Lima

Lima was a nice surprise. There are some world-class museums, a historic colonial city center, great restaurants, and pleasant neighborhoods.  

We had a few days to check out the city after saying goodbye to Zach and his friends. I very much enjoyed learning about the culture and history of Peru at two of Lima's outstanding museums, the Museo Larco and the Museo de Arte de Lima. The Museo Larco features the extensive pre-Columbian collections of Rafael Larco Hoyle, an important Peruvian archeologist. The Museo de Arte de Lima includes pre-Columbian textiles and ceramics as well as colonial to modern art of Peru. When one thinks of Peru, one usually thinks of the Incas. But it is amazing to realize that many civilizations with incredible textiles, metallurgy, and ceramics preceeded the Inca empire. Both museums had beautiful collections of the many different cultures. The pieces rival anything of western Europe since the Roman and Greek times. Beautiful. And the paintings of the colonial and modern periods are just as amazing.

We also went to the Lima city center and the Plaza de Armas. The main plaza was the heart of the Spanish empire in South America, established by Franciso Pizarro in 1535. Pizarro's remains lie in the Lima Cathedral off of the plaza. Pizarro is a controversial character in Peru (much like Columbus), but, still, it is part of history. The cathedral is quite spectacular, as is the colonial center. We also visited the Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco, known for the catacombs under the chapel that hold some 70,000 remains from the 18th century and before, as well as beautiful architecture.

Lima is world renown for its restaurants with several restaurants consistently ranking in the top 50 of the world. Although the #5 restaurant in the world was across the street from our hotel, we opted for some more affordable dining. And it was outstanding. It was a treat to eat some classic Peruvian cuisine at such good restaurants.

We also had the opportunity to meet Evert Thomas, a fellow forest geneticist from Belgium working in Peru. It was great hearing about his work and realizing how many friends and colleagues we had in common.