It was our first full day in Lima and already the city was treating us well.  After an uneventful, 12 hour travel day, we landed in Lima late at night.  The nicest cab driver was waiting for us with a little sign to take us to our hostel.  He drove us, 30 minutes from the neighborhood Callao, into the city.  We we arrived, our original hostel informed us that we would be staying at a ´friends´ hostel just down the street.  Although the late night sketchiness made us anxious, the new place ended up being nicer, so we dropped our bags and left in search of a late night meal and drink. 

The city was allive at mid-night and we found plenty of options in Parque Kennedy.  Immediately, I ordered to pisco sours, a traditional Limeñan drink for the two of us.  After a light meal, we alked down a busy street filled with bars and part goe-er´s.  We found a chill place and split a giant Cuzqueño  beer before heading back to the hostel.  It was nearly 2.30 in the morning and wee passed out from the exhaustion of the day.

The next morning, after a bread filled breakfast with a farty dog, we called home for father day.  We packed up and marched back to Parque Kennedy, where a group of very energetic ladies were taking part in a zumba demonstration, to meet a friend of a friend, Michelle, who was gracious enough to host us for the rest of our time in Lima.  It was fantastic to have her as a guide to the HUGE city of Lima, particularly when it came to transportation and travel advice.

We started our day in the central plaza where we were lucky enough to catch an elaborate demonstration of the changing of the guards, complete with a mini-marching band. We had a typical Peruvian lunch- at a Chifa.  Chifa´s are a Peruvian/Chinese blend of food, which I honestly did not enjoy very much.  Note to self’ fish is never a good idea when it is less than $3. 

Then, Michelle dropped us of at the San Francisco church so we could tour the catabombs.  Our tour guide was not very good, mostly because we could hardly understand her English, however, I throughly enjoyed walking through the building.  The 17th century library was particularly wonderful, complete with ancient books and furniture.  Sky lights and windows let enough lifht in to study during the day time and the wood screamed ancient stories.  The sad thing is that the organization does not have the money to preserve the books, so their ancient literary treasures are rotting.

More stories next week from Peru!  We are currently in Arequipa and I cannot wait to share our most trying travel experience yet.