The Final Post

So this is the final post, which means it is the final countdown until we return home to cold, miserable England. However I think to us that feels more like Christmas and after four months here in South America we are about ready to return. So here is our last week:

Day 1 Monday - This morning John's Uncle Jorge arrived in Lima. Unfortunately I was still (and still am really) suffering from a bad stomach. However with Jorge being a chef he recommended some foods that would help with my horrid tummy. So I was on soup and rice for the day. Everyone else however tucked in nicely to a huge feast of Ceviche which John enjoyed a great deal.

In the evening John's Uncle taught us a great game called 'Cukuladora'. We don't know the actual name but it sounded like that. This is one card game we are bringing back to the UK.

Day 2 Tuesday - Today we took another mirabus tour to the ruins of Pachacamac on the outskirts of Lima. On our way to the ruins we stopped off at a little cafe/resturant place where we witnessed traditional Peruvian dancing with a horse. The horses were obviously the main stars. When we arrived at the ruins we saw many ancient temples of the Lima's, Wari and the Inka people. It was very much like the ruins in Pucllana we had seen earlier in out travels. The day was lovely, sunny and hot which meant when we returned we had pink cheeks.

Day 3 Wednesday - The morning was spent roaming Magdelena (a nearby province) for spices and other food stuffs we wanted to take back to the UK. Returning back to the house with bags of Chifle and Aji's of numerous colours, we greeted Jorge with birthday wishes as today he has turned ''28'', apparently. We all were treated to a lovely Chinese lunch in the center of Lima, although a painful journey there. Unfortunately our eyes were bigger than our bellys and we ended up taking most of it back to the house.

After a little rest in the house we spent the rest of the night celebrating Jorge's birthday at his cousin Moshe's house with a bbq and TWO cakes!

Day 4 Thursday - We met up with Jorge Luis and others from the AAVAP dog charity for a lunch at a polleria resturant today. We spent the lunch discussing ways in which we could furthur help the charity when we are back in England. We also discussed what there future plans were for the Charity and we gave a few of our ideas. We are very excited about helping AAVAP and all the abused and stray dogs and cats in Lima.

In the afternoon we went to the park to have some frozan yoghurt in the lovely sunny weather. The first time we have had a sunny christmas!

Day 5 Friday - Hot again today so we sunbathed out the front of the house. When we were nice and crisp we returned for lunch. After lunch the sun had gone and so we took a stroll to the local cinema and saw 'The Hobbit', the first of three, which was as expected a great movie, but just as long as the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

In the evening we took a taxi to Barranco to try out a Mexican resturant we had read about online. For John it was the best Mexican he had had, even beating one he had been raving about in St Pancras Station. The place was run by an Englishman, so concluded that English make the best Mexican burritos.

Day 6 Saturday - John's Nanny's neighbours, Gabi and Cecillia and there parents took us out for a day at the beach, San Bartolo. It was a short journey out of Lima and a little town with a big resort, including a pool, slide and beach chairs and umbrellas. It was sunny throughout the day and we even swam in the ice cold sea to the platform just off the coast. We had a picnic there and returned home brown and partly sunburnt. We showered off the salty water and were invited for dinner and drinks.

Today we have been lazing in the local park and had Chinese again for lunch. No more blogs now as we return home on Thursday night. We are very excited to see everyone! See you very soon.

Vicky and John
x

Week 16 - Relaxing in Lima

This week was fairly chilled as we are coming to the end of our time here in South America and thus our budget is on the low. Here is how we spent our 16th week here in Lima:

Day 1 Monday- Today was a fairly groggy day and with that I too felt under the weather, so the morning was spent relaxing in the house. After lunch we decided to walk down to one of the local cinemas and booked ourselves some tickets to see the new film 'What to Expect when you're Expecting' which turned out to be a less than amusing film. We should have gone to see the new James Bond movie 'Skyfall' which half of facebook had been raving about, however with popcorn so cheap we counted it still as a success.

Day 2 Tuesday -  We spent the whole day in Lima's City centre mooching around the Mercado Central. The market was quite dangerous so we held onto our bags, but there were a lot of very very cheap items, including bags, wallets, belts, clothes, food and doggy outifts. I personally was looking for a little Christmas outfit for Rocky, but luckily for him there were none in his size so I settled on a nice red leather collar instead (I hope he likes it).

We stopped for lunch at a fantastic Chinese where we tried the 'Dim Sum' which I have decided is now a personal favourite of Chinese cooking.

We ended up returning home late that day, absolutely knackered from our day at the shops, and made hot chocolate and played Jenga....or as it is pronounced in Peruvian: Heeennngaaaa! (I was terrible and ended up the ultimate loser).

Day 3 Wednesday - Today we decided to take a trip to the Parque de Kennedy to the famous diner called 'Lucha' where they claim to sell 'Peru's best papa fritas', so we ordered a large papa fritas and fresh strawberry shake. We then took a stroll around the local markets and shops.

Day 4 Thursday - In the morning we went for what was supposed to be a stroll around the local golf club, however it was far longer than we initially thought so we ended up building our appetites for lunch. We ate out for lunch at a little resturant with typical peruvian food. Good price! Only 8 soles!

After our lunch we went back to the market where we brought our final gifts for friends and families.

Day 5 Friday - We spent the morning decorating the house, successfully building the christmas tree and putting out endless 'niknaks' around the living room. Now it feels like Christmas!!

After lunch we had a nap as we were preparing for our nights festivities.

We arrived at Jose's house ready and raring to go at approximately 10PM and made our way along with the rest of his amigo's to the University. We queued up to hop onto a bus to take us to the Univeristy's biggest end of exam party of the year. At the fiesta there was plenty of free alchohol and music. After partying the night away we arrived home around 5PM absolutely knackered.

Day 6 Saturday- RECOVERED - including KFC

Day 7 Sunday - Today John's Tias took us to the Regatta Club on the beach (although the sun did not have his hat on) and we had a fantastic buffet lunch at the Chinese there, where we stuffed our faces (a bit too much I think). We then returned to Tia Nini's house where they enjoyed coffee and we enjoyed water and special digestive tea for our over full stomachs.

After our tea we went on a mission of sorts, to find John a golden star for the top of his Christmas tree. After many stops at many different markets, at around 5PM we finally found the star suitable for his majesty (he is one picky boy).

Hope to see you all soon
Only one more blog post to go...

Vicky and John

Week 15 - My Birthday!!!!

So this week John was feeling a lot better and good because it was the run up to my birthday in Peru. Here is week numero 15:

Day 1 Monday - This morning we decided to go for a stroll down to the beach, however the way we originally planned left us stuck on a road as no paths led down so we had to take another route. The second route took us down a staircase in the cliff side and onto the beach of 'death'. We named it that way by us due to the large amount of dead animals found on the beach, jelly fish, crabs and two birds. Not the nicest of beaches we have seen on our travels. We then walked back which got our appetites going for lunch.

After lunch we finally got the call that there was enough wind for us to go paragliding! So we packed the camera and headed down to the Parque del Amor were we took off tandem style. It was actually a really smooth ride but still seemed 'un-real'. We highly recommend this for anyone....they even take dogs up. (Imagine Rocky up there).

Day 2 Tuesday - Today we went for lunch at Maria's house (Johns grandparents maid) which gave us a look at the shanty towns in Lima. Apparently most people do not even have running water, and the houses reach all the way up the hillside, so we had to take a very scary coca taxi back down (rocky ride). Maria's house was by far one of the nicest in the barrio as was funded by there daughter who is now a professor at the university. We ended up getting back home late that afternoon as the journey was long.

Day 3 Wednesday - We accompanied John's Nan this morning to Magdalena, an area of Lima where shopping is very cheap. It was very good for spices, condiments and food stuff in general but we decided for the rest (clothes and jewlrey) was not as nice as other places we had seen.

In the afternoon we tried baking some cookies in the cooker where just a mere half turned out edible.

Day 4 Thursday - We were up nice and early today as were heading for Lunahuana. We ended up getting three buses and one taxi there taking us a total of 4 hours. When we arrived in the little village we were greeted by the intense heat there and surrounded by vineyards for sweet wines and pisco. The river Canete runs along this village and we found an english speaking guide to do white water rafting. It was just us two in the boat and the guide and the 50minute journey was so much fun. We even had a swim in a natural pool. After we tried some of the famous and highly recommended prawns fished from the local river which were lovely. The journey home was another 3 buses and a taxi and we arrived late in the evening.

Day 5 Friday - My birthday today and was awoken by my parents on skype singing happy birthday and some surprise birthday gifts! (I even got a gift from the monster dog). I then recieved a surprise breakfast from the parker family!

After my special lunch we went to a salon to get my nails done and hair done for the fiesta that evening and I even convinced John to get his hair done for my birthday!

In the evening I had a nice fiesta with Johns family, lots of nice food and a chocolate cake specially made bye Johns Auntie Tati.

Day 6 Saturday - Late morning we took a taxi to Parque del Amor and walked along the coast till Larcomar where we ate lunch at a chinese. We then walked up to Parque de Kennerdy where we found a handicraft fair going on so we took a look around. After our mooching we ended up at the english pub (which apparently is run by a texan) with me ordering a cafe and John with a beer.

Day 7 Sunday - In the morning we took a ride down to Palvos Rosado where we mooched around the centre full of cheap fakes. We were looking for a specific present for a friend but where un able to find it but instead purchased some music.

For lunch we ate out a little cafe with Johns grandparents. It was very cute and quiant and I managed to have a vegetarian dish! Lasagne!

In the evening we were invited to a girls 22nd birthday party, a family friend.

Miss you all
Vicky and John