Lima–Day II

I checked out of my no print hostel in the center of old town Lima and headed for modern culture, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima (LiMAC)

Next I was determined to find the best restaurants in Lima and have dinner in one of them to celebrate my birthday. Restaurante Central was on the top of the list, as it was recommended by the Mexican riders, Guillermo and Mario, that I met in Copacabana, Bolivia a few days earlier. The second choice was Astrid y Gaston. After spending way too much time search, I took a break for a Chifa lunch. Chifa is a fusion of Chinese and Pervian…although it tasted pretty much like Chinese to me. Finally I found Restaurante Central and knock on the door. Someone answered and informed me that they were completely full for tonight. I resolved to come anyway and see if I could get a table. Soon after I found Astrid y Gaston and found they were full too, but would seat me at the bar. Ok, I have a back-up plan. On to the beach…
I located the municipal beach, parked the bike at the end of the beach near a stone jetty, bought a beer and proceeded to hang out with my new Peruvian chokos (not sure of the spelling, but it roughly means buddies.) The older guy to the right in photo and I saw Joe Cocker songs together…  Went swimming with two of them and after I got to my new hotel I couldn’t find my ear buds which I was certain I stored in a zipper pocket of the backpack. I will never know if one of them snagged the ear buds out of my backpack while I was swimming or if I just managed to lose them…


Before leaving the beach area I rode to the top of a hill on the south side of town.
There was some cool stencil art -

...and Jesus of the Cell Towers -


Found a new hostel and settled in. Took a nap that lasted much longer than expected, waking up near 9:00 PM. Now I had to scrabble to locate Restaurante Central and hopefull get a table. I arrived near 10:00 PM and it worked out well, because the early dinners were done a a table was available. A short wait at the bar and a glass of Blanton’s bourbon… Would they offer the tasting menu? The waiter checked with the chief and the answer was yes. Oh Yes! I wanted to do the tasting menu at this restaurant and now it was going to happen. Why go half way with the tasting menu, without the wine pairing? Sure, if you going to do it, do it right.