July

July 30, 2015July 31, 2015 | Emma Louise

Felices Fiestas Patrias!!!….or Happy Independence Day! July 28th and 29th was holiday here and almost everyone had a chance to sit back and relax for a couple of days midweek and recharge those batteries whilst celebrating one of the biggest moments in Peru’s history.

For us, July has also involved a complete upheaval in holiday plans and now we’re heading back to Europe for Christmas.

My ultimate Christmas happy place!

A family Christmas full of food, drink and fun times (and maybe snow?), followed by a whirlwind trip to the Christmas market in Bruges, a foodie trip to Paris, and I final stop full of jamón, cheese and tapas in Madrid.

I will likely arrive back in Lima the size of a house. Ho hum!

So….. let’s see what has been happening this month……

July

THIS MONTH I HAVE BEEN….

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2 Years and Counting (My Favourites)

July 1, 2015July 27, 2017 | Emma Louise

Happy Birthday

June marked 2 years since I started my blog. Admittedly I haven’t been writing for a solid 2 years, however, I have so enjoyed sharing my experiences of Lima with you all! Hopefully it has encouraged people to come and visit, and that you have had, or will have, a great experience here, whether it’s for one night or 2 weeks.

This blog has never been about reviewing everywhere to determine if it’s good or bad, but in fact finding the hidden, or not so hidden, gems that make Lima great. From an amazing ice cream store, to some fabulous ancient ruins, Lima really does have a variety of things to offer.

In the spirit of this, my June edition of Bookmarked is going to be a bit of a highlights tour of my time here in Lima. My favourite parts.

At the end I will also share a snapshot of greatness from the rest of Peru, but with my limited visits there are only a few places that I feel I’m qualified to judge! However, with some more trips under my belt in this coming year, I hope to shed some more light on the rest of this beautiful country.

So without further ado, here is my list, my top 40….

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I ♥ Lima // Top 10 Places to Visit (Part 5)

February 14, 2014March 30, 2018 | Emma Louise

Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad!

I much prefer this to the term ‘Valentine’s Day’, because it means Happy Love and Friendship Day. This makes me feel that anyone and everyone can celebrate and give thanks for those that are special in their lives, whether it be their boyfriend, brother, extended crazy family, their friends or even their tortoise. Who am I to judge, seeing as I can give thanks for all of those…even the tortoise.

We have reached the final day and I have a bumper pack for you today, with numbers 8,9 and 10, and these 3 I’m recommending to everyone, not just visitors. There aren’t any tourist-y bits, but there is a bit of something for all of you!

During the Summer months, sometimes the heat and humidity in the city can be too much and the Limeños escape to the beaches. Although the city itself is on the coast, I’m pretty sure it’s only surfers that brave those waters that border the city. Everybody else heads south on the Panamericana to the beach towns between about km 40 and km 95.

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I ♥ Lima // Top 10 Places to Visit (Part 4)

February 13, 2014February 11, 2015 | Emma Louise

I hope you have enjoyed the last 3 days of Lima fun, but now that its nearly Valentine’s Day my list is almost finished. Happy times though, we still have a few more to go! Today is not so much about specific places, but groups of places that you should try and visit at least one of during your time here.

As I said before in my previous posts, all of these 10 recommendations are for visitors to Lima and not residents! Although I think everyone should explore their own city once in a while.

Lima has a vast amount of green spaces which you might not catch on the main routes through town. The districts of San Borja, Surco and Miraflores have many parks, large and small, to enjoy. I am concentrating on these 3, as this is where I spend most of my time, and also they are the districts most likely to be visited in your time here.

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I ♥ Lima // Top 10 Places to Visit (Part 3)

February 12, 2014February 11, 2015 | Emma Louise

Day number 3 and I have 2 more excellent places to visit! The first is a very small area but well worth the stop for lunch and the second a day trip to escape the city.

I said in my previous posts, all of my recommendations are aimed at visitors to Lima and not to residents but it’s always nice to discover somewhere you haven’t been before even if it is in your own city!

Chinatown is located in the Cercado de Lima and is a great place to head for lunch or to shop for incense and stationery. When I go to Chinatown I love to stop for Chinese baked goods (pictured) which are available in the front of restaurants for take away. Also I like to buy a bag of really tasty,wrapped, chewy sweets called ‘white rabbit’ which are served with your bill in some restaurants. Buy a bag, you’ll want more!

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I ♥ Lima // Top 10 Places to Visit (Part 2)

February 11, 2014February 11, 2015 | Emma Louise

My post yesterday did seem to be the launch of my Lima Appreciation Society! Or, in other words, for me to share the things that I think you as visitors will love about Lima, and all in time for Valentine’s Day. I will say the following again incase you missed yesterday!

These Top 10 places are by no means the only 10 places that are great in Lima, and my choices are fairly general (mainly because I have lots of favourites so I’m grouping them!). There may even be better places that I have not visited yet, but for now this is what I would recommend to get you started.

I am going to share a few per day so that I can go into detail if necessary without drowning you in information! However today (Tuesday) will have only 1 as it is a fairly in depth section.

I also want to point out that these are mainly for people visiting Lima and not for people who already live here! I wouldn’t see many residents checking out a lot of the tourist spots, but who knows, maybe you will all be inspired!

So, here we go with number 3!

This is in fact an entire district of Lima, but it has a lot of greatplaces to spend some time. It is also the most popular place for tourists to stay within Lima too, so I will lay out the top highlights.

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I ♥ Lima // Top 10 Places To Visit (Part 1)

February 10, 2014February 11, 2015 | Emma Louise

It’s Valentines Day this coming Friday, but I’m not going to be baking some heart-shape biscuits, or heart-shape pancakes, or heart-shape anything for that matter. What I will do, however, is to show you what I love about Lima. Lima is not a place you fall in love with at first sight, or second sight even, it takes a little longer. But the love is there, you just have to find it! It plays a little hard to get, but keep at it. Give it a couple of weeks of your time.

……and seeing as you will now be spending a few weeks here, let me give you something to do!

I am going to share with you my Top 10 places to visit in Lima (in no particular order). These are by no means the only 10, and they are fairly general (mainly because I have lots of favourites so I’m grouping them!). There may even be better places that I have not visited yet, but for now this is what I would recommend to get you started.

I am going to share 2-ish per day so that I can go into detail if necessary without drowning you in information!

An incredible museum showcasing and explaining the different cultures in Peru during the Inca reign, and the eras before and after. The museum itself is beautiful and well laid out, full of artefacts from different periods of Peruvian history. The grounds are themselves are beautiful and if you have the time, take a break in the restaurant which looks out onto the flowering gardens. Read more about Museo Larco in my post here.

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Festival Puro Picarón

June 20, 2013July 27, 2017 | Emma Louise

Picarones are a doughnut shaped fried dessert made primarily from a squash or sweet potato batter, covered in a type of syrup. The batter (see picture 2) is taken and made into round doughnut shapes and fried (see picture 3). They are fished out of the hot oil by a long pole and left hanging, to drip the excess fat back into the pan (see picture 1). They are then put onto a plate and drizzled with chancaca syrup.

They are ridiculously tasty.

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