Lima

Watching Lima from above on our arrival, I could see there were breaks in the clouds. As much as I thought Lima was not a must see on our Peruvian trip, we had some eight hours to kill and the weather was not so bad. The airport, much improved from 11 years ago, is not a bad place as we had found when spending a night there, but I thought I could show Irina around at least a little bit. I had stayed in Miraflores eleven years before after trekking for two and a half weeks around Cordillera Huyahuash. Miraflores is considered a nice area and I thought it was worth visiting again.

A taxi ride took about 40 minutes and signs of an improved economy were visible everywhere - lots of new retail, new cars on the streets, car dealerships, and in general a less dreary look of the neighborhoods. Then again, it could have been the weather - the sun was at times peaking through the low clouds - or just a high of having had such a great trip that painted everything bright for me.

We walked around XXX. Nearby Parque del Amor on the coast caught my attention on my phone Google maps. The park, dedicated to lovers, seemed to be fairly popular and there were a lot of couples enjoying its monuments and views of the Pacific. It was a fitting place to finish our South American trip, looking into the mist over the ocean streching seemingly to infinity and blending with the fog in the distance.

What else than ceviche could have been our fare for dinner back on XXX. Finding a cab that would take us to the airport took a while, but we still made it back to the airport with plenty of time to spare to check-in for our overnight flight back to San Francisco. And that was it and I cannot wait to go back for more.