Peru, Day 1

I've been home for almost a week and I haven't even really begun to recap the trip. I guess I am a bit overwhelmed, as every day brought something new, something vastly different than the day before. While I know I can recall the details of the trip - many as there were - I don't know if I can adequately express their significance or how amazing it felt to see it all firsthand. Well, I guess Van Halen helped out with that last part.

After my kvetching on Friday night, Nicole drove me to LAX where I had absolutely no problems getting through security, getting a good seat on board, falling asleep on the plane, or making my connection. I arrived in Lima around 3 PM, on time, and hopped in a cab to the hotel where I met Heather.

I mentioned that the Radisson was a delight. In fact, it was what we refer to in my office as a "surprise and delight." Between our numerous freebies - drinks per diem, internet, (huge) buffet breakfast - large room, fantastic shower, and the generally wonderful staff, every day brought something new to be impressed by. It's not like we planned on staying in a luxury hotel. But we sure felt like were in one.

What didn't surprise - nor delight - either of us, was the weather. I had heard that Lima was gray, and it did not disprove itself. Our first day there happened to be the nicest, and we did manage to catch a few rays peeking out, but coming from LA, I thought even that was pretty dismal.

Saturday evening, full of energy, Heather and I walked a few blocks west to the Larcomar shopping district, which I immediately associated with the Third Street Promenade. Touristy, big-chain restaurants (Hi, Hooters!), decent if not random shopping, and a panoramic view of the Pacific. However, while the Santa Monica ocean is almost always some hue of blue, this Pacific was mostly only shades of gray.

Other than the sunset, there wasn't much else to see at this small mall, so we headed back east towards Miraflores' central square for dinner. There we found Lima's version of restaurant row, one eatery after another, all different, yet all the same. Suddenly feeling our jet lag after our mile-plus walk, we settled on one of the first decent places we came across, ordered two pisco sours, and some local cuisine. Heather had the stuffed bell pepper, I had the avocado with chicken salad. (Yes, it was Peruvian, I swear! There was mayonnaise! Which actually kind of makes me shudder now but I ate it like a champ, then.)

Finally, exhausted, we got the check, discovered that Heather was happy to manage the money on the trip as long as I would handle the language, and went back to the hotel to enjoy our free nightcap.

More (and more exciting adventures) to come...