More Lima

Leche de tigre or Tiger's Milk.More about this below. (The white lumpy things are large corn kernels.)

Lima is the modern capital of Peru, established by the Spanish conquerors in 1535. For me, the highlight of our tour of the historic district of Lima was the elaborate European architecture that the Spaniards brought to the country, so out of keeping with the Inca style.

But also so beautiful.

At its largest, the Inca empire joined Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and a small part of southwest Colombia. [Source: Wikipedia] 

Peru includes arid ocean shores, vast mountain ranges, and dense rainforest. At the time, the Inca placed its capital in Cuzco, far inland and almost impregnable.

The presidential palace, Lima

The president both lives and works here, like the American president in the White House.  (You can see all the crowds from the religious procession.

Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Lima, Peru

Would you gaze upon the baroque stonework!! (It was a slightly foggy, overcast day.)

The mint-green art nouveau building was originally the photographic studio of Courret Hermanos.

I don't think I could actually live in a full-blown art nouveau home, but I do love the artistry in the elaborate details.

Palacio Municipal de Lima

In all these last two buildings, you'll note the prominent balconies. Our guide tells us that these were an important status symbol.

We also visited a couple of cathedrals, including the catacombs of the Church of San Francisco.

Church of San Francisco, Lima, Peru

No photography was permitted inside, but we were astounded to see thousands of human bones arranged rather artistically by the excavators. There is evidently no efficient or cost-effective way to link one bone to another and create a full skeleton as the bones were often layered on top of each other and even removed and dumped in great pits to make room for more current tenants.

After the tours of the church, we went for lunch at a tapas-style restaurant, which brings us to that Leche de tigre at the top of this blog post.

"This nectar of the gods arises from the union of the fruit of Peru’s sea along with the best of its land, lime juice and fresh fish, joined by hot peppers and fresh cilantro leaves.The scent and flavor of this marine cocktail come together to bring an ecstasy of flavor to diners." [Source of description: Cuzco Eats]

Stephen and I did not find it to be a nectar of the gods. I suppose that if I didn't know there was raw fish in it, I might enjoy it more, but ... I did know, so ...

Scallops with grated parmesan — YUM!

Ceviche (pronounced say-vee-chay) is a dish made with raw fish, onions, tomato, and lime. Very tasty!

Causa — a corn mash rolled around a lobster-mayonnaise filling. That's a tiny quail's egg on top.
The more typical presentation of causa is more like a layered trifle in a round dish.

We also had lomo saltado (sautéed tenderloin with vegetables), which we both liked but I didn't take a picture of it. I did learn how to prepare it when we were in Cusco, so I'll share pictures of that later.

After lunch, we took the public bus back to our hotel. I have never in my life been on such a crowded bus, as all the festival-goers from the religious procession also had finished their lunches and decided to go home.