Owing to a very very late night on New Year's Eve into New Year's day we really didn't get going very early in the morning of my last day in Peru. When we did wake up it was pretty much time to clean up the apartment and pack up for departing. We had some small sampling of breakfast first then it was cleaning and packing. It didn't take us too long to get our stuff together and Daniela found us a taxi to her house where we would spend the day in concept before I had to get to the airport. Even though it was New Year's Day after we got to her house we headed to the mall to get lunch. The mall itself was closed but all the restaurants inside were open. We initially tried Don Bellisario but she couldn't get pork there and she wanted pork so after a quick limonada we paid up and headed to the Chili's instead. There she got the enchilada soup then pork ribs with golden barbecue sauce and I got a burger with spicy sauce and jalapenos on it. The food was good considering it was a Chili's. I had a chocolate shake with my meal.
After lunch we walked around a bit then headed back to the house and really just took a nap for a few hours after which we got everything sorted out and said good byes to the family and we headed to the airport. I checked in and we did a little shopping and then had a small snack at the 4D. I had an enchilada and some ice cream and she had a dessert and we had coffee too.
After the snack we walked around a tiny bit more then it was on to the security check-in and a sad good bye. I was able to get through security and immigration fairly easily and was there only a couple minutes before they started boarding the plane. That wait wasn't too long and things all got out on time and without much issue. We were on a United flight which was a 757-800. It was a full flight but I had a spot for my backpack up top. This flight was straight to Newark. I watched Iron Man 3 which I didn't like and Monsters University which I did like and fell asleep during the second Percy Jackson movie which I didn't like.
We arrived in Newark a bit early and I used the Global Entry to get through immigration quickly but there really wasn't much of a line anyway. It did take a long time to get my bag and get through customs but even that was plenty of time to get to the gate for my flight to Boston. I waited around and it boarded basically on time and though it also was full it boarded quick and we left early. All of this happened with the threat of a big storm in the northeast. The storm was in full swing when I landed in Boston but the Flightline picked me up and brought me to the office without issue. I met David there and after finishing out my day at work he drove me home.
Sorry some of this is probably a touch off from the exact events because I took to long to get to writing it.
The pictures from today are located here.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Peru Christmas 2013 Day 8
We actually woke up early today because Daniela had an appointment with a customer at her office at 10am. The customer was her friend Dariela's mother and her boyfriend. Lorena is from Argentina and Thornbjorn is from Norway and they met in Greece and have been seeing each other for 7 months so far. We got to the office a bit before 10 and Daniela had a fruit salad breakfast around the corner and I had some snack food from the Vivanda before they arrived.
They arrived basically a few minutes after 10 and were very nice people. He understands Spanish a bit less than I do and they speak in English together. He was a former semi-pro hockey player and even played in Sweden. You could definitely see it in his build even though he is near 60. We talked while they planned their excursion to Tarapoto for a few days a bit later in the month. He was a very interesting guy and it was cool to meet them. They did settle on a nice trip and Daniela booked it for them nice and quick and after they left we closed up and headed to the northern part of Lima to a large shopping area called Gamarra (not the giant Japanese monster turtle unfortunately). We got there by a combination of Metropolitano and taxi. It was crazy crowded with people who were shopping for all the new years eve knick knacks for their traditions. We had to change a shirt that Daniela bought for me for Christmas which was sized too small and then she bought some of the stuff we needed. She was planning for us to go out to a new years party somewhere.
We ate lunch at a food court in the shopping area where I had a braised lamb that was very tasty but unfortunately a bit tougher than I was expecting and was a little bit hard to eat with cheap plastic fork and knife. After we finished eating we had a bit more shopping to do then it was back to Miraflores by the combination of taxi and Metropolitano. We went to a salon where Daniela had some stuff done and I got a haircut when we got back. Then we walked back to the apartment with a quick stop at Vivanda.
At the apartment we ate some of the stuff we bought which was basically snacks and listened to music and Daniela wrote a large and very nice post about the year on Facebook. We had some wine and eventually we figured out that we weren't going to go out to a party and we basically did the new years traditions at the apartment instead and had a very nice night together. We watched fireworks from the balcony. New years was just like Christmas when it comes to fireworks. It may have been a bit tamer in Miraflores than Callao but there was still quite a lot.
For all that we did I only took pictures of our lunch. They are here.
They arrived basically a few minutes after 10 and were very nice people. He understands Spanish a bit less than I do and they speak in English together. He was a former semi-pro hockey player and even played in Sweden. You could definitely see it in his build even though he is near 60. We talked while they planned their excursion to Tarapoto for a few days a bit later in the month. He was a very interesting guy and it was cool to meet them. They did settle on a nice trip and Daniela booked it for them nice and quick and after they left we closed up and headed to the northern part of Lima to a large shopping area called Gamarra (not the giant Japanese monster turtle unfortunately). We got there by a combination of Metropolitano and taxi. It was crazy crowded with people who were shopping for all the new years eve knick knacks for their traditions. We had to change a shirt that Daniela bought for me for Christmas which was sized too small and then she bought some of the stuff we needed. She was planning for us to go out to a new years party somewhere.
We ate lunch at a food court in the shopping area where I had a braised lamb that was very tasty but unfortunately a bit tougher than I was expecting and was a little bit hard to eat with cheap plastic fork and knife. After we finished eating we had a bit more shopping to do then it was back to Miraflores by the combination of taxi and Metropolitano. We went to a salon where Daniela had some stuff done and I got a haircut when we got back. Then we walked back to the apartment with a quick stop at Vivanda.
At the apartment we ate some of the stuff we bought which was basically snacks and listened to music and Daniela wrote a large and very nice post about the year on Facebook. We had some wine and eventually we figured out that we weren't going to go out to a party and we basically did the new years traditions at the apartment instead and had a very nice night together. We watched fireworks from the balcony. New years was just like Christmas when it comes to fireworks. It may have been a bit tamer in Miraflores than Callao but there was still quite a lot.
For all that we did I only took pictures of our lunch. They are here.
Peru Christmas 2013 Day 7
We again had a later start to the day as our plans were really just for the evening. We stayed around the apartment and watched The Blues Brothers and then we got cleaned up and headed to Daniela's house to have lunch with her mother. However we were a bit late and her mother had already eaten, so we warmed up what she had and ate that. We had steaks with cheese with a mushroom sauce over rice and vegetables. It was all very good and Daniela served me a lot of it. After eating we got a few things prepared. My mother-in-law presented me with a scarf she had knitted for me.
We got ready and along with my mother-in-law we took a taxi to Silvia's house (Daniela's aunt) because it was her birthday. We got there just as everyone else started to arrive. They gave us some pisco sours and also some beer and of course they served us dinner which was chicken and vegetables. I was stuffed already from lunch and it was tough to eat it all. Most of Silvia's family was able to make it so she had her sisters and her son-in-law and his family as well. It was a nice night. They had a very dense birthday cake that had a nut flavor to it. The night was finished out with a little bit of dancing.
We brought Daniela's mom home by taxi before heading back to the apartment for the night.
The pictures from today are found here.
We got ready and along with my mother-in-law we took a taxi to Silvia's house (Daniela's aunt) because it was her birthday. We got there just as everyone else started to arrive. They gave us some pisco sours and also some beer and of course they served us dinner which was chicken and vegetables. I was stuffed already from lunch and it was tough to eat it all. Most of Silvia's family was able to make it so she had her sisters and her son-in-law and his family as well. It was a nice night. They had a very dense birthday cake that had a nut flavor to it. The night was finished out with a little bit of dancing.
We brought Daniela's mom home by taxi before heading back to the apartment for the night.
The pictures from today are found here.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Peru Christmas 2013 Day 6
As it was a Sunday and we had been up fairly late we again got a late start on the day and basically had no plans for what to do at all which I think was nice. We really didn't have breakfast and eventually ordered another pizza from Papa John's as our lunch (along with some pepperoni rolls and chicken wings). We got the TV working for displaying movies off a USB drive sort of and watched the movie Hero though I am sure Daniela didn't much care for it. Unfortunately the TV wouldn't play several of the movie codec types I was hoping it would. After that I was able to find the second half of the Patriots game on a live stream that was a fair bit choppy but at least I had an idea what was going on. I was happy to see they got the first round bye though I wish the Raiders could have at least put up a little bit of a fight.
After the football game was over we got cleaned up and dressed and took a bus out to a place that I wanted to take some pictures of the Christmas decorations. I think you will figure out what I mean if you look at the pictures from today. It happened there was a 4D heladaria across the street and we had some desserts and coffee or hot chocolate there.
We then got a cab to a movie theater and watched the movie Last Vegas which in Spanish was titled El Ultimo Viaje a Las Vegas (The Last Trip To Las Vegas). I think the joke gets lost a little in the translation. It was cute and I laughed quite a few times through it. Not typically a movie I would choose to watch but I did enjoy it. We had popcorn and water to accompany the movie.
After the movie we walked back from the theater which is in San Isidro (one district off of Miraflores and where the olive tree park is) back to the apartment where we called it a night.
The pictures from today are located here.
After the football game was over we got cleaned up and dressed and took a bus out to a place that I wanted to take some pictures of the Christmas decorations. I think you will figure out what I mean if you look at the pictures from today. It happened there was a 4D heladaria across the street and we had some desserts and coffee or hot chocolate there.
We then got a cab to a movie theater and watched the movie Last Vegas which in Spanish was titled El Ultimo Viaje a Las Vegas (The Last Trip To Las Vegas). I think the joke gets lost a little in the translation. It was cute and I laughed quite a few times through it. Not typically a movie I would choose to watch but I did enjoy it. We had popcorn and water to accompany the movie.
After the movie we walked back from the theater which is in San Isidro (one district off of Miraflores and where the olive tree park is) back to the apartment where we called it a night.
The pictures from today are located here.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Peru Christmas 2013 Day 5
We definitely had a late start to the day and didn't do much but hang around the apartment for most all of it but eventually we had to go to Daniela's office really quickly to get a couple things done towards the evening. That only took a few minutes and then we had dinner at La Trattoria de Mambrino which is just off Ave Larco near the big round about with Pardo.
Daniela had a salad then a stewed beef rib it over pasta and I had the gnocchi ala pesto. I forgot to take pictures of the food until we had the dessert. We split a bottle of Argentinian Malbec with the dinner. For dessert I had a grappa (it was listed as a pisco but was Italian which is a grappa) and an apple dessert that had calvados and vanilla ice cream and was really good. Daniela had a cappuccino which came with some chocolate that she really liked. It was a very nice restaurant and the food was very good but it will apparently be moving to Larcomar by June or July because they feel they will get more foot traffic there even though the place has been where it is for 30 years or so.
After dinner we had to run quick to get a gift for Estef and we were able to just before the store closed. We walked most of the way down Ave Larco and then picked up a taxi to Barranco where the club El Dragon del Sur was. That was where Estef was having her birthday party. We got in and got a water and juice and sat at the bar while Estef was waiting for all of her guests to arrive by midnight. They were playing reggae music which I thought was odd. We stayed around for a while and talked to Estef for a few minutes but after a couple of nights of being up so late Daniela could see I was exhausted and we left. We walked down the streets of Barranco for a bit until their main square then got a taxi back to the hotel and called it a night.
The pictures from today can be found here.
Daniela had a salad then a stewed beef rib it over pasta and I had the gnocchi ala pesto. I forgot to take pictures of the food until we had the dessert. We split a bottle of Argentinian Malbec with the dinner. For dessert I had a grappa (it was listed as a pisco but was Italian which is a grappa) and an apple dessert that had calvados and vanilla ice cream and was really good. Daniela had a cappuccino which came with some chocolate that she really liked. It was a very nice restaurant and the food was very good but it will apparently be moving to Larcomar by June or July because they feel they will get more foot traffic there even though the place has been where it is for 30 years or so.
After dinner we had to run quick to get a gift for Estef and we were able to just before the store closed. We walked most of the way down Ave Larco and then picked up a taxi to Barranco where the club El Dragon del Sur was. That was where Estef was having her birthday party. We got in and got a water and juice and sat at the bar while Estef was waiting for all of her guests to arrive by midnight. They were playing reggae music which I thought was odd. We stayed around for a while and talked to Estef for a few minutes but after a couple of nights of being up so late Daniela could see I was exhausted and we left. We walked down the streets of Barranco for a bit until their main square then got a taxi back to the hotel and called it a night.
The pictures from today can be found here.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Peru Christmas 2013 Day 4
When we got up I made French toast for breakfast using some Turtle Lane Maple Farms maple syrup (they're in North Andover just down the street from me). I think it came out decent enough but it does not appear to be Daniela's thing though she liked the maple syrup.
After breakfast we got cleaned up and walked over to Gabriel's office to finish up the wedding album. He needed to take a picture of our rings to put in it and we finalized how it all looked. That didn't take too long. It was cool to see how quick he and his assistant Juliana can be.
From there we headed to Daniela's office where she had a bit of work to do. We spent a few hours there. I went for a quick shopping trip and helped out where I can. She even had a walk up customer who found her because apparently the address also used to belong to a travel agency before hers. In any event she sold him a hotel around Mancora where we stayed for our honeymoon. He was driving there (good luck to him).
We had lunch at a Pardo's Chicken, having pollo ala brasa. I had mine with a beer and Daniela had a lemonade. I forgot to take a picture but I have a few of Pardo's pollo and Cusquena by now anyway. We had to head back to the office to finish out that sale after lunch then rush to the bank before it closed. From there we tried to do some shopping for a birthday present from me for Daniela's mother. It was her birthday today. Not having much luck in Miraflores we took a very overstuffed bus ride to San Miguel and went to the mall where we bought her a dress from Ripley's. We then ran to a bakery just down the street and bought a waybana cake for her at a small bakery named Gaby's I believe. Then it was on to Daniela's house to help out for the birthday party.
I think I mentioned before that birthday parties in Peru happen really late at night and the cake is supposed to happen at midnight. So Donna was cooking anticuchos of beef heart and chicken plus some grilled beef intestine as well. I helped peel some potatoes and set up a bit. We had wine and homemade chicha morada as well as the food. Donna's boyfriend Edwin came over along with Daniela's aunt and great uncle (who is 93 years old). We all sat in the car park area with the grill while Donna cooked. The food was excellent but I probably could do without the intestine so much (too chewy). There was a lot and I gave one of my beef heart anticuchos to Lucho. Daniela's mom made the guys dance and I also danced with Daniela to various types of music.
A little bit after midnight we had the cake. I think the waybana fruit tasted a bit like green bananas but Daniela thinks I am crazy about that. I have no other comparison for it. I had more cake than I needed though. I was stuffed. I danced a bit more then helped to clean up and Daniela washed the dishes while I helped as much as I could. I think we finally were done about 1:30 to 1:45am where we immediately got outside and got very lucky catching an empty taxi right out of the gas station across Faucett from their house. It was a quick ride back to the apartment as there was no traffic then immediately to bed as we were both totally exhausted from the day.
The pictures from today are located here.
After breakfast we got cleaned up and walked over to Gabriel's office to finish up the wedding album. He needed to take a picture of our rings to put in it and we finalized how it all looked. That didn't take too long. It was cool to see how quick he and his assistant Juliana can be.
From there we headed to Daniela's office where she had a bit of work to do. We spent a few hours there. I went for a quick shopping trip and helped out where I can. She even had a walk up customer who found her because apparently the address also used to belong to a travel agency before hers. In any event she sold him a hotel around Mancora where we stayed for our honeymoon. He was driving there (good luck to him).
We had lunch at a Pardo's Chicken, having pollo ala brasa. I had mine with a beer and Daniela had a lemonade. I forgot to take a picture but I have a few of Pardo's pollo and Cusquena by now anyway. We had to head back to the office to finish out that sale after lunch then rush to the bank before it closed. From there we tried to do some shopping for a birthday present from me for Daniela's mother. It was her birthday today. Not having much luck in Miraflores we took a very overstuffed bus ride to San Miguel and went to the mall where we bought her a dress from Ripley's. We then ran to a bakery just down the street and bought a waybana cake for her at a small bakery named Gaby's I believe. Then it was on to Daniela's house to help out for the birthday party.
I think I mentioned before that birthday parties in Peru happen really late at night and the cake is supposed to happen at midnight. So Donna was cooking anticuchos of beef heart and chicken plus some grilled beef intestine as well. I helped peel some potatoes and set up a bit. We had wine and homemade chicha morada as well as the food. Donna's boyfriend Edwin came over along with Daniela's aunt and great uncle (who is 93 years old). We all sat in the car park area with the grill while Donna cooked. The food was excellent but I probably could do without the intestine so much (too chewy). There was a lot and I gave one of my beef heart anticuchos to Lucho. Daniela's mom made the guys dance and I also danced with Daniela to various types of music.
A little bit after midnight we had the cake. I think the waybana fruit tasted a bit like green bananas but Daniela thinks I am crazy about that. I have no other comparison for it. I had more cake than I needed though. I was stuffed. I danced a bit more then helped to clean up and Daniela washed the dishes while I helped as much as I could. I think we finally were done about 1:30 to 1:45am where we immediately got outside and got very lucky catching an empty taxi right out of the gas station across Faucett from their house. It was a quick ride back to the apartment as there was no traffic then immediately to bed as we were both totally exhausted from the day.
The pictures from today are located here.
Friday, December 27, 2013
Peru Christmas 2013 Day 3
We got going a bit late in the morning as we were up fairly late. We had our left over pizza and some tea and/or instant coffee for breakfast.
Our first thing to do was to travel far to the northern end of Lima where Daniela's mother's market stall was. She just ended her stay in the marketplace after many years and we had to help her pack up and move out. I am sure it was a sad thing for her and it was involuntary as the owner of the market asked her to move out. We had to take a bus to the Metropolitano to a combi to get to the marketplace. I think it took us an hour and a little bit.
When we arrived Donna and her mother were already starting to pack things up. Daniela and I went out in search of boxes first then we started to help pack also. We probably spent the better part of 5 or 6 hours on packing. We had to disassemble a couple of shelving sets she had. They found a truck to carry all the stuff to storage in their old family house in Callao. Daniela and I rode in the back during the trip. It was bouncy and a little uncomfortable. I think it took us about half an hour to get there. We then unloaded the truck and packed it into the rooms. When all of that was done Daniela and I took a different combi than Donna and her mother.
We took the combi to just the edge of Miraflores then switched off to a bus which brought us to the Vivanda just down the road from our apartment. We did a quick bit of shopping for the apartment then immediately started getting cleaned up and ready for a nice dinner at La Rosa Nautica for our 2 month anniversary. A guy from the apartment came in and replaced the missing TV that had been destroyed while we were getting ready. He finished just in time. We caught a taxi to the restaurant and arrived probably a few minutes late. It is not really far from the apartment but down on the beach obviously.
We were told we had to wait a couple minutes so went to the bar and ordered a couple of drinks. I had a Glenfiddich 12 year Daniela had a piskini which was a pisco based martini. We actually didn't finish either of them. We had barely been served them by the time we were seated to our table. We ordered a starter of shrimp in deep fried Chinese noodles. They were good. Daniela ate more than I did.
I had a stewed rabbit dish which had potatoes, mushrooms, bacon, baby onions, leeks and rice. It was extremely good. Daniela had a steak with an egg based sauce over pasta. It was cooked less than I think she asked for but it was really good she said. We accompanied the meal with an Argentinian merlot which was very nicely flavored.
Daniela was too full for dessert which had me worried she had been replaced by an alien. I had the cafe de popa which is what I had the first time we went there. It was coffee ice cream with coffee liqueur, whipped cream and chocolate covered espresso beans. It was very good. Daniela didn't want to try it.
From there it was back to the apartment by taxi and call it a night.
The pictures from today are located here.
Our first thing to do was to travel far to the northern end of Lima where Daniela's mother's market stall was. She just ended her stay in the marketplace after many years and we had to help her pack up and move out. I am sure it was a sad thing for her and it was involuntary as the owner of the market asked her to move out. We had to take a bus to the Metropolitano to a combi to get to the marketplace. I think it took us an hour and a little bit.
When we arrived Donna and her mother were already starting to pack things up. Daniela and I went out in search of boxes first then we started to help pack also. We probably spent the better part of 5 or 6 hours on packing. We had to disassemble a couple of shelving sets she had. They found a truck to carry all the stuff to storage in their old family house in Callao. Daniela and I rode in the back during the trip. It was bouncy and a little uncomfortable. I think it took us about half an hour to get there. We then unloaded the truck and packed it into the rooms. When all of that was done Daniela and I took a different combi than Donna and her mother.
We took the combi to just the edge of Miraflores then switched off to a bus which brought us to the Vivanda just down the road from our apartment. We did a quick bit of shopping for the apartment then immediately started getting cleaned up and ready for a nice dinner at La Rosa Nautica for our 2 month anniversary. A guy from the apartment came in and replaced the missing TV that had been destroyed while we were getting ready. He finished just in time. We caught a taxi to the restaurant and arrived probably a few minutes late. It is not really far from the apartment but down on the beach obviously.
We were told we had to wait a couple minutes so went to the bar and ordered a couple of drinks. I had a Glenfiddich 12 year Daniela had a piskini which was a pisco based martini. We actually didn't finish either of them. We had barely been served them by the time we were seated to our table. We ordered a starter of shrimp in deep fried Chinese noodles. They were good. Daniela ate more than I did.
I had a stewed rabbit dish which had potatoes, mushrooms, bacon, baby onions, leeks and rice. It was extremely good. Daniela had a steak with an egg based sauce over pasta. It was cooked less than I think she asked for but it was really good she said. We accompanied the meal with an Argentinian merlot which was very nicely flavored.
Daniela was too full for dessert which had me worried she had been replaced by an alien. I had the cafe de popa which is what I had the first time we went there. It was coffee ice cream with coffee liqueur, whipped cream and chocolate covered espresso beans. It was very good. Daniela didn't want to try it.
From there it was back to the apartment by taxi and call it a night.
The pictures from today are located here.
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