An early start today to catch a flight to Lima. We shared a taxis with Pat and David who were heading home to catch the ice hockey play-offs and had a nice surprise that the hotel had packed us a breakfast bag to keep us going. After a goodbye to the last of our Galapagos group we were in the air bound for Lima. The flight was short and soon we were picking up our bags and hitting a button which randomly decides whether you need to go through security and continuing on through the airport. The guide book mentioned all sorts of problems with getting a reliable taxis and there did seem an abundance of choice. There were some seemingly expensive booths just prior to entering the public area of the airport so I left Eleanor that side while I checked out their competition on the far side. In the end we picked up a guy with the all important official green badge but we still thought it was expensive!

The drive in was interesting and it was obvious that Lima is much larger than Quito which brings with it more congested roads and the seemingly inevitable more aggressive driving style. In fact Lima has roughly the same population as London spread over twice the area. The last three blocks before the hotel was almost grid lock but we eventually edged our way to the door where the drive said he would make a 'quick park' and we grabbed our bags to the backdrop of cars honking and revving engines. The hotel clearly had seen better days and in it's prime it must have been very impressive, I reckoned we were a couple of decades too late.

With our hotel secured we went for a wonder so sample some of the sights and sounds of Peru's capital city. Our eye was struck by the potentially intriguing museum of the inquisition which after a couple of passes we eventually found but only to be blocked at the door by a man who looked at us with a disinterested air and just said 'No'. It turned out that the building was shut for renovations and I couldn't help wonder how many unfortunate souls in the past had wished for the same reception when they arrived only to be bitterly disappointed when they were led inside to all manner of horrors. Undeterred we carried on strolling and came across the beautiful central square which is bordered on one side by a magnificent cathedral and on another a palace. We noticed a large number of riot police hanging around street corners and when we wondered down to the river we couldn't help but wonder that the armoured vehicles can't be just part of a normal day in the city. Non the wiser and not willing to ask them what they were waiting for we popped into a bar for a quick drink. The bar looked like it had just stepped out of the last century and indeed the photo from 1905 confirmed that it was pretty much identical since then. At this point Eleanor started to under the weather so we headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap and the all important updating of my fantasy football team.

In the evening we went out for food and ended up eating at quite a posh restaurant for us on the basis that they could make a bland soup for Eleanor. With our language skills creaking a bit with the menu I thought I had gone for bruschetta when in fact I got chicken chunks on a skewer. These tasted fantastic but had the down side that they ween' cooked in the middle so we sent them back for a second try, time will tell it we got away with it!