MIRAFLORES, GREAT WINTER GETAWAY

January 25 to 31, 2010

We have to admit to being somewhat disappointed in the weather. While the temperature has been pretty much as advertised, we have been lacking in sunshine and clear night skies for star gazing. On the other hand, even a bad day is a good day here. It is just one of those years.

Barb is complaining that her suntan is fading fast! However, we did have 3 days to use our rooftop terrace for tanning as well as eating at the large table and umbrella. We have noted that the weather is dreadful everywhere as it is an El Nino year and everyone we meet says the same about Lima.

On the one hand, we had wonderful weather in the highlands, even though it is the rainy season, and we missed the dreadful floods that have hit Cusco province and causing major damage. We saw on the local TV that people were stranded in Aguas Calientes as the railroad lines were washed away in some areas. We also heard that although free helicopers were sent in to rescue people, tourists were paying $500 to get to the front of the line!

News from home is sadly lacking as Canada is neither so important or so militaristic that we garner news space. But what really irks is that we cannot even find Canada on the weather maps on CNN. How can such a large country disappear from world maps?Even Lichtenstein, population 1,000, can see themselves on the European weather map and figure out what is going on at home. We do not exist!

On January 26, Sr. Fernandez, our personal taxi driver, drove us to Pueblo Libre and the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropolgia e Historia del Peru. It is a must see. Again, we have to say our ignorance of the history of South America is vast. Going through this museum and seeing samples of pottery, metal work, woven fabrics as well as tools is fascinating. The time lines of Peruvian cultures as compared to Egypt, Asia, Europe help put things in perspective.

It turned out to be a lovely day so after sharing a MacDonald´s burger combo, we returned to suntan on our terrace in the afternoon. The literature says Miraflores has 8 beaches. None can be classified as sandy beaches suitable for tanning. Mostly they are used for surfing. One of the beaches is called Waikiki and the waves seem to be largest here and so has the most surfers.

The food here is wonderful and it is very cheap. In the countryside, we saw such menu items as alpaca steak and roast guinea pig on the menu. In Lima, it is more traditionally Spanish food. But ice cream (everywhere in South America) is wonderful...not full of starch filler as it is at home and less than a buck. We are convinced that the fruit and vegetables here taste better than at home.

The national drink, on the other hand is another thing all together. Pisco, claimed by both Chile and Peru, tastes quite different in each country. We bought a bottle of Pisco as we were leaving Chile and enjoyed it both with mix or on the rocks. When we said we drank it straight, people here had an astonished expression. Once we bought a bottle and tried it we could see why....the Peruvian Pisco is very strong indeed! But Barb is persevering as she experiments with different mixes.

We tried to get tickets to the Opera Carmen but were too late. Simulcasting is very big here and the Opera was a simulcast from the New York Met. There are also upcoming simulcasts of a number of cultural performances including the Bolshoi Ballet.

We went to another Tango Show on January 27 at the Cultural Cente a few blocks away. This one was mostly dancing. The dancers included 4 pairs of seniors as well as 6 young professional Tango dancers who were a delight to watch.

On January 28, we finally decided to walk down to the beach. Miraflores is on a cliff about 150 metres above the ocean so we walked down a nearby cobblestone road down to the beach and ended up following a young man with a surfboard to the ocean. At this beach, you can rent wetsuits, surfboards and buy snacks. We continued walking along the seashore until we came to a park with grass, benches and washrooms. We think the municipality of Miraflores is building sandy beaches for the tourists. After a 90 minute walk, we ended up at a lovely restaurant called Costa Verde. We were desperate for water and decided to have lunch. We nearly choked on the menu prices! The place was absolutely gorgeous with a view of the ocean and charged accordingly...but lucky for us, we had each stuck a 50soles bill in our pocket. After a modest lunch of water, salad and bread, we took our last 5 soles each and pooled the money for a taxi home. We keep forgetting that 50 soles is really about $18.00.

Friday was a nice sunny, lazy day. A good day to relax and moan about packing. On Saturday, we decided to go out for dinner and ended up in a small local restaurant and sat next to a table occupied by 3 women who spoke English. They translated the menu for us, and invited us for Pisco Sours at their home and for a typical Peruvian lunch on Sunday. They were charming and the food delicious.

Sunday morning, we were joined by our friends in the building, and went to the Radisson Hotel for a fabulous breakfast buffet. This hotel is only a block from our apartment.

Our friends invited us for Sunday dinner and we had a very social evening.

We have spent today packing as our departure is at 1:30 am February 2. We are looking forward to getting home to our own beds...but not to the cold weather.

We have had a wonderful adventure and did things we might not physically be able to do in a few years.

South America is a wonderful place to visit.

We would recommend a 2 week vacation in Argentina where you could do Buenes Airies (try the Claridge Hotel), a trip to Iguacu and Colonia (across the Platt River in Uruguay) and tours to Tigre River Delta and the Pampas.

Brazil is a great place to get a suntan. Amazonia is amazing, Rio is good for a few days and Buzios is fabulous. There are other resorts in Brazil that also look interesting.

Peru is absolutely the place to come if you are into archeology. There is so much pre conquest history to be explored.

Miraflores is a great winter getaway as it is sunny here from December to April. We cannot get over how cheap it is to eat out (or buy groceries for that matter.) While it might cost a bit more in airfare, the apartments here are reasonable. The Montreal couple we met are renting a 3 bedroom apartment for $850 a month for the season. Besides the cultural centre, movies and simulcasts, Parc Kennedy is a great place to stroll through on Friday and Saturday evenings. TV is not bad as a lot of channels show English language series and movies with Spanish subtitles.

We plan to return.