Lima

The airport in Lima is totally different from the airport in Panama City. In Panama there was no one to provide any tourist information. Here there were people who immediately got me into their hands and I was impressed how good the tourist information system works until I understood that these were travel agencies wanting to sell me their services. It was my mistake that I didn't buy any travel guide - I thought I would do it after my arrival in Lima. So I spent the first night in Miraflores because according to the agency this was the only safe place in Lima. Maybe it is, however, it is not very interesting. Meaning, it is, it is beautiful but it is very new. It's a district of stores, cafes, expensive hotels and casinos and it ends with a shopping center overlooking the ocean. The view is beautiful, the panorama is amazing, especially at night. There is a park with a sculpture of a couple in a loving embrace. It is a place for lovers - I saw many couples in loving embrace yesterday and, according to the guide book I bought today (Barefoot guide book on South America) it is a popular place for pictures being taken of newlyweds. I saw three just married couples, all very beautiful, happy but a little nervous posing for the pictures. Rosana, did you and Merardo have your pictures taken there? Today I walked to the main square of Miraflores and went around some nice buildings and a main church. Then I packed my backpack and decided to go the center and look for Hostal Espana which I found in the guidebook. The owners of the hotel in Miraflores were terrified when I told then the taxi is not neccessary, that I will take a bus... The center of Lima is very, very, VERY beautiful. It´s what I like - old buildings, and the atmosphere of monumental history. Hostal Espana is also in a very old building. It is the most interesting hostal I have ever seen. The owner is a peruvian painter and he must also collect works of art because the whole building is full of beautiful paintings and sculpture. I stay in the dormitorio ($3) in a beautiful big room with high ceiling and a painting which looks medieval. There are a few other people there and they are all very nice. We stay on the third floor and the "ceiling" on the corridor is really a vine and other plants. I don't know how to specifically describe this place - it`s like living in a museum. The stairs are narrow and winding. The corridors are wide. The place is full of unexpected turns and smaller corridors. There´s a small cafe, the internet cafe, laundry, phone booths for international calls. Seems like everything a traveler needs and at very reasonable prices.

I had lunch after I arrived here and I went to the nearby church of San Francisco which is the most interesting church I have seen (I don´t know when I will stop saying something was the most interesting of its kind but for now my eyes are open wide with amazement with everything I see - the further I go the more amazed I am). Why it was so special? I will tell you the story of the church tomorrow because the internet place closes in 5 minutes... It´s 11 pm and I am not very sleepy tonight so I will just read a bit about the history of Peru and its culture and relive in my mind the wonders of the church...