Lima, Peru

I am sitting here in a Starbucks in Lima, Peru with Jerry and our private guide. We are making phone calls with our Magic Jack and sending emails to family members. We have had a very busy day sightseeing in this city of 9 million people. There is a Chinatown, an old part, a new part, a central market and so much more. We are now in the section of Miraflores, a beautiful beachside town where the rich folks hang out. This morning we saw the changing of the guard at the presidential palace. It was quite impressive. Our private guide, Monica, is fabulous. We are doing the whole thing in Spanish in order to practice of language skills and we are doing really well.



Docking this morning was very interesting. We were met in the harbor by five health department officials who had to clear the ship of swine flu, which they did after an hour's delay. The pier was filled with local and international media of all kinds, all wearing masks and making a big to-do for the television cameras. Look for me on CNN! What a big fuss! I think this will be the last ship in this port for the season.



Lima has a lot to see and it's hard to do in one day but I think we have done all the highlights, including going into the catacombs of the main cathedral where there are thousands of bones of dead people. This was the only burial place here in Lima for hundreds of years because of the many earthquakes this area is prone to have. You can imagine how wonderful it was to know about those earthquakes while underground in a church with all those dead people!