Lima (warning.... Erotic Pictures)

I flew a couple of Lima trips at the beginning of the month.  My friend Leatha traded onto my first trip, which was a real treat, because she really only likes to fly turns and short two day trips.  This was her first time to Perú, so we booked a tour of the city with two of our other coworkers, Jemma and Sherry.

We got to see some of the main sights downtown, including the archeological museum which highlighted that the ancient Incas were quite skilled at erotic pottery.  Could this be my first R rated blog entry?

We also got to spend some time in the Plaza de Armas, which is the main square, and surrounded by important government buildings and architecture typical of the colonial era when the Spanish came and began to "impose" their culture on the native population.  The original fountain of the plaza, long since gone, dates back to the 1530's.  We also passed Morris' Bar, where the American Vincent Morris invented the Pisco Sour, the national drink of Perú.

Our next stop was the Monastery San Francisco and the adjoining catacombs.  It's still an active monastery and was consecrated in 1673 with construction finished in 1774. We weren't allowed to take pictures once inside, but we got to tour the grounds and see their impressive library, which has over 25,000 texts going back to the 1500's.  

We also got to visit the catacombs, which were kind of creepy.  Lima's first cemetery was the catacombs below the monastery and were used until 1808.  People were buried for a period of five years outside the city and covered in limestone.  Then they were dug up and their remains were placed in the catacombs.  It is estimated they contain the remains of over 70,000 people. 

After we finished up our tour of the catacombs, we made our way via bus to Miraflores, a suburb of Lima located along the coast.  The sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful day.  We also passed by the Park of Love, which was one of the places I remembered from my visit here in college in 1997.

It must have been too much for poor Jemma.  She fell asleep on the bus.

We made our way back to the hotel for our evening nap before our pick up and our long all nighter home.  Thankfully we are catered with Inca Kola for the return flight, which is a super caffeinated Peruvian mega soda.  It can keep you going and going for hours.

For my trip the next week, my friends Julie and Cari came along.  We had flown together to Madrid at the end of September and they mentioned they were going to vacation in Perú and go to Machu Picchu.  I persuaded  them to fly down a day early on my flight and book a room at our hotel and hang with me in Lima for the day.

Our first stop was the Inca Markets, for shopping.  Lots of wonderful bargains and touristy souvenirs. 

The whole buying process can be a little intense because you have to haggle for everything.  Here, Cari, seems to be a little frustrated over some blankets made from baby alpaca wool.

Inca fashions know no limits, and I tried to persuade the girls to buy these shoes, but I could not convince them.

And again, we return to the Peruvian love of all things erotic.  This is actually an elaborate cup.  I will let you use your imagination to figure out how you drink from it.

Guinea Pigs, or cuy (pronounced "koo ee") are a delicacy here, but the closest I came was posing with a stuffed cuy toy.

Speaking of lunch, we were getting hungry, so we made our way down to Miraflores, and the trendy Larcomar shopping center.  It's built into the side of a cliff and we enjoyed a phenomenal all you can eat buffet at a restaurant called Mangos.  We stuffed ourselves silly.

A Shout Out to Bruce

My regular musings from the field are taking a different direction in this post.  I'm dedicating it to my friend Bruce.  Anyone who has followed my blog will recall our Man-cation to London and Scotland in 2010 and our mini Man-cation to Pikes Peak in 2011.

We've known each other for about 23 years, more than half our lives and while I like to joke that the only thing we have in common is a love of Single Malt Scotch and Presbyterianism (he's a right wing libertarian who hates unions and I am a rabid socialist union member) he really is a good friend and someone I care about a great deal.

In 2007, he severely injured his left leg while attempting to rush the field at a USF Bulls football game. All this happened as his wife was in the final months of her pregnancy with their second child.  The injury was catastrophic and after years of surgeries and pain, Bruce is undergoing an amputation of his left leg below the knee on September 3rd. (I joked with him that my birthday will never be the same again).

My hope for Bruce is that this will lead to a new life, free of pain, with greater mobility, allowing him to do more with his family, and overall improve his health.  As a way of dealing with what is no doubt a traumatic event, he's decided to blog about it.  He's always supported and encouraged my blogging, so I plan to do the same for him and encourage you to participate in this journey, as I plan to do.  You can follow along at Left Leg Lost

God speed Brucie.....

Farewell

A week ago today, my good friend and traveling companion, Stu, lost his battle with cancer.  He and his wife Marty have been my good friends for over a decade and we enjoyed traveling the world together.  In 2008 we explored Cambodia and Malaysia.  In 2009, we went to Egypt and Jordan.  In 2011, we went to Iceland. 

Stu lived a unique and full life.  He started as a Flight Attendant in 1976 and after 10 years, left to pursue his doctorate in Geology.  He managed to see the good in most people, something I know I could learn to do a little better, and everyone who met him had nothing but nice things to say about him.

My trips with Stu and Marty will forever be some of my most treasured memories.  In honor of Stu, I thought I would post some photos from our travels over the years.