Lima

Ahh, blog writing is a good past time whilst waiting for photos to upload to facebook!!

So we are now in PERU!!! Day 2 in Lima now, waiting to meet our group for the big tour in about an hour. We have already met 2 of the girls who (coincidentally!) were at school with a girl we lived with in Rio for 6 weeks whilst volunteering - small world or what!!

We arrived yesterday at about midday. Incredibly we met a guy at Sao Paulo airport who lives in Lima and so he was a massive help once we got to the airport here. He got us a taxi for over half the price the guys originally asked for and has given us his number so that he can take us around and show us the best places for ceviche (very citrussy raw fish speciality) and Pisco Sours (the local drink, sounds very much like a Caipirinha to me.. not looking forward to that one!)

So yesterday we looked around the area our hotel is in known as Miraflores. It seems like a really nice district (deceptively safe maybe) with some great restaurants and markets. We went to one restaurant recommended by the hotel which was fantastic. I had calamari and Danni had some interesting corn (so many varieties of corn here, its unbelievable!) and some amazing fried potato. After eating the waiter let us go behind the kitchen7bar (right in the dining room) and pose for photos by the open fire etc. Very touristy but very fun! We also did a little shopping. Found a really really cheap market place with lots of rip off Abercrombie and Fitch etc which may require another visit. Also explored a street market full of incredible trinkets. Could really spend a fortune here (everything is so cheap, but I want everything...problem!)

We went to bed super duper early as we had to get up at 4am in Sao Paulo to catch the plane, but that was OK cos it meant we got up super duper early! We were at the cathedral in Lima at 8.30 this morning!! I wasnt greatly impressed by it like I have been by other churches. It felt very modern and a bit too much like a museum. Really couldnt imagine worshipping there, but it was nice... Wondered around the old town a bit. Found another couple of churches and a really weird sort of military memorial place which had a cellar full of coffins - very odd!

Food today has also been fantastic! We sampled the cerviche at a little (almost greasy spoon, but very nice!) place recommended to us by a police man (as you do!). Its wonderful!! Very very citrussy and a little spicy but absolutely gorgeous, especially served with sweet potato and 2 different varieties of corn!!

So just about finished uploading photos now and not a lot else to say - perfect! Got to admit that I do really like Lima and wish we could spend a little longer here, but very VERY much looking forward to starting the Southern Cross. As I said we´ve already met 2 of the girls and on our way out we saw 2 cute guys checking in at reception with big backpacks... fingers crossed theyre in our group! Haha!