Day One: San Isidro and Miraflores sightseeing

Wednesday, June 24: At approximately 10.00 am this morning Ted Allen, logistics director for the Perigrinaje al Peru, encountered Pete and Chaylee in the Hotel Antigua Miraflores. In so doing, the wisdom of his appointment to the important post appeared validated. A brief period of self-congratulatory hugging ensued before the trio of Peter, Chaylee and Ted made their first sortie on the streets of Lima.

With the lunch hour arriving, I advised Pete to direct the advance party to a fine local dining establishment famous with the locals for creole food. Lamentably, the taxi driver we encountered did not know of the restaurant and, as a result, required multiple attempts to locate the locale via consultations of the locals. The route they followed, needless to say, was unnecessarily circuitous, even with the aid of locals and the Miraflores police (see video below).

Patience, however, was rewarded upon arrival at Jose Antonio (Bernardo Monteagudo 200, San Isidro). Called "the most renowned criollo restaurant" in Lima, Jose Antonio offers the simple, traditional dishes for which Peru is famous. Ted ordered the Aji de Gallina (hen in a spicy peanut sauce with potato and rice); Peter the Lomo Saltado (wok sauteed steak with vegetables, fried potatoes, and rice); and Chaylee a chupe de camarones (shrimp). The stars of the meal, however, were the pisco sours and yuca balls (below).

To work off some of the great lunch, the party returned to the Miraflores district on foot. This included a long walk by the largest green space in Lima--the Lima Golf Club-- and El Bosque El Olivar (a centuries-old olive grove planted by the Spaniards and maintained with care by the municipality of San Isidro). Along the way, the party saw beautifully restored classic vehicles, gardens and birds--not to mention thousands of domestic employees of the affluent suburbians walking the family pets. 

The last stop on this pleasant walk was at the Huaca Pucllana, a pre-Incan temple built by the Lima tribe, the original inhabitants of the Rimac Valley. On this sacred site a small museum and restaurant are also housed, the latter of which served as a watering hole for your travellers. Naturally, the group ordered pisco sours. They were also given canchitas--small, fried (but unpopped) maize kernals-- as an appetizer. 

During this time, the group spoke of their elders. At one point the conversation turned to the great Jeffie Effie and his wife Susan, who had visited Lima less than a year earlier. Below is a short video of their conversation. (And a later video from a return visit with Sara the next week.)

With energy nearly drained, the party returned to the hotel before venturing out again for tapas and wine at La Esquina (www.laesquinawinebar.com), a Calle Berlin hotspot and one of the first wine bars in Lima. Service was friendly and the wines of good quality, but the wine bar lacked in local wines which our party was eager to try. Ham and potato puff pastries, however, did not disappoint.