Lima doesn´t smell nearly as bad as people say...

Monica picked me up and we hit the streets of Lima hard in her thin, rattling, but tenacious tiny van. The old part of downtown Lima (Plaza de Armas, etc.) and a tour of the San Francisco monastery and church (including creepy catacombs with lots of dusty bones), where we were forced to look at a ghastly portrait of San Francisco "depicted 24 hours after his death" (why? And with one eye stuck open, the other shut...is that necessary?), next to which sat another portrait of San Francisco in which, I swear the tour guide said, the saint is depicted "playing the rabbit, which he did before he said mass." The painting and room were dark and I couldn´t make out much of anything...and she moved quickly so no explanations. Monica dragged my tired ass all over the city, which is big. And I´m happy to say, relatively clean and well-kept. The guide books bad mouth poor Lima, and maybe I only saw the high points. And I´ve travelled enough (and lived in Houston) to know that all cities have nice spots and dreadful spot...but Lima´s nice spots are awfully nice. Sorry we don´t have time to explore the nightlife more. (By the way, it´s gray and wet, and I don´t think the sun breaks out until November so I´m loving it.) We finished the tour off with a very long lunch at El Segorio de Sulco overlooking the Pacific. Monica got me looped with a Pisco sour, and I was able to knock off two of my must-eats for Peru: ceviche (with giant corn kernels and sweet potatoes, I´m not shitting you) and lomo saltado (a sort of stir fry with beef, onions, ginger, peppers and rice). Sure was fine. Monica also introduced me to chicha morada, which is a purply looking drink made of, well, purple corn (!). Sweet and a little bit sour and fabulous, as the gays say. Must have more chicha morada (there´s also a chicha beer, made, obviously, of corn...but Lima´s too refined to serve it but I will find it!).

I have filled Monica in on the Hawaiians, and we return to the airport tonight to retrieve them. Should be an interesting cultural moment (Monica, too, volunteered that it was crazy to bring a 5-month-old to Peru...oh well).

Tomorrow, we head to the bus station at 6 a.m. to catch the bus to Nasca to see the weird, spooky Nasca lines. Our first of many travel challenges. More on that later.