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Last Day in Lima Festivities, Jan. 17, 2015

After errands, we went to the Larcomar cinema down the street and saw the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD presentation of The Merry Widow, with Renee Fleming, Nathan Gunn, Kelli O’Hara and Alek Shrader. Spanish supertitles, but the opera was in English! Our lucky day. So does Nathan Gunn look more like George Clooney orContinue reading “Last Day in Lima Festivities, Jan. 17, 2015”

Last Day in Lima, Jan. 17, 2015

Last minute shopping, I passed more great street art. These flank the entrance to a parking lot: Walking around the Miraflores neighborhood, I am constantly reminded of changing times. Large single family homes dating between 1920-1960 are being replaced by 6-10 story apartment buildings. Often an old house has a sign out front thatContinue reading “Last Day in Lima, Jan. 17, 2015”

Lima, Peru Jan. 16, 2015

A long chat with the owner of the Barcelona restaurant revealed that he speaks six languages and worked on cruise ships. One of his first days as a cruise ship waiter, each of his tables had people speaking different languages and he became so confused he had to hide in a stairwell to sort outContinue reading “Lima, Peru Jan. 16, 2015”

Lima, Peru Jan. 15-17

We are staying at the Hotel Senorial, where we have stayed regularly since we first visited Peru 15 years ago. The best thing about the Senorial is the outdoor dining room where breakfast is served, and the attractive landscaping. The hotel has grown from fifteen rooms to more than fifty, losing its alpaca blankets andContinue reading “Lima, Peru Jan. 15-17”

You Are About to Enter Lima, Peru

You don’t really have to abandon all hope, but you are best off if someone else is driving. Lima drivers don’t have much use for lane lines. They like to turn left, or right, from the middle lane if there are three or more lanes. They live for excitement. Lima has many good things aboutContinue reading “You Are About to Enter Lima, Peru”

Man vs Nature: Nature 2 Man 0

Two Sundays ago we found a cat eating the leftover bacon in the kitchen. He looked up and ran for the window, jumping between the decorative bars. The kitchen gets too hot to close the windows, so we put screen across the window, and the cat stopped stopping by. The next week, however, there wasContinue reading “Man vs Nature: Nature 2 Man 0”

Man vs Nature: Nature 1 Man 0

Southern Blackbirds create a big, liquid sound. They also like to tap at reflections in mirrors and window panes, and sing to them, which is how we ended up with a blackbird sitting on our window sill, singing its loudest, starting at 5:30 am. It would not be shooed away. After all, we already coveredContinue reading “Man vs Nature: Nature 1 Man 0”

Packing–Day 1

What do you take when you have an entire car full of space? Start with safety, blankets in case we get stranded, follow with comfort, our pillows, and toilet paper. Who knows what toilet paper lurks in other countries?! This trip requires clothing for warm weather (coast of Peru, coast of Chile, Argentina) where dailyContinue reading “Packing–Day 1”

SO, you want to visit Bolivia? Argentina? Chile? AND, you have an auto?

We’ll see about that! With this friendly attitude, warning you that without every possible paper in order you will undoubtedly be delayed, fined (legally or illegally) or turned back from the border, we embark on finding out what it takes to go from country to country. We now have an expanding file full of potentialContinue reading “SO, you want to visit Bolivia? Argentina? Chile? AND, you have an auto?”

Health

There’s Diamox to help with the altitude going into Bolivia, over 3500m. We have Pepto-bismol, anti-diarrhea pills and two courses of Cipro in case of bad stomach trouble, plus the usual vitamins and tylenol. To get into Bolivia, you need proof of a yellow fever vaccination. I had one over 40 years ago, but myContinue reading “Health”