Sunday, 13th December, Lima: day with the family
We went out last night. Big time. Fabulous new friends, Ximena and Alejandro, took us out for the second Saturday in a row – this time to Barranco, an utterly gorgeous district of Lima. If you’re in the city, make sure you do not miss it. It’s the bohemian part of the city, small alleyways, old buildings, great restaurants and fabulous bars. Just opened is Pica, a trendy trendy bar which greatly appealed to the long dormant advertising twats in us. Loved it. Nightlife kicks off late here – the bar started to get going around 10.30pm. We were meeting the couple – and the wonderful Andrea Rubini, the relationship psychologist who we met earlier in our time here and who is old friends with Ximena, and her husband, Rafa. We then went dancing, much leaping about, then bed at 3.30am.
As a result, we’re hungover. Very hungover. Bernardo and Mani, who we have come to see as our own parents and adore entirely, kindly offer to take us out for lunch to wash away the pain… So we head to a delicious and fabulous restaurant called La Botega de la Trattoria, a warm, big, friendly place serving absolutely delicious Italian food. We laugh, we chat, we have a great lunch with Bernardo and Mani. It’s like family away from family, they really have come to be like the warmth and support of family that we miss so much on the road. We then head back to the flat and curl up in front of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It’s like being home.
There is no doubt that the longer we have spent in Lima, the more we have grown to love it. When visitors first enter it, it feels big, unwieldy, dirty… but there are jewels hidden behind its facade. Don’t dismiss it, it’s worth giving it a bit of love, it will give it back.
