1998 was a different time in many ways. I was 45 years old and had been living by myself in my own home for several years. That year, 1998, I took what (at the time, for me) was a luxurious vacation. I would travel to Peru for a whole 10 days!
Jump forward a quarter of a century. I would be 70 by the end of the year. Now retired, I had a girlfriend, and spent half my time in Germany where she lived and worked. We jointly decided that it would be fun to travel around Peru-especially to places I hadn’t been to the first time around. So, in mid-October of 2023, we packed our bags and, after a family stop in New Orleans, made our way down to South America and Lima, Peru.
Some places in Peru, like Lima, are unavoidable repeat experiences; but we take care to see new things. As for the places I had already been to, it is a great opportunity for comparison. We are housed in a hotel in the coastal Miraflores district of the city. So, the next morning, we take advantage of our location to walk over and admire the Pacific Ocean.
It is a Sunday, so the coast is crowded with city residents surfing, enjoying the beach, or paragliding.
Perhaps it’s a trick of memory (or just maybe I didn’t visit them in 1998), but there is a whole network of coastal parks connected by a walkway along the shoreline. There is even a lighthouse-the Faro de la Marina. I definitely don’t remember seeing that.
The star of the show, however, is “Love Park”. The park was relatively new the first time I visited (it was created in 1993), and I distinctly recall the “El Beso” (The Kiss) sculpture by Victor Delfin, a Peruvian artist.
What I don’t remember are the amazing and colorful mosaic benches throughout the park incorporating poems about love in both Spanish and Quechua. The mosaic benches are said to be inspired by those found in Park Guell-a Gaudi designed creation in Barcelona, Spain. There can be no doubt about that.
The next day, we grab a cab to Lima’s historical center-beginning at Plaza St. Martin. San Martin was an Argentinian general who always seemed to play second fiddle to the great “liberador”, Simon Bolivar. San Martin was instrumental in freeing only three South American countries (Argentina, Chile, and Peru) from Spanish domination in the first quarter of the 19th century. I guess that wasn’t enough. There is an equestrian statue of San Martin in the plaza that is named after him.
We follow Union Street to the Plaza de Armas, where most of the high-end historical property is located.
Along the way, we pop into the Iglesia de la Merced. Founded in 1535, the church is just about the same age as Lima. There are spectacular “reredos” everywhere inside. Reredos are types of altarpieces, screens, decorations, and they could be made out of just about anything. Pretty impressive.
Also known as the Plaza Mayor, we find the Cathedral, Archbishop’s Palace, Presidential Palace, and the Town Hall in Plaza de Armas. This site is considered the birthplace of Lima.
The only thing that I remember about Lima Cathedral from my prior visit is that Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistador and conqueror of the Incas, is interred here. I want to go into the Cathedral; but it now costs 30 soles to enter, and you have to be part of a guided tour. Maybe neither of those factors was important for my initial visit; but it gives us pause now. After thinking it over a bit, we ultimately decide to pay the piper and go into the Cathedral.
We join a Spanish-language tour already in progress, and it takes us about thirty minutes to ditch them and head off on our own. The Cathedral interior seems to be mostly about side chapels, although there is a nice wooden choir. There are an awful lot of these side chapels; and, while they are nice, I’ve seen more spectacular chapels in other old Spanish churches. It seemingly takes us forever to find the chapel with Pizarro’s tomb. It turns out to be not far from where we started. Unbelievable.
In the chapel devoted to Pizarro, there is a mural showing Pizarro drawing his famous line in the sand. While doing this, he supposedly said: “There lies Peru with its riches; here, Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a brave Castilian.” Thirteen men, subsequently known as the “famous thirteen”, chose to stay with Pizarro. I don’t know what proportion of Pizarro’s forces that was; but the mural makes it look like a no-brainer decision.
For years, the Cathedral proudly displayed the remains of Francisco Pizarro in a crystal vase near the altar. Before TV, it was a “must see” site for people in the area. Then, in the late 1970’s, when some guys were doing restoration work, they discovered boxes which contained the true and authenticated skull and bones of Francisco Pizarro. Well, Cathedral authorities didn’t miss a beat, cleared out a side chapel, and converted it into Pizarro’s crypt with the newly found bones interred in a special sarcophagus. The question I have is: who the hell did those altar bones belong to?
Actually, we are lucky that we chose to visit the Cathedral, because it is not certain that we can enter any of the other attractions on the Plaza de Armas. There is a demonstration going on nearby, and the Plaza is on lockdown. Everything is blocked off and armed police are everywhere. We have to content ourselves with external photos of the President’s and Archbishop’s Palaces. Appropriately, a vulture lingers of a light pole waiting for victims.
Moving on, we pass by Our Lady of Solitude Church and enter the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed in the Basilica; which is a pity since it is a hidden treasure with lots of cool stuff: an ancient library, paintings by Reubens, carved ceilings, old worn floors, and plenty of old bones down in the catacombs.
We can hear but not see the demonstrators as we proceed down Jiron Conde street and pass by the superbly colorful Casa de Osambela, an old mansion dating back to colonial times.
Our destination is Parque la Murallas, a narrow but long park that runs along a dried-out river bed and near the train tracks.
There are some sections of the old city wall here (hence the name) as well as an equestrian statue of the Conquistador Francisco Pizarro.
In the distance, we can see the Corro San Cristobal and the slum structures built upon it. The train tracks must be the dividing line between these two populations of Lima. Although it is advertised as “central Lima”, it doesn’t seem possible for it to be so far from the ocean and still be part of Lima. But it is. This is the other side.
We’ll return to Lima on our way back before departing; but the bulk of our vacation still lies before us, and many amazing places are in store. We can’t wait!
Musical Interlude: “Manana”-Carlos Vives