"Dispatches from the Pampas"...Day 3...Saturday, February 8, 2014

Last night, the plan was to have dinner at a nice seafood restaurant called "La Mar". I awoke from my nap around 6:00PM or so, showered, dressed and headed downstairs to the hotel bar for a cocktail (or two). I asked the bartender to check on La Mar and found that it was closed. But...there was another nice seafood restaurant right down the street. I ended up having an excellent shrimp soup followed by fried shrimp...all washed down with a Pisco Sour con Coca and a few glasses of wine.
After dinner, I cabbed back to the area near my hotel for a little bar-hopping. I ended up running into my buddy from the night before, Lucy, who was out partying with friends. We ended up talking (and drinking) until well past 1:00AM. She's off tomorrow morning, knows the city like the back of her hand, and offers to serve as my "guide"...why not? So...we agree to meet the next morning for breakfast.
So...this Pisco stuff. It's distilled from grape uice, skins, seeds, stems, etc., which puts it in the brandy/grappa family. So it, along with wine and beer, is one of the essential building blocks for a large hangover.. When I awaken around 8:00AM or so on Saturday morning, the combination of Pisco, altitude, travel and late nights has me feeling a little "under the weather"...so to speak. I try my standard "cure" of coffee, Advil, Gatorade and 5-Hour Energy...and it helps...a little.
Lucy arrives at the hotel around 9:30, and we head out for a light breakfast of churros and coffee. Then we spend almost two hours hiking around and shopping. I'm looking for my standard "souvenir package" consisting of a ball cap, t-shirt and refrigerator magnet. The quality of souvenirs around the hotel is not so hot, so Lucy and I cab over to a mall where I manage to get a t-shirt and a soccer jersey. Then, we cab over to La Mar for a fantastic lunch of coca sours, tuna cebiche, whole grilled fish in a chile-spiked broth, and wine...lots of wine. After lunch, we cab to another mall overlooking the ocean...I find another t-shirt, and we stop for a few cocktails at a bar with a great view of the coast.
From there, it's over to another part of Lima and the "Mercado Indios", a series of stalls selling artisan goods. I find my cap and magnet, so now I'm set. Lucy is somewhere in her mid-30's, but "yours truly" is wearing her out on this day. All of this running around has got her "dragging", but I'm still going strong. In any case, we finally take a break, nap for two hours, then head out for cocktails and dinner. Between her poor English and my poor Spanish, we are able to communicate remarkably well...and...it's been awhile since I had a day where I laughed as much.
Around 7:00PM, we're back out for cocktails...followed by dinner at a nice "Parilla" (Grill) for steaks, baked potatoes, a huge salad, and a great bottle of Peruvian Malbec from the producer, Intipalka.
After dinner...more bar-hopping. Lucy's sister, Elba, and some other friends meet us for a few last cocktails. I love that name Elba...if you've read the book/seen the movie "The Time Traveler's Wife", you'll understand.
Around 2:00AM, I'm back at the hotel for five hours of sleep before my 9:00AM shuttle to the airport tomorrow morning for my flight to Buenos Aires. It's going to be a long day tomorrow...very long.