Lima and Home
Flying to Lima and Lunch
We had to put our luggage outside the door early for our flight to Lima. Abel drove us to the airport and we took our luggage inside to check it in for our flight. Again we were instructed to wait by Lewis, but eventually we again decided just to get through security and immigration and get to our gate. We had to go downstairs to board our plane and could only find a vending machine for drinks and the credit card reader did not work. Luckily, J. R. had a lot of change so he bought some sodas. Lewis came around with menus for lunch and handed them to us but didn't say anything. J. R. asked what are supposed to do with them and Caren went to speak to him and then he said we should mark what we wanted for lunch so he could pre-order. Another example of his inability to communicate well and general disinterest.
Soon we were boarded onto our short flight to Lima, which was uneventful. There was another long walk with our luggage to the bus in Lima, where we loaded our bags underneath and headed back into downtown in more heavy traffic. First we went to the Museo Larco for lunch. We had given Lewis our orders at the airport but that did not seem to matter as the waiters had no idea who had ordered what. J. R. was left waiting for his dessert for quite awhile but that allowed Caren and Jean to have coffee with black pepper sprinkled on top, which was an interesting choice. The other tour in the room had a guide who kept getting up to help the waiters (banging into Janie's chair each time), while Lewis just sat in a chair eating his lunch and talking on the phone or with the other Celebrity tour guide.
Lunch Menu
Plaza dos de Mayo
We drove past the Plaza dos de Mayo, the Second of May Square, named for the 02 May 1808 uprising against French troops in Madrid, Spain. Napoleon had used the pretext of reinforcing his army in Portugal to seize the Spanish throne.
Plaza Mayor
Next we parked and walked a few blocks to the Plaza Mayor, also known as the Plaza de Armas de Lima. In 1535, Pizarro designated the location to build the plaza. The lot to the south of the plaza was designated to be a church, the western lot was to be the site of a city council, and the rest of the lots were divided among the rest of the conquistadors. During the colonial era, the plaza served as a market, bull-fighting ring, and the city gallows as well as home to the auto-da-fe during the Inquisition. In 1622, the Cathedral of Lima was completed. In 1821, Jose de San Martin proclaimed the Independence of Peru on this plaza.
In 1922, construction of the Archbishop's Palace of Lima was completed. In 1938, the Government Palace was completed and in 1944 the Municipal Palace was completed. The Government Palace is the official workplace and residence of Peru's president. The space is ringed by a series of private colonial buildings with intricately carved wooden balconies.
The plaza's centerpiece, a tiered bronze fountain, sits where the gallows once stood.
Santo Domingo
We walked down the street to the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo, which dates back to the 16th century. Inside the church are the oldest choir stalls of Lima, the famous statue of the Virgen del Rosario and the silver urns that contain the relicts of Santa Rosa (the patron saint of Lima) and San Martín de Porres. We visited the beautiful courtyard and the Moorish-inspired tiled walls. We went downstairs to view the Tomb of Santa Rosa de Lima and then stopped by the library.
Plaza and Dinner
Tensions rose in our small group as we exited the convent and found ourselves once again waiting while one member of the group decided to do some shopping in the gift shop while we waited for her. We were told to walk down to the plaza and when our wayward guest finally arrived, her friend tried to defend her actions to the tour guide and several of us, particularly Caren, voiced our displeasure at being left to wait and the lack of an apology.
Another 30 minute bus ride in traffic ensued back to the Westin Lima, where our luggage was unloaded and we headed up to our room. The bags arrived shortly after and we chilled out in the room until dinner time. We met with Caren and Jean for dinner and Lewis came over with our instructions for the next day. He was unclear, again, about the directions for our luggage and spent way too much time explaining the concept of a breakfast box to J. R. and the fact we could not take it through security, as if, again, we had never been to an airport before. Since it was the day before Election Day, no alcohol could be served. We asked our waitress what other options there were, like soft drinks and she offered non-alcoholic beer, which we rejected. Finally we were able to get them to bring us Coke Zero without a charge but the waitress still brought over the non-alcoholic beer and again we told her we were not interested. We said goodbye to Caren and Jean at the elevators and went to bed.
Flying Home
We had to be up at 3:30 the next morning for our taxi to the airport. The porters were supposed to arrive at 4:20 but never came, which was just as well as we planned to carry our own luggage. J. R. looked at the breakfast box but it was not interesting so we skipped it. The van ride was very quick with no traffic and we walked to the terminal and got through security and immigration very quickly. Our nine-hour flight was reasonably easy although we had a very rude American Airlines flight attendant. She served drinks to the row in front of us and the people across the aisle, then began serving food to them, then skipped us to begin serving behind her. Janie asked if we could get drinks and she said "I am serving food now, but I guess I can get you drinks." Later when J. R. was waiting to use the restroom, he told her to let another man go in front of him since that man had asked to use the toilet, as if that was not what we all were waiting for.
We arrived in Dallas and got through Global Entry quickly but luggage delivery took awhile. We then had to go back through security with no TSA Pre and were greeted by drug-sniffing dogs and agents with guns. After several South American airports, DFW seemed like the third-world airport. J. R. got a pizza from Pizza Hut and after a couple of tries, found a Gatorade and Diet Coke (sold out in vending machines and one other shop) and a Coke Zero for himself. The flight to Orlando went well but, again, luggage took forever, as did the wait for the shuttle to FastPark. Our car had seen no damage from Ian. J. R. had decided to book an airport hotel a few days ago, so we went there for the night. We had breakfast in the hotel and drove home. There was no damage to our house except the small tree in the parkway, which had already been leaning.