Lima, again...

My muse seems to be back, albeit for how long your guess is as good as mine.

So after a very unusual trip to Toronto, I departed tired and stressed to Lima at 6pm on Wednesday the 28th of January.  This is late in the month for me, and not the greatest time to be headed into the Amazonian Cloud Forest as it is mid rainy season.  The plane was not full, so I managed to spread out and be comfortable as I caught up on my movies.  There were a couple of fairly bumpy periods, but all in all Air Canada managed to deliver us safely to our arrival gate in Lima.

The lady at immigration missed her prunes that morning or something, and gave me a hard time about the number of days for which I could have my visa.  Seems that I couldn't understand her rapid fire Spanish inquisition (not that anyone could be tired and/or cognitively impaired at 2am after an eight hour flight) quickly enough for her to find any reason why I should warrant my normal 180 day visa.  She wanted to give me a visa for 60 days, but finally settled on 90 to be nice.  sigh.  Bienvenidos a Peru.

As requested there was an airport pickup waiting as I cleared customs, and an uneventful transfer to the hostal ensued.  I know I have probably said it ad  nausiem, but this is a gem of a place to stay in Lima.  El Patio greeted me like an old friend, and without delay I was snoozing comfortably in my room.  

Slept through most of the next day.  Sometime around 3 I got a phone call asking if I wanted my room serviced, however I think this was just their way of ensuring  I was alive.  Guess they missed me crawling across the courtyard to have breakfast.  I resurfaced about 4pm, showered, ignored my mind screaming for more sleep and stepped out into the masses. 

Traffic was surprisingly light on this beautiful, balmy night, and I sauntered towards Parc Kennedy, also known as Gringo Central.  On the way I spent some time watching a new batch of cats hanging out on the lawns of the cathedral.  And lying lazily on the walkways. And checking out the small food containers left for them here and there.  Obviously people are still ignoring the "please don't drop your kittens off here" sign.  My cat perusal continued through the park.  It really is quite a sight to see the multitude, all ownership and attitude.  I enjoyed the sense of familiarity.  

 A pit stop at the department store to get my annual feeling of frump, and this errand successfully completed I headed out to get some dinner.

One very overpriced "cooked vegetable salad" later I paid my bill and then ducked into the casino, where I won enough to cover dinner and one nights hostel stay.  Not too shabby. 

Morning saw me repacking my bags and preparing for the 24hour bus ride to come.