Tauck Tour Begins

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This morning we met with our Tauck Tour for Breakfast in Tragaluz, the restaurant in our hotel.  After meeting our guide and the rest of the members of our group (there are 24 in all), we embarked on a tour of downtown Lima.  

The first thing that struck us was that once you leave the coastal areas of Lima, the city is actually very ugly.  It is a very humid city that is located on the border of the moist, rain forest areas to the north and the incredibly dry desert to the south.  It is actually amazing that it is so humid when it only receives 2 inches of rain per year.

The other thing that hits you immediately is the traffic - it is usually jammed.

After fighting through the traffic we took a walking tour of the historic, downtown center which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

Highlights of the tour included the Church of San Pedro which was founded by the Jesuits and the Monastery of San Francisco where we visited the catacombs (no pictures were allowed).


We then walked over to the center of the old town, the Plaza Mayor, which contained many government buildings but we could not enter the central Plaza due to political demonstrations.

We then took the bus back to a very nice restaurant named Cala on the Pacific coast for a traditional lunch of fresh Ceviche and Lomo Saltaldo (popular beef stir-fry).

After lunch we drove to the private Larco Museum of pre- Columbian art that contained numerous pieces of pottery and silver and gold headdresses, the ceremonial pre-columbian knife and ornamental attire.  It also contained a collection of erotic pottery.





After returning to the hotel to prepare for our departure the next morning we boarded the coach again for a dinner at a private estate that contained over 3,500 nativity art pieces.  The collection was a bit overwhelming but the outdoor dinner was amazing!

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