Artwork in Lima

During our month in Lima, we observed and experienced art throughout the city. Below are some pictures of traditional art like sculptures and painting, but also wall art, garden, art, etc. and some artwork we did to decorate our apartment. 

Lima Plaza de Armas

We finally made it to Lima historical center and Plaza de Armas on one of our last days there. This included visiting some churches, walking through a pedestrian commercial area, seeing the large central square where we watched the Changing of the Guards at the Presidential Palace, and visiting catacombs. Fortunately it was a warm and sunny day, which always brightens the mood (and makes for better pictures). 

Peru: Weekend in Ica and Paracas

We spent a long weekend in Ica and Paracas, which are 3-4 hours drive from Lima. We rented rooms at a hostel in Ica and rented a car to drive there. Derek engaged his "Peru Driving", which meant lots of honking and avoiding cars crossing multple lanes to make turns. The trip down was stressful as we got stopped at two separate checkpoints - one semi legit, the other bogus; neither warranting the type of fine proposed. We avoided both, but it was stressful and made us overly cautious. 

Ica

In Ica, we visted Haucachina, which is a desert oasis with sand dunes, where we ate, hiked around the dunes, and rented sand boards. We also visited Ica's Plaza de Armes (central square) and enjoyed some delicious (and ridiculously inexpensive ice cream). Finally, we visited a pisco winery - pisco being the national drink of Peru. 

Paracas

Paracas was a relatively quick stop en route back to Lima with the solo purpose of taking a boat to Isla Ballestes to observe sea lions, Humboldt penguins, and sea birds. We were told the weather conditions were not safe to visit Ballestes, but we were going to Isla Blanca instead. Turned out to be just as cool as we thought Ballestes would be. We got to see the Candleabra, which is a large 2,000+ year old carving on the side of a seaside hill, similar to the Nazca Lines, and a lot of seals, penguins, several different types of seabirds, and even a couple dolphins. It was a cool experience - worth the 6am wake up call to get there. The tour company even watched Gidget so we could take the boat ride. 

We grabbed some breakfast, went for a quick walk around the town, and then headed back to Lima (without exceeding the speed limit!). 

GIDGET ON THE GO! - 1st installment

(thanks to GG for thinking up the title of my posts)

Recently my family has been taking me all over the place and I wanted to share a few of my thoughts. 

• First, I want to be wherever my family is at all times and I DO NOT like when they leave me alone or with other people (GG's and Nana's don't count because they give me loads of cuddles and treats).  
• Second, I love to go on hikes and wade through streams and thankfully my family agrees completely.  
• Third, I always want whatever food is available and I especially like to roll on anything that smells like fish.
• Finally, here's a picture of me with my family right before our big adventure began

 

This is where I used to live and a few pics of some hikes we took in the US before leaving the country!  That's all for today, I'm ready for a bit of a snooze, I'll write a bit more tomorrow about flying and living in something my family calls a "departamento" in a place called Lima.