The Grand Finale - Last Night in Lima

Circuito Mágico del Agua

Migration, they all seem similar...

If you've been to one immigration facility you've been to them all. People out side hawking there wares. A plethora of people going in all directions. And once you get inside so many lines to go to. A line of people waiting to get information as to which line to stand in to find out which seat to sit in while you wait to talk to someone. And guards everywhere trying to help if your lost.
We did find out what we needed, thanks to Ernesto and Isabel. We are still a long way from getting our residence cards and other doc. but now we have a feel for the place. I must improve my Spanish if I want to be able move through the maze of Migration. Thank goodness for friends both in Peru and Costa Rica!
The Tall Guy :-)-----<

New Experiences in Peru

Today we will find out how the Peruvian immigration system works, and how long one has to wait in lines, deal with the bureaucracy and other wonderful things. Can't wait.
The Tall Guy :-)----<

Our Daily Walk

Celebrating Mark's Birthday

Wish he had been here to celebrate with us but we had a great time anyhow!

Happy Birthday, Mark!

So You're Walking through the Park...

on the way to meet the girls for some Wine & Conversation, when you hear music and see a crowd.

There are people dancing in the park. And you think...

I could live here.

Buying a Home in Peru

So we're thinking of buying a pre-construction condo in this project:

   http://www.enriquepalacios630.com/

What do you think?

Gene's Big Day!

It's a great day! The start of another year, for me. Can't wait to get into it. Wish me luck...  Pictures of the day to follow...

It was a very nice Birthday. We had lunch at Mangos with a ocean view. The buffet was awesome, I ate too much, but it was sooo good.

El Salco de Fraile

After lunch our friends Isabel & Ernesto took us for a fabulous ride along the coast where we got to watch the crazy "priest" dive off the cliffs!

Oldest Cafe in Barranco

For coffees we were introduced to the Oldest Cafe in Barranco!

And More of Our New Neighborhood

My New Neighborhood

Lunch at the Tennis Club

From My Kitchen Window 1st Thing in the Morning

Gene says I always have good lunches when I go alone

Almejas y Ceviche de pescado - 26 Soles

Edging Closer

Today we spent most of the day pouring over floor-plans and trying to remember what the differences are between a Balcone, Terraza, or a Patio. Very confusing, but important to understand when you want a space outside that can accommodate 4 or 6 people comfortably around a table. ....Give up? It's a Terraza! And, to get a nice size Terraza you need to be on the first floor and the right apartment. Of course if you have gobs of money you can buy the Penthouse on top. We looked at one apartment that is in the beginning phase of construction. As we looked at floor plans while listening to the sales person asking questions, in Spanish. Laurie did her best to keep up and reply to her, in Spanish, then translate to me. During all of this we asked if we could remove a few walls and make the place more to our life style. The engineer looked at the plans and said sure no problem! At that point I was ready to whip our the plastic and put down a deposit. Cooler minds prevailed, Laurie's, and we will do some more research to be sure we "vet" the operation.
I think we are edging closer though as we learn more about what we really want and what we can afford.
The Tall Guy.

The Great Apartment Searcher

'Nuff Said

A good day

Sunday wasn't a bad day either. But today Laurie and I want out and I walked a good bit. Went to Laurie's "new best panaderia" (she has many best places) You're either the best or you don't get into the blog. Then we walked down restaurant row. I never saw so many small food places and they all looked nice, We haven't even made a dent in tasting the many types of gastronomical delights. I'm still not up to doing any heavy eating yet. It's still diet Chicken soup for me. Don't know why they call it diet on the menus, but that's what I was told to eat for a few days. If you look at the picture of the bowl of soup that I was given, how in the world could you call it diet? That was last night.
Now back to our walk today. We went on to the office of Taca airlines. We wanted to change our flight date. No luck unless we wanted to pay $400!!! The agent was very nice and tried his best to find some way to bring down the price. I guess if he could have found a flight for the same price as our original ticket then all we would have had to pay was $110. We did not change our flight.
Then we continued our walk to "La Favorita" cafe near Parque Kennedy, for coffee and toast, where we were welcomed by Juan, one of the owners (It's nice when they know your names).
Then a quick taxi ride back to the apartment for a rest before going out tonight to Tanta's Cafe. What a great place Tanta. ....more to follow.

Just Because He has to Eat Chicken Soup Doesn't Mean I Do...

Parihuela!

History of the Apartment Search So Far

So first thing as soon as we got here, we discovered that a new apartment building is going up on one of our favorite little streets - Esperanza - just a block off Parque Kennedy. There are a couple of older buildings on this street that I started coveting when we were here last year. But they're so small and so cute that I'm sure there would never be anything available - either for rent or for sale. So this was exciting. But at $116,000 US for a 2 bedroom 2 bath, that clearly was not going to happen, even though it included a "study" and a parking space. I've since learned that a normal price would be about $92,000 since it's 92 sq meters, but of course we're talking location big time for this one. There was a 3/2 for $125,000. I adore the location, but the building didn't impress me. A few tiny balconies and none of it looked very special. Too bad on that street corner.

There's more, but you have to click on the line below to see it - and then you have to click on the back arrow to get back here. It's a pain in the ass. Sorry about that!

This House Needs Me

So I'm trying to pay a very busy waitress for my lunch when I get into a conversation with a charming woman who is doing the same thing. Turns out her Mom has recently passed away and she has her house up for sale. Off we go for a walk. I love this house! A beautiful, classic old house on a lovely quiet street near where we are now. A large entryway opens into a good sized living room and large dining room which opens onto a ta-ta! - patio! Outside, off the patio is the ta-ta! - artist's studio - with it's own bathroom (this area was probably originally a maid's room). Did I mention that the ground floor also has a large kitchen with window opening to the patio! And a small work room off the kitchen, with a door to the patio! Up the stairs at mid-level there is a small bedroom overlooking the street side. Further up, on the actual top floor are 3 more bedrooms, which are accessed by a separate private stairway in front of the building, and which I did not get to see since they are renter occupied by 3 lovely young women. I can so see us in this house - Gene painting in his studio, me working on my laptop on the patio, Gene grilling fish for a candle-lit dinner on the patio, entertaining in the large living room and dining rooms, me painting the walls new and interesting colors, room for my books and Gene's paintings. This is the house that has been waiting for me my whole life. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the price is at least twice what we can afford? Well, anyhow, I had a great day dreaming about it. And I met a new friend. Beatrice and I are going to meet for coffee one day next week.

El Menu

Lunch: Ceviche, Beef, Potato, Rice, Fruit Drink & Jello - all for 7 Soles or about $2.50.

So Guess What We Did this Morning

Laurie Says: But thanks to our wonderful new friends Isabel & Ernesto and to the good people at Clinica Good Hope, I think he is doing better this afternoon - but I'm going to let him tell the rest of this story!

Gene Says: I've had a bout with Inca's revenge. I'm taking antibiotics. Our new friends Ernesto and Isabel took me to hospital and cut through the red tape and acted as interpreter with the doctor. They gave me an IV of liquid for dehydration, 2 bottles of electrqulitos to drink and a prescription. The doctor visit, hospital, pharmacy and the rest came to around 200 soles ($75).

I hope I'm able to get back to normal by Monday. Laurie is giving me chicken soup and "poor babies". While Laurie was out having lunch today she got talking to a nice lady. Seems the lady has her mother's house up for sale so Laurie went to see it. She fell in love with it. Only down side, It's too expensive. But a gem of an older home with a great patio. Even a room off the patio for my studio. Laurie will fill you in with pictures and all. The Tall Guy (a little under) :-(

My Lunch

Gene wasn't feeling so well, so I took myself to Punta Sal for lunch. YUM!

Piqueo Platter: Ceviche ~ Tiradito ~ WanTan Frito de Mariscos ~ Causa de Cangrejo

All I could think of was the movie Julia & Julie and Julia Child's reaction everytime she ate French food!

On the other hand, I had to control myself in order not to sound like a remake of "When Harry Met Sally."

Total lunch cost with Inka Kola, tax & tip about $12 US

Busy Place

On One block near us, I counted 7 restaurants (sidewalk cafes), 3 little groceries, 1 pasteleria and a frame shop. And just around the corner was an Italian restaurant that looks worth checking into. And that doesn't count the corner fruit and veggie carts.

January's Apartment-Dos de Mayo

New Day, New Friend, New Chifa, New Park & MORE ANTICUCHOS!

Everyday brings new parks, new people, new cafes. Today we met Alberto, a local Couch Surfer who Gene had been talking with, at a coffee shop and ended up talking for hours. Lunch was at a nice Chifa (Peruvian/Chinese eatery - they are everywhere - good, cheap food) and cost a whopping 21 soles ($7.50) for complete meals for the 2 of us. And in the evening, I discovered an overwhelming need for those incredible anticuchos again and went and stood on the corner for an hour with all the other people craving beef heart on a stick. They are some of the most delicious things we have eaten here and for 7 soles ($2.50) you get 2 sticks and delicious potato, with (hot!) sauces.

Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia

Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia

It was not raining and the National Museum of Anthropology, Archaeology and History has not lost it's charm. This what you do on a Sunday afternoon and you're in Lima. The place does not look very large when you walk in and look around. The guard said to walk to the left and walk around the garden. That, I thought, should take Laurie and me about a half hour to look at the displays as we walk. NOT. The place is filled with side rooms that have other side rooms! The rooms are filled with artifacts from Lima's past. Just awesome! I hope that Laurie's camera has held up. You will be treated with so many pictures. There may not be a lot of verbiage with the pictures, but like the saying goes about a picture and a thousand words.

We really enjoyed our two & and a half hour walk through the museo. Well worth the 11.50 soles it cost to get into the place.

It was interesting how some of the ancient people buried their dead. It looked like they were wrapped in a sitting position with all their belongings. Sort of looked like a large garbage bag, which they put into a hole in the ground that ended at a larger chamber.

The Tall Guy

Another Great Day!

My Day in Pictures

Anticuchos en La Esquina

I want to tell you all about this incredible day - everything from entertaining new friends for lunch at our apartment to learning about medical insurance plans to getting vision checks and drinking pisco sours to anticuchos on the street corner. All in all an incredible day. But I can't really tell you about all the details that I want to talk about because I am wiped out after such a fabulous day. Will try to fill in some of the details later. Remind me!

We Entertain Friends at Our Apartment for Lunch

My Next Apartment

So we found the apartment.Amazing terraza. Anybody taking bets on whether Gene's gonna get it for me?

BTW - if you click on the photo you can make it bigger

More eating searching...

We started the morning by going to El Buen Gusto, our morning coffee shop and bakery. Then I noticed that the pasteleria Dulcinea was open after the long new years week end. Went there and had a spinach quiche and coffee. Dulcinea was ok but cannot compare with El Buen Gusto. Then when off to exchange dollars for soles and look for a ferreteria to buy a new bulb for the lamp I broke. Why is it that every time I go into a bank to exchange money the teller, for older people like me, has someone ahead of me with 500 transactions to make! There ought to be a law! Finally gave up on waiting and walked a block away to another bank and made my transaction without any wait.

 Then we stopped for lunch at the place with no name. Good food, nice inside, & low price...we will go there again.
Never did find a ferreteria, but stopped and talked with a very nice lady. Or I should say Laurie talked with her in Spanish. Turns out that she may be able to give us some leads on finding a long term rental apartment. We have found people here in Lima to be very friendly and wanting to help if they can.
Before reaching our apartment I made my third stop at El Buen Gusto for a mixto box of small pastels for our late night snacking with a cup of coffee. That's it for this day. I wonder what adventure waits for us tomorrow? The Tall Guy

Lunch-Cafe with no Name

Shit Happens

Our Daily Walk

Flying

Flower Stand on Jorge Chavez

Bitsy Munchies

The 4th day of a new year

The pasteles that we pictured below are now almost all gone. It's 75 outside and bright this morning. I hope you liked the pictures that Laurie is posting. I think they are great but not as great as being here and seeing them first-hand. I sure hope I can rent or buy two bikes so we can ride along the coast line and down the pedestrian walk-way on Jose Pardo. I like walking too, but a bike ride is good for the legs also. One thing I like about our stay here is that each day is a new adventure, not knowing who we might get to know or...what new "hole-in -the-wall" wonderful place to eat. There are plenty of elegant restaurants to go to, but finding that out of the way small (cheap) place with great food and friendly people makes our day!
Well I better finish my coffee, get dressed, and head out for breakfast at El Buen Gusto.

Chifa!

A Chifa is a Peruvian style Chinese hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Chifa is also Peruvian/Chinese food. There are chifas in every neighborhood and they offer some of the best and cheapest food around. Even in other types of restaurants, the Chinese influence can be seen in many of the foods offered. The fusion of the two cultures and foods dates back to the first wave of Chinese immigration in 1849. Tonight I had pato saltado con verduras y arroz chaufa (duck with vegetables and fried rice) and Gene had chaufa con langostinos. Both were delicious!

Itsy Bitsy Pastries!

This photo is for all of you, but especially for Charlotte & David!

First Earthquake of the Year

We experienced a bit of shaking just a minute ago. The internet tells me it was 5.7 on the Richter scale at 3:39 pm. Strong enough so that we both immediately noticed it as we sat at the dining room table. Not strong enough to make us panic. Of course we live in Costa Rica. We're pretty much used to it.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

Meanwhile I'm reading that 150 families are homeless from flooding and mudslides due to "unusually heavy and long drizzling rains" since the first hours of the year. This has happened in other areas of Lima, while the most that we have seen in this city where it "never" rains was a very mild sprinkle early in the morning on New Years Day - definitely not enough for an umbrella. I am shocked that somewhere in another district of this city, this disaster has happened. And of course, as is usual, those most affected are those who are already living on the edge, in makeshift homes that all too easily wash down the hillside with the slightest environmental change.

Buenos Dias, Feliz Aňo Nuevo.          As soon as we walk into our wonderful neighborhood coffee shop for una copa de cafe with an awesome pastry, the ladies at the corner table greet us with a         Good Morning, Happy New Year.

Five minutes later Lola & Gladys & Mina have become our newest friends.

Lola, La Maestra de Baile