Sunday, July 3, 2016

Sites of old and modern history

Our second day in Lima was filled with a little bit of history and a whole array of beautiful sites. We started our day with a group breakfast at the hotel which included coffee, juices, fruits, cheeses, eggs, pancakes (sin jarabe) and a wide variety of breads – our favorite is the cake that tastes even better with a little bit of butter. We fueled up for our trip to the gorgeous Larco Herrera Museum.

The thrill rides offered by the taxi drivers got us quickly to the museum where we were greeted by the most breathtaking flowered walls; the colors and designs made us give our cameras quite the workout. Sprawling vines of reds and purples met the subtle greens of the cacti standing tall nearby. Even the doors gave pause as we marveled at the aesthetics. We followed the floral walkways to the entrance to the museum exhibits.

As we entered the exhibit we came face to face with Peruvian pottery, paintings, tapestries, and jewelry that dated back as early as 2000 b.C., with the more modern pieces in the collection dating in the Colonial Era (1532 a.C.). We were lucky to have Dr. Aliaga there to point us to the more poignant pieces, especially since some of us did not read all of the English translations for each piece. We were wowed by the intricate scenes painted on pottery that depicted fearless warriors or were made to honor deities. We also got a glimpse at domestic tools used throughout different eras and we loved seeing the jewelry rooms that would put any Tiffany’s & Co. to shame. As hard as we tried, we could not get our phones to let us face swap into the most stunning headpiece of the collection. There was one room of pottery that depicted scenes that would make any mother blush.

In such a beautiful setting we could not bear to eat lunch anywhere else. We had to eat at the Museum restaurant where we tried new Peruvian dishes. I had the Lomo Saltado which consists of stir fried beef tenderloin, onions and tomatoes. This is served with French fries and rice with corn. It was absolutely delicious. Rodney sat across from me with his order of aji de gallina. It was a strange yellow hue of chicken stew that looked so good I stole his dish from him. That is one meal I will have to have before leaving Peru.

After filling up with lunch we headed back to the hotel to regroup. We then left for our bus tour of the city. We were able to walk to the buses and found the John F. Kennedy park full of children, adorable food vendor carts, and a hoard of cats! The stray cats live in the park and there is actually a committee that feeds them. We boarded the double decker bus across from the art being sold at the park and took off to see the hundreds of parks, homes of influential Peruvians, and the gorgeous views around the city and next to the beach.

We immediately got into taxis to see a truly unique experience. We headed to the Parque de la Exposición: Circuito Mágico del Agua. When we entered the park we saw a tiny locomotive ushering little kids and their parents around the lighted fountains. Dr. Newcomb, Faneshia, Emily, and I made a stop at the dog show that was happening right when we got there. We made it to the main show just in time for the glory of the light, sound, and water show to begin. Images danced across that water spraying from the fountain—using the water as a screen—in time with a concert of songs we loved… My personal favorite was “El Cóndor Pasa”, which I knew from Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Trouble Water album. Several of our group members enjoyed a stroll through an arched water tunnel before running to the center of a fountain that sporadically starts and stops as you make your way to the inner circle.

We ended out night with a delicious, but chilly dinner. We ate outside, overlooking the ocean at Mangos at Larcomar. With our stomachs full, we toddled back to the hotel to get a good night’s for tomorrow's fun at school.  


~Katelyn Keighley

At the Larco Herrera Museum














Huaca Pucllana
Parque Kannedy in Miraflores

At the Water Show, Parque de la Exposición
















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