Lima–2014 January 12
I headed to the downtown area today. I took the Metropolitano, which is a bus line that has its own dedicated lane. Here are some views on the way from the central station stop.
I passed by a couple of churches, and at both of them, there was a band that played music as people carried some sort of massive—well, I don’t have a name for it—into the church. At the second church, the band was playing, and I swear I am not making this up, “Over the Rainbow.” How this is appropriate for church, I have no idea. It’s a mystery, and not just in the Catholic Church sense of the word.
On my way to the Plaza Mayor, I saw a procession of people in fancy Peruvian costumes. All the men were wearing masks; the women weren’t.
Here are some scenes from around the Plaza Mayor.
I stopped for lunch at a place called “Cordon Blue” (yes, I know it’s misspelled, but that’s what the sign read) and had ceviche for the first time ever. The taste was absolutely magical. In the following picture, the bowl at the back has roasted corn kernels in it. They were pretty good too. The meal had chicken with rice for the second course, but I didn’t take a picture of that.
After lunch, I started walking back to downtown.
I didn’t make it on foot all the way back (10 km / 6 miles); about a third of the way there I took one of the local buses. They cost S/.1.50 for a ride (US$0.50), and it's a sort of informal affair where the cobrador (an employee of the bus company) leans out the door at every stop and calls out the names of the destinations and urges people to get on board. The bus I was on seems to have been a hand-me-down from South Korea, as evidenced by the lettering on the door and on some warning stickers.
I got back to the area of the hotel, saw this sculpture of a lion, and proceeded through Parque Kennedy, where I saw the feral cats again. I have several pictures of them; this one is particuarly postcard-worthy. The adopt-a-cat agency had their booth set up, and the people there asked me to promote their Facebook page, so click the link if you want to see it.
Today’s Graffitti
The text on the first one reads “Lima can’t stop.”
Today’s Signage
The word “real” in Spanish means “royal,” so this is a very clever logo indeed.
This sign says there is a fine of S/.148 for unnecessary use of a car horn. As if people really pay attention to that.
The text reads “Respect the pedestrian.” As if people really pay attention to that.
A sign of the impending end of civilization as we know it: a “Hello Kitty” credit card. (Sorry about the poor quality of the photo; the reflection from the window messed things up.)