Peru Wrap-up/Rewind

What can I say living in Barranco, Lima, Peru was an absolutely amazing experience. I made wonderful friends, I learned how to cook some pretty awesome Peruvian dishes, I got to visit several Peruvian cities, and I was able to visit Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay! What else could I want? So should you visit Peru? Of course, without a doubt!

Here’s the rewind

My dad and my little sister came to visit in April. We had a great time. We were able to make a two road trips. The first was to Cineguilla, there we went horse back riding and went to La Mesa de Piedra. At La Mesa de Piedra http://www.mesadepiedra.com/home.html  we ate one of my favorite Peruvian dishes Pachamanca, went swimming, and watched a performance.

It’s definitely worth the 1-2 hour trip to this restaurant/ campsite (to get there rent a cab for a day at 20 soles per hour).  The second road trip was to Pachacamac, an archeological site that is close to Lima.  We also visited The Parque de las Leyendas (Lima’s local zoo) http://www.leyendas.gob.pe/ and Circuito Mágico del Agua, which is an amazing park, filled with gigantic water and light shows.

Matthew and I made it out a few nights to party at some of the local clubs in Barranco.

 

I finally took a cooking class! I learned how to make Cibeche, Lomo Saltado, and a dessert that I can’t remember the name of (but of course includes condensed milk like most of the Peruvian desserts).

 

Our last trip was to Arequipa and Lake Titicaca in Puno. Arequipa is known as “The White City” because the buildings in the city’s center are made of white stones that were cut from the local volcano. Yes I said local volcano, when you land at the airport you are greeted by El Misti a gargantuan active volcano. In my opinion some of the best Peruvian food was in Arequipa (shh don’t tell). They make an excellent dish called “adobo” which is pork stewed in a tomato sauce (it reminds me of chilli) served with bread, it’s cooked and eaten on Sunday for breakfast.  My favorite dish from Arequipa is “chupe de camerones” if I could eat it every day without creating a shrimp allergy I would.

Lake Titicaca is known as the highest navigable lake in the world (it actually has a steam ship on it that used to work). People have lived on the islands and floating islands of Lake Titicaca for over 10,000 years. Legend says that the Incan gods were sent to Lake Titicaca when they came to earth.

There we visited the Uros Floating Islands. The people that live there build and live on the islands that are made of reeds that grow from the lake.

We also stayed overnight on the Amanti Island with a family. We ate with them, visited a temple on the top of the mountain, and attended a local party (created for tourist) in traditional clothing.

The next day we visited Taquile. We learned about their amazing weaving and knitting skills, toured the island, and of course at lunch.

And to close it out here are a few pictures of Lima  (mostly Barranco), the place we lived and loved while in Peru – click on the pictures for a better view. This also includes the pictures from above.