Lima City

We had a big day of touring today around Lima City Centre, San Isidro, & Miraflores. In addition to seeing lots of beautiful old buildings of many different styles, including many latticed narrow verandahs on high windows fro Moorish architecture, we also saw some very ornately decorated churches - the cathedral & the Jesuit church, & the Frnciscan monastery. Our tour through the monastery included an amazing 16th century library, the cloisters & fruit orchard, & the crypt & ossuary ( LOTS of bones, & not for the claustrophobic!). We spent a few hiurs walking around theses sights before our minibus took us to the Museo Larco, where we had a delicious lunch (cream of vegetable soup), criollo beef ( like a spicy paella , fruit salad, accompanied by the national drink, pisco sour (a lime, brandy cocktail). With our very knowledgeable guide,we ten spentvseveral hours looking through the museum's collection of ceramics (extensive), textiles (including the most finely woven cloth with a thread count of over 3000), some paintings, & some personal & ceremonial adornments of silver & gold - all interesting, & beautiful. Some of my tour group (2 Canadians,an Irish woman & me) had dinner overlooking the sea at Larco Mar, followed by some window shopping, then to bed! Tomorrow, we go to a private textile museum in the morning, & then to Mistura, an interational food festival celebrating Peruvian cuisine, should be great!