Moorea: a synonym for beautiful…and Papeete. Paradise twice experienced.

We anchored off Moorea today in the shelter of Cook’s Bay. Moorea is a heart-shaped island about 30 minutes by ferry northwest of Tahiti. We are here for a day of sun, sand, and relaxation.

Last year we also landed at Moorea and since neither one of us was really feeling well, we opted for a laid-back day. We are both trying to shake a really bad head cold and today Bonnie just wanted to coop on the ship and I wanted to go ashore to take a quick look at the nearest town.

Our anchorage was near the northern end of the bay and just outside of the village of Maharepa (ma-ha-reh-pah). Maharepa is about three blocks long by about one block wide. It took me all of ten or fifteen minutes to hoof it from the tender dock to the town. It took about another ten minutes to look around and decide that I’d seen enough.

On the left is our ship, the Silver Whisper, as seen from my walk along the shore into town. On the right is the thriving metropolis of Maharepa. Truthfully, there was really more activity than I expected given the small population.

Everything on Moorea is measured from the entrance to the airport on the north side of the island. There is a single road that circles the island and the “mile markers” (actually kilometer markers) begin at the airport with KM 0 and go all the way around to about KM 35. I happened to pass KM 7 on my way to and from town. If you look at it carefully, you will see that it is a stone cutout of the island with the two prominent bays at the top: Cook’s Bay on the right (where we are anchored); Opohonu Bay on the left. The picture on the right with the haze-covered mountain backdrop is the Paul Gaugin that was also anchored in Cook’s Bay the day we were there.

As we were leaving that afternoon, I glanced out our veranda and just had to take this last shot.
Since we were just here a year ago, we did not feel like we missed much. If you are interested in a more active adventure, here is a link to last year’s blog entry: 2015 Moorea blog post

After tendering back to the ship, I looked in on the Princess and assured that she was doing well. After a light lunch, some reading and a nap, we decided that we were both doing well enough to get to dinner. This evening we had a local troupe give us a song and dance show that was very well done, but unfortunately, was so repetitious of many of the “South Seas Islands” shows that we lost interest about halfway through. The show was followed by a Polynesian dinner buffet, complete with suckling pig, huge skewers of giant shrimp, chicken, sausages, lamb and beef, and on and on.
At about 8:00 PM we docked in Papeete for an overnight. Tomorrow we plan to revisit the market, stroll the waterfront, and just soak up the city…

New day:

Well, it’s now “tomorrow” and we did exactly as I predicted. Although it was overcast and we had a light rain as we started out, we did make it to the market. It is amazing how your sensory memory kicks in when you re-visit a place that held a strong response when first visited. Last year when we came to the market, we were really overwhelmed with the smells, and the size of the structure. This time, as we walked in, I commented that it seemed like just last week when we were here before. Bonnie agrees.

The above two pictures were shot from the second floor of the market. We were fortunate that even with the rain, the market was busy since there is little refrigeration in Tahiti and every day is market day. If you have never shopped in a local market – or even strolled through one (and it can be an uncomfortable stroll if it is busy), then you are missing one of the great joys of travel. Every market is similar in that there is food, staples, etc., but every market is different in that every culture has its own way of farming, shopping, food preparation, and sales techniques. We love markets and can’t imagine not visiting them as part of our travel education. Oh…and we love to eat. Fortunately, Bonnie does not come through any the worse for these experiences, but I seem to increase my bulk the longer we travel…

After a walk around to refresh our memories again, we prowled the jewelry shops for a while to look for some pearl earrings for our niece. I cannot say if we were successful or not since she also reads this blog and I wouldn't want to spoil any surprise that might be lurking. Suffice it to say, we are not always successful in finding what we want in local markets and at local shops – but, then again, sometimes we are…sorry, Chelsea….

After our walk around and a rest stop for a bottle of water accompanied by a few minutes of people-watching, we ambled around a few back streets window shopping, looked at the outside of the cathedral, and took a slow stroll back to the ship. Then it was lunch, a nap for the Princess, and blog time for me.

We did have a nice refresher in Papeete, but since we are both recovering from really nasty colds, we chose to again take it easy the rest of the day. If you are interested, here is a link to last year’s Papeete blog entry: 2015 Papeete blog post

We leave at 7:00 this evening and head for Bora Bora. We are planning on an off the ship adventure in Bora Bora, so stay tuned…

Eleven glorious sun-filled days at sea; now French Polynesia and the weather gets cranky…

We have been cruising for eleven days since we left Lima, Peru. We were unable to land at either Rapa Nui or Pitcairn Island. Although we did stop for a view of each and did have an opportunity to meet some of the locals, we could not disembark. Today we made landfall at Fakarava (fah-kah-rah-vah) in the Tuamotu (too-ah-mo-too) group of the French Polynesian archipeligo. Read on for a report on the glorious weather that greeted us.

On the left is an idea of just where French Polynesia is with respect to the rest of the world. On the right is a closer view of the major island groups that make up the French Polynesian archipeligo. You may be familiar with the better known groups: the Marquesas and the Society Islands. The lesser known are also quite beautiful and are mostly undeveloped except for a few of the larger ones.

On the left is a highlight showing the location of the Fakarava atoll. I use the term “atoll” as opposed to island because, as you can see from the right-hand picture, Favaraka is mostly lagoon surrounded by a slim reef structure containing a number of small coral islands, locally called “motus (mo-too).”The littel red star is the rough location of where we have anchored. The small red circle is the “town” containing the tender pier. The red arrow indicates the break in the atoll exterior reef that permits ships and boats to enter and exit the lagoon. There is a small break at the south end as well, but it is too small for our ship.

After eleven days at sea the term “cabin fever” begins to take on a new meaning. Fortunately, Bonnie and I really enjoy our sea days and we really did not give it much of a thought. Some of our fellow passengers did not, however, share that enlightened view. There were a number of folks who were waiting by the tender embarkation doors evenn before the Captain called the clearance. I chose not to be part of that stampede.

I waited until the initial rush was over and then I went ashore for a short visit. Bonnie was not feeling well. She has a blistering cold and just wants to veg out for a couple of days. Fortunately, she will not be missing anything important.

I went ashore to the local port, Rotoava (ro-to-ava) and began walking to “town” which was a short distance from the tender pier. I walked for about ten minutes and saw nothing that I had not already seen on the way out from the pier, so I reversed and went back.

After about three weeks of simply fabulous weather, we woke up this morning to clouds, drizzle, fog, ansd a generally bum day. Well, we thought positively: the fog will left; the drizzle will stop; the coulds will disappear. NOT!! It styayed that way all day, that is until it was time to pull the anchor and leave lovely Fakarava in mid-afternoon. By then it was merely overcast with occasional drizzle.

On the left is what greeted me from our veranda and on the right is what it looked like from shore. Those crystal-clear turquoise blue waters were sort of icky gray and tan and the normally super visibility was down to only a few feet. 

The most exciting thing I did manage to come across was a parade of school children moving from their school house on one side of the road to their “Cantine” or lunch room on the other side of the road. I don’t know about chickens, but I do now know why children cross the road…

After all that excitement with the kids, I felt obligated to spend a few minutes grazing the craft tent by the dock, then back on the tender and reboard the Silver Whisper for lunch.

Tomorrow we get to Moorea, French Polynesia. We were there last year and did our touring at that time. This year we plan to walk about, visit the market, and just relax – if Bonnie’s cold has subsided enough. If not, oh well, another “sea” day….

Stay tuned…

Pitcairn Island: easy to see why it appealed to the Bounty mutineers and to very few since…

Here’s an interesting factoid: more people have reached the top of Mount Everest than have landed on Pitcairn Island – including those lucky few cruisers who have made it through the surf.
Unfortunately, we are not among them. Although we received encouraging news early in the morning from the Captain, by the time we anchored offshore (Pitcairn is not big enough to have anything resembling a dock or pier) the surf had started up again and we would not be making landfall. We would, however, continue to monitor the seas and, if in the Captain’s opinion, it became calm enough, we might be able to land a shore party later in the day.

As you can see, Pitcairn is another of those “remotest places on earth.” It does have a much more interesting history than some others, but it is still just a relatively small rock in a very big ocean. Actually, Pitcairn is one of a four-island group that makes up the Pitcairn Islands:

Here is a better view of this tiny archipelago that has a bit more description:

We anchored in Bounty Bay just off the only real town on Pitcairn, Adamstown. Adamstown is named after, of course, John Adams, the last surviving member of the Bounty’s mutineers. Along with Fletcher Christian’s bible, one of the Bounty’s anchors, and Adams’ grave, there is not much to see on Pitcairn. One visits this remote remnant of the British Empire more for bragging rights than for stuff to do or see – sort of like Mount Everest.
If you look at some of the place names on the island, you might be able to conjure up your own version of what took place to justify the name. For instance, Fletcher Christian’s Cave is, in fact, where he hid out when he had thoughts that the British Navy might be coming by. One must wonder, however, about Where Dan Fell, Bitey-Bitey, and Oh Dear…
Although we could not get ashore, we did have the islanders, all 48 of them including the children, visit us. They came out in their longboat and it created quite stir as they approached and pulled alongside.

On the left you can see the longboat (about 35’ long with about a 10’ beam) heading out from the relative seclusion of a tiny cove in Bounty Bay. As they got closer, we realized that literally the entire island had come to greet us.

Here is what the longboat looked like as they pulled alongside. They would be tying up at our tender platform, transferring all of the people to our ship, then unloading their “trade goods” for a mini-market in the main reception hallway and bar area. Although it may not seem like the seas are very rough, my pictures simply cannot capture the eight- to ten-foot swells and small breaking wavelets that they had to adjust to simply to pull alongside, let alone unload and disembark. It was actually a little thrilling to watch them work the boat and it proved just how dependent they are on being able seamen – women and children included. They have a supply boat that comes around from New Zealand every three months. Everything must be imported as they have no farming or manufacturing on the island. They do have some small gardens, but they cannot sustain themselves without importing everything - except honey which they make on the island and which is reputed to be among the finest in the world…
Meanwhile, back to tying up and unloading:

On the left you can see them try to maneuver close enough to get the ropes (oops, in sailors’ lingo that would be “lines” matey…) up for our people to grab. On the right you can see several boxes of goods thay they will attempt to trade for other needs (read: $$$$).

Here, on the left, all the people are on board, except for the longboat’s crew, and they are just about finished bringing everything on board. Note that the platform on which everyone was sitting in the prior pictures is actually a false deck and the entire hollow hull was filled with additional trade wares. On the right, the longboat, now empty, rides high and the crew will take it back ashore until later this afternoon when they come back to get the islanders and their really neat trades ($$$$).
Bonnie and I did a bit of retail therapy with the natives – actually, very nice people who were not only glad to see us, but were patient about pictures, questions, and all the things that tourists do to annoy the natives… Of course, the fresh juices, cookies, and other goodies that the Hotel Manager had set out for them might have been a slight influence, but we found them to be delightful folks.
Our foray into the trade goods business consisted of two tee-shirts, three postcards, and a refrigerator magnet. The magnet is a small piece of local driftwood in the outline of Pitcairn Island that has been sanded to a gloss, polished with some sort of native brew, had a local postage stamp affixed  for decoration, and polished once again. Each magnet was signed by the maker. Here is a very poor picture of our magnet with its creator:
 
Just as I took the picture, I was bumped slightly, but must not have noticed it. Unfortunately, this was the only one I took. The lady is Carol Christian, a sixth generation Pitcairn Islander. Another interesting factoid: there are only three surnames among the 48 islanders - Christian, Adams, and Browne. Everyone is related to everyone else...

This will give you some idea of what the reception salon and bar looked like on “market day.”
Later that afternoon, the seas settled enough that the Captain announced that anyone who wanted to go ashore in the Pitcairn Island longboat could do so, but you would have to ride up top as did the islanders, with a life preserver. Once ashore you could say you landed on Pitcairn, but then would have to immediately get back in the longboat for the ride back to the ship. It turns out that the trip over was very wet, the landing was very wet, and the trip back was very wet. After watching one batch of our fellow passengers getting on and off the longboat and then finding out just how hairy the trip over and back and shoreside landing was, we opted to be part of the watchers rather than the doers. Maybe next time…
Since we did not actually land on Pitcairn, and since we also missed a landing on Rapa Nui, we will have had 11 straight days at sea by the time we reach our next port later this week – Fakarava, French Polynesia. I believe everyone, crew included, will at least go ashore and walk around for a few minutes.
Stay tuned to see what adventure lies ahead…

The Pacific Crossing: beauty in blue and white

Crossing the Pacific Ocean is a little different from crossing the Atlantic. For one thing, it is a lot bigger; therefore, the crossing takes longer. If we were not planning to stop at Rapa Nui and Pitcairn Island, then we could probably do it in seven or eight days rather than the five or six that the Atlantic takes. I thought it might be interesting to learn about some of the things one does on an ocean crossing since you can’t just say “I’ve had enough sea and sky, I’m getting off!”
We have been listening to lectures, playing bridge (and for our bridge-playing friends, we have been scoring points!), eating, drinking, socializing, and just loving the sea and sky. The other evening we were invited to have dinner with the Captain and his Senior Staff. Wow! Then we found out it was in the crew mess… However, this turned out to be one of the highlights of the cruise so far. Last year we also had a crew mess dinner, but I do not remember it being such fun and such great food.
We began by making a stop in the crew bar for a cocktail and a nibble. Then we proceeded to the crew dining room and laid out on each table was an antipasto (after all, this is an Italian line). That was followed by fresh-made pasta and sauce. Pasta was followed by dinner! Dinner was a buffet of ethnic cuisines representing most of the eastern nationalities on the ship: Thai, Indonesian; Philippine; Indian. Dessert was, of course, Italian: tiramisu; cannoli. We were fortunate to have been seated with the Captain and the Hotel Director. 
We sit on the pool deck to read each day for a while and sometimes I just put my book down and look at the passing scene. The sky is usually bright robin’s-egg blue with tufts of fluffy white clouds looking like so many spurts of KoolWhip. Sometimes one feels like one can just reach up and pluck a handful right there on deck. The sea is a much darker shade of blue; somewhat like a royal blue or even a navy blue. Always with little white-capped wavelets. Since the seas are fairly calm – 3-5 feet most times – we can just relax and loll around as much as we please.
Here are a few pictures of the views from our veranda:

The view on the left is from our veranda about mid-afternoon. On the right, it is beginning to get dark about 9:30 PM. As we sail west and as we change time zones, it stays lighter out later. This was on the night of the full moon in January.

The view on the left is a sunset about 8:45 PM. The sub has just sunk below the horizon and it is twilight. On the right is the full moon at about midnight over the water.
Sunday evening is “Family Night” in the Italian-themed restaurant on board. We were asked by some friends to join them for a table of eight. What fun! Again we started by browsing a buffet of antipasti – hot and cold. One could easily make a meal on that in about two passes (OK, maybe two and a half…). To do so would, however, be a BIG mistake. After the antipasto course, came – you guessed it – the pasta course: fresh-made spaghetti and meat balls served in large platters family-style. The spaghetti was perfectly al dente and the meatballs were just right. Again one could gorge on that, but be making yet another mistake. The pasta course was followed by the main cours(es). That evening it was eggplant parmigana and shrimp gorgonzola, again served in large platters family-style. The main course changes every week as does the style of pasta. Dessert was again the ubiquitous tiramisu and cannoli.
By the way, every meal is accompanied by the appropriate white and red wines. All Italian meals are also begun with a flute of Prosecco sparkler. Every meal is ended with coffee, cappuccino, or other after-dinner drink of one’s choice, if desired.
Enough about food!
Among the things to do while whiling away the days at sea are listening to enrichment lectures by people with some rather impressive credentials. Thus far we have had a series of lectures on an eclectic mix of topics from a British journalist, Michael Bruert. Michael has been around the world in journalism for almost fifty years and gives a rather unique perspective on some of his adventures – and miss-adventures. We have also heard from Bruce Riedel – not of wine glass fame, but a 30-year veteran of the CIA – not the Culinary Institute of America, that other CIA. He has some interesting things to say about ISIS, the Middle East in general, and most recently, the Saudi Royal Family. We also have my friend Jon Fleming, the Destination Lecturer. Jon is a young – by most standards, since I do not believe he has yet passed the 50 mark – historian by training who has been traveling for over twenty-five years. He writes, blogs, lectures, and in recent years, serves as the Destination Lecturer for many of the Silversea cruises – especially the World Cruises. Jon is entertaining, educational, and most importantly, very approachable for questions, suggestions, and restaurant recommendations.
After the bummer with Easter Island, we hope to be able to actually land on Pitcairn Island. We have been told that that landing is just about as dicey as Easter Island. After all, Pitcairn was chosen not only for its remote location, but because it has no natural harbor – merely a small cove – to allow safe anchorage for ships of any real size. Actually, Pitcairn was originally plotted almost 140 miles from its actual position when it was discovered. That was an error of the skills of the times, rather than deliberate. Today we know exactly where it is, but it sure came in handy for Fletcher Christian and his band.
Here’s one last look at the sunset from our veranda:

Stay tuned for our adventure on Pitcairn Island and its lively capital of Adamstown, alive with the hustle and bustle of all 48 inhabitants of the island…

Rapa Nui, Isla de Pascua, Easter Island: no matter what you call it...it's AWESOME!

We have been making our way across the Pacific Ocean toward a flyspeck of land in the South Pacific – Easter Island. It is one of the remotest places in the world. I thought that last year when we were to land on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic that we were in one of the remotest places in the world, but I think the Easter Island has it beat. See what I mean:

 This is where Easter Island is with respect to most of the other island groups in the South Pacific. It is called Easter Island because it was discovered on an Easter Sunday. The Spanish for Easter is Pascua; however, the Polynesians – who have laid claim to it for hundreds, if not thousands, of years – call it Rapa Nui (wrap-ah new-ee), meaning….something important in some Polynesian dialect, I imagine…

We are just a bit concerned that the weather will permit us to do a landing on Easter Island since it will be a tender operation and if there are too many swells, the Captain may not let us ashore. Safety first, last and always. Today’s weather report is a good sign and tomorrow bright and early will tell the tale once we get within anchorage of the island. The real danger is that we can get on the island, but if the seas begin to roll up, we may not get off… Easter Island has no sheltered harbor as do many of the Caribbean islands. The situation will be the same later in the week when we get to Pitcairn Island.

Here is an idea of what we expect to see on Easter Island:

We will anchor off the only town on the island: Hanga Roa.

Rapa Nui is thought to have been discovered by and inhabited by people from Chile or some adjacent part of South America. In 1947 a Scandinavian explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, made his way on a balsa raft, the Kon-Tiki, to Rapa Nui in an attempt to prove that this version of discovery was feasible. He made it to the island (and got a best-selling book out of it) and made his claim; however, in the ensuing years, archaeologists and other scientists have pretty much determined that the native Rapa Nui ancestors were Polynesian and that they were the original discoverers.

The Rapa Nui call their piece of paradise “Te Pito oTe Henua”, or “The Navel of the World”. They believe that all life originated here – and they may be right. The sun, the sand, the waters, the everything about this place just seems like it could be the original Eden.

The Moai (mo-eye) are the major point of interest on Rapa Nui for most visitors. We hope that we can get some up close and personal shots of these huge stone figures.

I picked up this blog post the next morning as we approach Rapa Nui -

Bummer! The Captain just announced that the seas are too rough to make a safe landing. That means that we will circumnavigate the island and our Destination Lecturer, Jon Fleming, will make comments from the bridge on the ship’s PA system.

Although we are very disappointed that we could not get ashore – after all, Rapa Nui was one of the highlights of this itinerary – we understand the need to maintain a safe passage. We spoke with one lady who has tried four times in four cruises to get ashore and has not yet made it. One other passenger mentioned that the only sure way to get ashore is to take an “expedition” trip and go ashore in the zodiacs that are used for the close-up exploration.

This should give you some idea of the potential landing conditions.

These were the “officials” that were to come aboard to check us in (Rapa Nui is owned by Chile), but as soon as they realized we were not going to do any landings, they turned around and went back ashore. Their small longboat is much better suited to getting in and out of the unprotected landing site.

We did manage to get a few pictures of the island and the Moai from our veranda since the trip around the island was clockwise and we are on the starboard side. The following pictures will have just slightly more meaning if you reference this map:

The red ovals are the three sites we could see clearly from the ship. Most of the other sites are either obscured by the landscape or have Moai that have been toppled and it is difficult to determine which are merely rocks and which are statues.

Our first Moai sighting! I had found a pocket-sized Panasonic Lumix at Costco that has a 30X zoom lens and this was the first opportunity to see how well it performs. I think I made a good buy! These Moai are the Ahu Tahai group that sits just to the north of Hanga Roa on the map above.

These are the Ahu Te Pahu group further up the coast.

The most spectacular group still standing is this one: the Ahu Tongariki. It is located on the side opposite the main landing area at Hanga Roa. The group consists of fifteen Moai that have been restored to their original location and positions. The Moai groups on Rapa Nui do not face the sea. Unfortunately, due to the location of the group and the position of the ship, I had to go all the way out with my zoom (30X optical extended to 60X digital). At that resolution, the pictures tend to be much more pixelated, but hey, it’s still as close as we’re going to get!

Notice that in all of the pictures of Moai, the statues face inland. So far the various scientific explorers and pundits who have been investigating Rapa Nui have no rational explanation as to why they appear to “moon” passing ships, so I will not offer one either…

Tomorrow is another sea day and the following day is Pitcairn Island. Since we couldn’t get into Rapa Nui, I don’t expect that we will be able to get into Pitcairn – but there is always hope!


Stay tuned…

Lima, Peru: Where driving (and being driven) is not for the faint of heart…

We have just had two days in Lima. Lima is Peru’s capital city and is a marvel of Spanish Colonial architecture, beautiful gardens, great beaches, fantastic food, and almost unbelieveable squalor, all dwelling aside one another. Lima is a metropolitan area of over 10 million people. There is no exact figure since Lima has grown by leaps and bounds since the 1980s when a lot of people came in from the contry to escape the Communist insurgents (the Maoist Shining Path and one other whose name escapes me).



Prior to the migration, Lima had a population of about one million. Lima, particularly, and Peru, in general, are interesting for a number of reasons. The entire country is about 30 million (so 1/3 of them are in Lima alone) and the religion, like most of South America, is predominantly Roman Catholic. In addition to Catholicism they also practice a modern form of Shamanism. Thus,there are thriving businesses selling amulets, icons, tokens, folk medicines, and services to appease what many believe to be “natural forces” that govern parts of their lives.

One other part of Liman’s lives that must be discussed is their driving. As noted in my title, driving is not something one takes for granted in Lima. In fact, you are best off not driving at all. Leave the driving to others. Unfortunately, public transportation is, at best, spotty – no underground, weird bus lines and schedules, and taxis that require negotiation each time you get in. This last issue is true even if you are going to ot from the same place twice in a row the fare can be very different depending on your negotiating skills.



We were, fortunately, on buses for all of our forays into the city. Buses are big, but that really does not count for much in a society that seems to see driving as a game of pure oneupmanship. One of our guides, when queried about the chaotic street scenes in traffic said that the traffic signs and signals were not only not obeyed nor thought of as, in some places we have visited, merely suggestions, but are more decoration alone. To sit in a bus and watch as mini-cars, three-wheeled scooters, smaller buses, vans, pickup trucks, and even pedestrians cut you off, make left turns from the right lane, and vice versa, only solidifies one’s desire to leave the driving to others.

Yet amid all this apparent chaos there seems to be a ballet-like reasoning to the vehicular and pedestrian movements. We saw only one slight crash – really a minor drivable fender bender- in the two days we were there and no peds getting bowled over. It is really rather thrilling to watch as cross traffic begins to move on their green light or traffic cop signal while the other direction traffic is still moving at roadway speeds. At one point I actually saw five lanes of traffic on a three-lane road. 
One of our first visits was to a local market, the Suquillo Market in central Lima. Huge can’t describe it. It is a rabbit warren of stalls, aisles, entrances, and bustle. We saw, and tasted, fruits and vegetables that are unique to Peru and some that, although known and grown in the US, seemed to taste fresher and more alive than what we are used to.



One of the several market entrances on the left and a typical produce stand on the right.



The produce stand on the left was intriguing due to the many peppers on display and the Peruvian corn, of which there is a closeup on the right. Those corn kernels are each about the size of a dime and about three dimes thick.



On the left are only a sample of the dozens of different types of bananas available in Peru. On the right are fresh scallops – literally hours from the sea – to be served Peruvian style: with the coral (roe) still attached.



A meat stall on the left and the chicken lady on the right.



If you look carefully at the picture on the left, you can count nine different types of potatos hanging in bags. On the right is the space under the same stall’s counter with another five types of potatos. There are several thousand different types of Peruvian potatos!



The purple corn on the left is a natural product – not dyed or otherwise treated. It is too tough and fibery to be eaten, so it is boiled and the liquid is drained off, mixed with sugar syrup and a little lime juice and sold as a non-carbonated “soda pop” treat. On the right is a plan of the first floor of the market. As you can see, it takes up an entire city block - on two floors!

We then retired to a local restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean, El Seniorio de Sulco Cocina Puruana. It turns out that this is one of Lima’s most popular restaurants. Before lunch we were witness to a cooking demonstration, complete with recipes, for the luncheon we were about to enjoy.

We learned how to make authentic Peruvian Ceviche with just five ingredients. That was followed by historically important and authentic Causa Pollo. Causa is a dish commemorating Peru’s fight for freedom from the Spanish Empire. It consists of well-seasoned mashed potatoes, avocado, and chicken salad layered in  a bright, flavorful patty (really much better tasting than I can describe it). Causa can also be made with seafood salad, beef salad, or anything one can imagine; after all, what doesn’t go with avocado and mashed potatoes??

The main course was Lomo Saltado. Lomo Saltado is a stir-fried dish made in a wok. It consists of the best grade of beef tenderloin, red onions, tomatos, and a sauce made primarily of light and dark soy sauce. If you have never had Peruvian food, you are in for a real treat.

Fortunately, we have been eating these delicacies ever since the first Peruvian restaurant popped up in Naples several years ago. Believe it on not, a lot of Peruvian food has had an Asian influence and the marriage is a good one!



Ceviche! Served with a slice of yam boiled in orange soda (yes, orange soda, not orange juice) and a few boiled Peruvian corn kernels. Yum!



Causa Pollo. The yellow layers are the seasoned mashed yellow Peruvian potatos. The green layer is sliced avocado. The white layer is a simple white meat chicken salad. Seafood salad, meat salad, tuna salad, etc. can be substituted for the chicken salad.



Lomo Saltado. Flash wok-fried a la minute, that is, to order – never on a steam table or large batch. Peruvian food is probably the world’s next “great food discovery.”



I had to include a Pisco Sour. This is an authentic one. If it doesn’t have the egg white froth, then it is only a pale imitation of a real one.

The actual luncheon meal was superb – and big! We started with Peru’s “national” drink, the Pisco Sour. Pisco is a liquor-like concoction that can run up to 45% alcohol. Fortunately, this one was a little lighter – just 42%. The Pisco liquor is mixed with lime juice, bitters, and egg white. It is actually frothed rather than mixed and the resulting liquid refreshment goes down much too easily. After the obligatory toast, we were served a very lovely plate of the ceviche and the Causa. One serving of each at either end of a long narrow plate. This was followed by the Lomo Saltado. A hefty portion served with yellow french fries (the yellow Peruvian potato tastes a lot like a Yukon Gold, but has more “body” and makes a super french fry) and a scoop of steamed white rice. Hmmm….beef mixed with vegetables along with two starches. Well, a potato IS a vegetable…

We were not expecting anything more. Beside that, we were really stuffed from the three-course lunch, but out came dessert! The dessert was the richest, creamiest, gooiest pudding we have ever tasted. It is called Suspiro de Limena. It had a dollop of vermouth-spiked merengue atop and after about three small spoonsful, I was done (OK, Ok, ok…four or five really small spoonsful…). The best way I can describe it is as the richest Delche de Leche syrup that has been thickened to the point of almost not pouring – think caramel that really sticks to the roof of your mouth.

OK, enough of food. We also took a City Tour that hit the highlights of the city center and the Miraflores district. Miraflores is the relatively wealthy section of Lima that fronts a lot of beach property. To start we visited the Monasterio de San Francisco (St. Francis Monastery) that has been in active use since 1546. Today, there are only a handful of monks still carrying on centuries-old traditions.

We then made a short visit to the Lima Cathedral, the resting place of the body (really just the bones) of the Conquistador Francisco Pizarro.


Pizarro's tomb in the Lima cathedral. Strange that one of the conquistador’s has acheived hero status for his subsequent work in assisting in the revolution against Spain.

The highlight of the tour was a visit to the oldest continuously-occupied home in the western hemisphere: the Aliagra House. It has been owned by and occupied by members of the Aliagra family since it was granted to them by Pissarro in 1535. The original Sr. Aliagra was one of the few in Pizarro's landing party who could read and write – since Pizarro could do neither. As a payment for his service and counsel, Pizarro gave Aliagra the land on which to build the house and the funds to defray the expense of building. The home is magnificent even by today’s standards.



Two views of ther home’s interior: the entry hall on the left; the family dining room on the right.



The family’s private chapel on the left and the ficus tree growing in the interior courtyard on the right. Since Peru only gets about 5-10 millimeters of rain a year, there are no screens, few windows, open-air courtyards, and little, if any, air conditioning.

Our final stop of the day was at El Parque de Amor (Love Park). This area along the beachfront overlook in Miraflores was built in the late eighties in the style of Gaudi’s Park Guell in Barcelona. The statues of the lovers is meant to suggest that love conquors all and we just need to love one another. Simplistic, but every Valentine’s Day there is a kissing conterst held in the park. There are prizes for several categories including: best kiss; longest kiss; cutest kiss; most stylish kiss. I never thought about getting style points for kissing. Oh dear, what have I been missing???



This giant statues of the lovers and the ceramic mosiac wall running along the rear of the park were meant to invoke the Park Guell in Barcelona designed by the great Spanish Architect Antoni Gaudi. The artist that designed this installation was a great fan of Gaudi’s and felt the love as you can see.
Gaudi, by the way, is (was, he has been dead since the 1920s) the architect of the Sagrada Familia Catedral (Sacred Family Cathedral) in Barcelona along with many of Barcelona’s greatest architectural delights. In case you haven’t guessed, we are great fans of Gaudi and visit some of his work every time we get to Barcelona.

P.S.: One of our fellow passengers took our picture kissing at the park, but we can't remember who it was. If we can get a copy of it, I will amend this post.

We now have five days at sea before our next stop: Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui is a little speck in the middle of the Pacific that is home to one of the most spectacuular archeological finds of the past century: the Moai. You may know Rapa Nui by its westernized name: Easter Island.

Stay tuned…