We finally got in the van and on the way to the touristic neighborhood of Miraflores in Lima.
Since we arrived around midnight, my initial impressions of Lima were as viewed through the "late night" lense.
My first impression was that it appeared to be much more US-centric than Montevideo. It wasn't just that there were a lot more cars (and broad roads built to handle them) it's that places of business were built with parking lots.
In addition, some of chain restaurants from the US had migrated as far south as Peru and would make an appearance on the roadside with startling regularity.
Pizza Hut
McDonalds
KFC
Dunkin Donuts
Dominos
Burger King
Subway
Chili's
and several others that i'm sure i forget. In addition to the North American eating establishments, the other things that immediately struck me about Lima were:
1.) an asian influence (believe it or not), and
2.) the ubiquity of casinos, bingo halls, and gambling establishments
MiraFlores is the "upscale" neighborhood in Lima (I guess). While not pristine (by North American standards), by *lima* standards you could tell just driving down the streets that it was considered the "good" neighborhood.
MiraFlores has a nice park that sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean a couple of blocks from our hotel. Then, underneath the park, into the cliff overlooking the ocean they built an upscale outdoor mall.
The pictures are a little weak because the marine layer whites everything out on my camera. Trust me, it was a lot nicer than anything in MVD though. There was a nice/upscale Chinese AND Japanese restaurant, Tony Romas (lol), Hooters (lmfao), and a Dunkin Donuts (not laughing now -- i ate lots of those :))
There were also a number of local stores selling upscale baby alpaca "wool" items of clothing and some other stores geared towards the well-off Peruvian or Foreigner/Expat. The mall was quite crowded everytime we went there for to eat in our four days in Lima.
Ok...further adventures/details/and pics coming in the next installment.
UG
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