Around South America in 80 Days

January 16, 2019

Callao (port for Lima), Peru

My travel agency (Cruise Specialists) offered a free excursion called, “Lima Then and Now” which was exactly like the $79.95 HAL tour. Turned out it was a very interesting excursion. Vanessa was our guide and had a good command of the English language. We learned a great deal about Lima and the country including…

1) Of the 30,000,000 Peruvians, about 1/3 live in the Lima area

2) The center of Lima is an UNESCO World Heritage Site

3) Lima gets less than an inch of rain a year (it is the second largest city in the world built in a desert)

4) Voting is mandatory in Peru

5) The main meal in Peru is lunch

Our first stop was to see Plaza de Aramas (translates to Weapons Square) which is considered the birthplace of Lima. It was here that conquistador, Francisco Pizzaro founded the city on January 18, 1535. It is a beautiful square with many historic buildings surrounding it.

We walked about a half block to the Casa Solariega de Aliaga one of, if not the oldest inhabited building in Lima. It was started in 1535 by Jeronimo de Aliaga. Seventeen generations later some of his descendants still live there.

We then had a few minutes to look in the Church of Santo Domingo before our bus picked us up to take us to Casa Luna. This is the home of Xavier and Yvonne Luna who collect various pieces of art but especially Nativity Scenes. He is a former director of the National Museum of Peru. They have a large collection and were very welcoming. We had a “Pisco Punch” at the end. There was a warning earlier this week to be careful of Pisco Sours because they are made with raw egg whites. We were assured that the punch had no eggs in it. It was very tasty.

We returned to the ship around 2 pm and I spent about 30 minutes looking at the vendors on the pier and ended up with some jewelry I had seen yesterday.

Back on board I had lunch in the Lido before afternoon trivia.

As usual, afternoon trivia was at 4 pm. Only Sharon, Pat, and I played. We had 16 out of 21 correct while the winners had 19.

1) What is the highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival?

2) True or False? The Olympic gold medal is made mostly of gold.

3) In 1987, who was the first female inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hint: She was in the news recently.

4) With considered names of “Apache”, “Eagle”, and “Hawaiian”, what name was decided upon for the car that came out in 1955 in response to the Corvette?

5) What is the only country in Central America where the official language is English?

Three of our team were present for evening trivia. Paul, who joins us from time to time, also played and we asked the Bridge instructor and his wife to join us to make six. We had 11 out of 19 but the winning team had 13.

1) What color of light is on the starboard side of a boat or ship?

2) What is the largest island in the Mediterranean?

3) What is the most widely played card game?

4) What world championship is called The Bermuda Bowl?

5) What was the first flavor of Life Savers?

All eight present for dinner. I had a salad, scallops (that were only so-so – they would have been better broiled a little longer), and a chocolate sundae.

There was no show tonight so I went to the Crow’s Nest to hear Stevie in the Piano Bar. Not many people up there – it was 10 pm – but he is quite good.

On the road between Callao and Lima