Lima, the gourmet capital of South America, and it never rains!

When we arrived in lima the sky was grey and the air humid. I asked the taxi driver if it was going to rain and he told me that it never rains in Lima. "Never?" I asked again, "Never!" he replied. Wondering if my Spanish was failing me, over the next two days I kept asking everyone I met the same question: at the hotel, the tour guide, the friends we meet for dinner... 

Apparently it doesn't rain in Lima, but its position and proximity to the Ocean means that the air is always humid, and in fact the trees were green, while hibiscus and other tropical looking flower bushes appeared in full bloom.

The historic city centre is quite grand and with a mix of styles, also due to various reconstructions after earthquakes (the Cathedral - top left, being the best example, with the original Colonial facade and then two neoclassic bell towers on the sides. 

I was also impressed with the Archbishop’s Palace in the Plaza Mayor (bottom right in the photo collage above), designed by the Polish Peruvian architect Ricardo de Jaxa Malachowski. This and other stone and marble building have incredible wooden balconies attached, quite a contrast. But the best surprise in the square is the fountain. We took a tour of the central city with a guide and she told us that on July 28 (Peru Independence Day) instead of water the fountain has Pisco! No rain and Pisco from fountains? 

We were not allowed to take photos of this, but the most intriguing site we visited in the city centre was St Francis Monastery and the Catacombs. The catacombs are full of bones and skulls, quite a sight! 

The centre was great to visit, but to stay we choose Miraflores, a district that used to be the sea resort of Lima, and it is now one of its suburbs. Safe and residential, Miraflores has parks and beaches that on the weekends are full of surfers and paragliders. Some of the small houses are really cute, although it is quite a sight seeing all the security fences around them.

Our hotel was the Hilton, brand new and a real treat, never mind that the sky was mostly grey and hazy, we enjoyed the infinity pool on the 11th floor, and all the little sweet treats that were in our room and in the executive lounge. 

And talking about treats: I have to tell you that Peru surprised me with its cuisine. I was told that it was good, but it even exceeded my expectations: definitely the best of all the countries I have visited in South America. We ate well in Cusco, and we ate well in Lima. Our friends took us to La Bonbonniere, one of the many cafe/restaurants that are based in Larcomar, Miraflores' fancy terraced shopping centre with great ocean views. It was too dark to take photos of the food, but I had to include the Pisco Sour photo, the obligatory drink if you visit Peru.

Anyway, we liked La Bonbonniere so much that Arantxa and I went back the day after (we really wanted to see what it looked like in daylight, especially the decor and sea view), but not for a Pisco this time: for a Peruvian hot chocolate. Smooth and aromatized with vanilla, cinnamon and cloves, hot chocolate is definitely another "must try" in Peru :-). I am sure that I will try a few more Peruvian recipes in the next few months!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini © 

Peru through Arantxa's lens

Cusco

Saksaywaman, outside Cusco and at 3,701 m high

Inca terraces

This is an interesting image for a vegetarian blog, but some of you may be interested in seeing it: roasted Guinea pigs, a delicacy in Peru, where they are raised just like any other farm animal, i.e. for food.

Machu Picchu

Photos  by Arantxa Zecchini Dowling ©

Beautiful textiles of Peru, alpacas, and the cochineal (E120) Color

Can you see the white stuff on the cactus? And the black stuff in the bowl with the red wool ball? That is cochineal, or natural colour E120 (also known as carmine, and found in lots of red and pink food). Yes it is an insect, I have seen the dried ones before when I was studying textile arts at University, but never the 'live' insects. But before I get into this, a little intro to natural dyes.

We were all impressed by the beautiful clothes we saw in Peru, and since I studied natural dyes myself I was most interested in learning how traditional clothes are made. The most prized wool is baby alpaca, followed by alpaca and then sheep.

Natural dyes come mostly from plants (so cochineal is a bit of an exception) and look at the varieties! I was impressed by the black corn dye, I didn't know it existed!

The wool is washed with a natural soap (a grated root - it looked like yucca, which the women also use to wash their hair and keep them black).

The cochineal insects are crushed and a the red-purple dye extracted. Adding lemon juice makes the colour a brighter pink-orange. Dried insects are powered to make the dye, including the one in most pink and red food. I try to make sure that I read the labels because I like to avoid cochineal (E120), and prefer to eat "vegetable" dyes :-).

The wool is hand spun.

And then woven.

Meeting the alpacas (and other alpaca/lama cross beauties...)

And meeting their carers

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini © (except the one of me, which is Peter's)

Food market in Cusco (Mercado de Wanchaq), Peru

If you go to Cusco look out for this place, the name is Mercado de Wanchaq, it is mostly a food market and there are hardly any tourists here (they are all in the craft markets in the touristic part of the city), but plenty of locals selling and buying food. Arantxa found it on the map and took us there, maybe later on she will let me publish some of her photos! I only took photos of fruit and vegetables, but there were also butchers with different kinds of meat including Guinea pigs, skinned they look like gigantic rats! 

I loved the variety of potatoes available here, brown, yellow, blue, purple...

And the variety of fruit. Look at the size of these avocados!

Most sellers seems to be the producers as well, a real farmers market!

There are also many varieties of corn, the big white one being the most prized.

Going home after shopping

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

My birthday and Machu Picchu

April 29 was my birthday, and a very special one too, since we spend it in Machu Picchu.

I always wanted to visit Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas, and what an amazing place it is! We got up at 3:30 in the morning to go from Cusco to Ollantaytambo to get the Machu Picchu train; a long trip, but worth it! Here is my birthday card, some coca leaves to chew, and some photos for you.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©