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| Mural of Simon Bolivar at the Lima Cathedral |
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| Lima Cathedral |
On our last day in Lima, we decided to head out to the city center to visit the square and see some of the museums. We took a cab ride through the city and were amazed to look at the 200+ year old stately buildings still standing and in good condition. Our first stop was the Lima National Cathedral. The church was on the main square of Lima, and sported a gothic facade and double spires like many churches of the area.
We paid our entrance fee and were met by a guide that spoke some english. He must have been an actor, because it was one of the most dramatic and heartfelt tours we have ever had. He not only told us about the church, but also about the history of Peru - its founding, earthquakes, artists and place in history. We then went to the Bishops Palace and toured the museum there. We were able to see the changing of the guard in front of the presidential palace — with all of the pomp and circumstance you see in the UK and then went to lunch at a nearby cafe.
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| Changing of the guard |
We ate ceviche — again, and drank pisco sours, again — and were entertained by stories from our Japanese-Peruvian waiter. It seems that his grandfather emigrated from Japan after WWII, lured to Peru with stories of high wages and tremendous opportunity. Well, they lied, but his grandparents had spent all of their money getting to Peru and had none to go home, so they decided to make a life. The waiter's father married a local girl and made a nice living in Peru. Our waiter had been to Japan several times for family visits, but preferred Peru for living.
We enjoyed our time in Peru, but were ready for our Argentinean adventure to begin.
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Streets of Lima
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