised street off the main square.

The old centre of Lima felt quite Spanish with its big plazas, baroque churches and fountains. It was packed with people and was a lot less modern but we still felt safe walking around. The place was full of menu del dias and Haz even found the Mecca of footballs shirts so he could add Peru to his collection so far... He also bought the first one he'd seen and then tried to ask for a refund when he'd seen better.... I don't know what he was thinking but the lady chuffed with her sale definitely wasn't having it. 

We're leaving Lima today to go and do some sand boarding and pisco tasting... It's a hard life! Lima is one of best cities I've been to and it's a shame that three days is all we have but we've got to keep moving if we want to fit everything in. Over the next two weeks we've got the Nazca lines, Machu Picchu and the place I've been patiently waiting for, Lake Titicaca. 

Thanks for reading,

Amiee and Haz x