Friday 08/06
By Ludivine:
Today, like the other days, was a chill-ish day. We worked in the morning and the afternoon I worked and Jules and Florence had some free time. We wrote post cards to our grandparents and also made pancakes! Florence and I had fun making pancakes and flipping them but they didn’t taste great because we didn’t use the same ingredients. And that evening we ate pasta.
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By me:
For this morning, I booked (yesterday at 6:30pm!) a ‘Lima’s Colours & Flavours’ Tour (with Haku Tour). I wanted to do such “food” tour in Lima and this one seems the most “local” one. It seems to uncover some of the local hidden places where Peruvian locals go to.
We leave the kids at home; they do homeschooling alone this morning.
During the tour, we visit a variety of fun locations and have the opportunity to taste Peru’s yummy flavours. We visit two different, but equally wonderful local districts of Lima that are non-touristy: Chorrillos fish town and Barranco trendy district. Isabelle and I are alone with our guide; we are lucky.
We start our adventure in a local town called Chorrillos. Here, we see and immerse ourselves in the local atmosphere and learn about the district’s main industry: fishing. We have the opportunity to check out a local fish market and meet Peruvian fishermen. Afterwards, we drive to the top of the cliffs (the famous ‘Costa Verde’ or Green Coast Highway) to visit the Chorrillos neighborhoods, people, streets and local markets. We have the opportunity to see, taste and learn how to make a variety of local snacks and flavours that Peru offers. By order: quinoa juice, fruits, choclo humita (the sweet one: fresh corn combined with lard, sugar, cinnamon and raisins), orange juice, then we go to a small local eatery to eat a ‘trio’ (fried fish, ceviche, arroz con mariscos), and finally a papa rellena (baked potato dough into which a filling made of chopped beef and onions, whole olives, hard-boiled eggs, cumin and other spices is stuffed; once prepared, it is deep fried). It’s really a great way to discover these flavours. Ideally, the best would be to do such a tour at the beginning of our stay in a country so we know the taste of these different local specialties and we know which ones we like.
We then go to Barranco, Lima’s most trendy district. The walking tour guides us past a variety of colourful, stately mansions and quite impressive local murals, while we hear about Barranco’s lifestyle. We see the romantic ‘Bridge of Sighs’. Barranco is also famous because it is the most interesting and colorful district, known for its ‘bohemian’ lifestyle and as the local artists favourite district.
On our way back, we ask the driver to drop us at the bakery where I went yesterday with the kids. I buy some bread for the lunch of the kids (Isabelle and I have eaten enough…).
On our way back home, we go to Movistar (to pay our monthly subscription fee), we take some dollars for the Galapagos (the US dollars is the official currency over there), and we buy some tablets against car- and sea-sickness (in prevision of the cruise in the Galapagos).
Quick lunch at home and then an afternoon in front of the computer, preparing the US trip (and also working on the blog of course). This week will have been both a very working and relaxing week for the kids. They hardly went out of the apartment. But I think they needed such week; at least they’ve enjoyed!
We eat pancakes with the strawberries that we bought in the market this morning.
For dinner, I prepare pasta.
We continue working after dinner. I go to bed at 1am.
Saturday 09/06
By Florence:
This morning I woke up at 10 am and everyone was already awake. We ate breakfast like usual but we had pancakes and an orange juice that dad prepared. After breakfast we did one session and we left to go eat lunch outside. We took an Uber and we went to a restaurant to eat skewers. We also took a ceviche for lunch. It was really good. When we were done, mom left and went back home while we did a little walk. We took another Uber to go to a market. We walked a bit in the market and then we took another Uber to go to another little market with pins and fifa cards. After that we walked to Pinkberry and Ludivine, Jules and I took an ice cream. It was delicious. We walked to another market where Ludivine bought a hat and Jules sunglasses. After that we took an Uber and we went home. On the way, dad stoped and went to go join a friend and we continued in the Uber. We went home and started packing cause we were gonna leave at 5 am the next morning. When I was done packing I made some pasta because dad was still with his friend. We started eating and mom and dad left to go to their restaurant. Bye.
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By me:
Isabelle wakes up early (6:30am) but I sleep nearly until 9am. The kids also sleep later than usual (Jules after 9am and Florence till 10am!).
The kids do only one homeschooling session.
We leave around 1pm. We first walk to the ‘Mercado Ecologico’, in Miraflores, along the Parque Reducto. From there we take a Uber to go and eat at ‘Panchita’. The restaurant is a Gaston Acurio homage to Peruvian street food. Anticuchos (skewers) are grilled over an open flame to melt-in-the-mouth perfection. We arrive during the friendly football game between Peru and Sweden. Everybody is watching tv. Most of the people in the restaurant (from babies to grandparents) are wearing the shirt of the national team! It’s impressive.
After this nice lunch, Isabelle goes back home while I take a Uber with the kids to first go to Surquillo Nr 2 Market, where we don’t stay long (it’s a typical covered market), then to the street Nicolas de Pierola where we walked during our first stay in Lima. Ludivine wanted to buy some pin’s and Jules wanted to buy Panini stickers. But pin’s are not for sale (they are ‘samples’) and Jules forgot his Panini album.
We thus walk, through a very poor and commercial district, till Plaza Real where kids take a Pinkberry frozen yoghurt (they much prefer those frozen yoghurt than ice creams).
We then walk to Polvos Azules, where we also went during our first stay in Lima. Ludivine buys a cap and Jules sunglasses.
We take a Uber to go back home. I stop before to go to my appointment with Johan Espag, who I worked with in Equatorial Guinea (and his nice Peruvian wife). We have a couple of beers. Nice to catch up with them.
I go back home. Just the time to take a shower and put a shirt. Isabelle and I go and eat at ‘Central Restaurante’ tonight. Like Maido, it’s one of the best restaurants in the world (#6 as per the ‘The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ ranking) and it’s also walking distance from the apartment.
The ‘Mater Ecosystems’ 11-course tasting menu is very refined and sophisticated; it is a shrine to everything that is Peruvian, including many ingredients that are seldom served elsewhere. The chef (Virgilio Martínez) has been travelling the length and breadth of the country for several years to source interesting and unique produce from land, sea and mountains. The menu indeed explores every altitude, from 20 metres below sea level to 4,100 metres above it.
We love to try this kind of menu. We discover new and exquisite savours. It’s also nice that we can see directly into the open kitchen whenever we want.
It’s amazing that we could eat in 2 of the best restaurants in the world the same week, in the same city. Maido is actually ranked #7 and Central #6 in the recently updated ‘The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ ranking. If we add ‘The White Rabbit’ restaurant (#15) where we went in Moscow (nearly one year ago…), we will have eaten in 3 of the top 15 restaurants in the world during this trip! And we still have the US…
We come back home around 11pm.
I work until 2:30am, mainly doing backups of our pictures. Tomorrow we have to wake up at 5am… We have a plane at 8:45am for the Galapagos. Another highlight of our world tour! Can’t wait!
