Cusco and Lima, Peru: Day Nine (4/21)

Day Nine (4/21) transit from Cusco to Lima

On our final day in Peru we had an early flight from Cusco to Lima to spend one last day with our local friend Andrea in Lima. After arriving 30 minutes early, checking our luggage into lockers, we headed upstairs for a quick breakfast at McDonald's. They don't have english muffin or biscuits on their breakfast menu, instead they use regular hamburger buns and just add egg, sausage and cheese with a ton of mayo. We ordered a McHuevo with french fries as they also don't have hash browns. Again the egg were runny and the meat was super dry and tasteless.

We left the airport to head to the Barranco district of Lima to meet Andrea at the Bridges of Sigh. Then we went for a drive near the beach to check out the ocean and the old local resort areas which sadly no longer have sandy beaches and have giant rocks and tons of rubbish.

After a beautiful drive, we went to visit Andrea's house and meet her dog, Kahlo, a Peruvian hairless dog. Kahlo was a smart and beautiful dog who was extremely friendly and affectionate. We took Kahlo  to visit Andrea's friend, Roxy's house to play with her 3 Peruvian hairless dogs, one of which, Luna was a champion dog.

Finally it was time for lunch. We decided to go to La Rosa Nautica which was on the ocean. We walked along the pier to get to the restaurant itself. It was absolutely breathtaking! We started off our meal with Pisco Sours of course and shared all the entrees. A big thank you to Andrea and Roxy for taking such good care of us and ordering the most amazing dishes.

We ate like pigs, well at least I did. We had chicken with oranges. The chicken was tender and juicy from the oranges and the oranges despite being cooked still maintained a lot of it's juices which were sweet and succulent. It was served with a yellow Peruvian potato which tasted like a Yukon Gold but more buttery without any butter. It was naturally rich and had the consistency of mashed potatoes when baked.

Next up was the infamous lomo saltado. This one had incredibly soft and tender beef that was salty that paired perfectly with rice. It was so good I had to go for two bites! The red onions were cooked just so they were crisp and not soggy. The acid from the onion cut through the richness of the beef well.

My dish of choice was next, fresh catch of the day, local Peruvian fish which resembled seabass. It was flaky like chilean sea bass, dry like farmed salmon yet light like a sole filet. It was presented in a parchment paper box with a light sauce of wine and citrus with vegetables and rice. It was a nice refreshing course to cut through the richness of all the meats.

Our last and best dish ever was the tuna ceviche. It was served with sweet potato wontons. The tuna was so fresh, better than blue fin tuna that is sashimi quality. There were no sinews and the flesh itself was like butter. It was seasoned with fresh lime juice and those of so famous and oh so tasty Andean chili's. It adds just the right amount of heat that paired well with the crunch of fresh raw vegetables. It was so good we ordered two as we couldn't get enough with just one.

And you thought we were done? No, we still had to eat dessert! We had this great carmel pudding like dessert with cinnamon meringue on top. It was amazingly rich and light at the same time. I had literally 3 spoonfuls of this sticky, ooey gooey concoction. Yummy!

We ate all of this with this view. Isn't it breathtaking?

After lunch we needed to do some walking so we headed to the Indian Market to buy last minute knick knacks and to Wong's, the local supermarket to stockpile on our favorite Peruvian goodies. Wong's is pretty amazing. It is like a high end grocery story but with Walmart prices. I really had to exude some self control not to buy everything in the store. I love how everything is packaged and properly put in its place. It was not messy or disgusting like a Safeway, which btw I hate shopping at unless forced. I bought my beloved habas saladas (roasted, salted fava/broad bean), plantain chips, quinoa , alfagores kit and aji sauce. I can't wait to make Peruvian food at home!

Finally it was time to say goodbye. We made a quick restroom stop at Roxy's to say goodbye to Kahlo and called a cab to take us to the airport. After our heartfelt goodbye's, hug's and kisses, we got into our taxi to drive along the beach to enjoy on last sunset before we left Peru.

When we arrived at the airport in Lima, we went to the lounge to play Innovation one last time before leaving. Defeated and famished, we went to Manacaru for our last meal in Peru. I ordered an avocado  artichoke and cheese sandwich with olives. I absolutely love avocado esp. the ones in Peru. They have a mild creamier flavor than it's American counterparts. They are bigger, light green on the outside and always organic. The best way to enjoy it was with lime juice and a little salt. Even between two pieces of bread it tasted amazing. I wouldn't recommend the Manacaru because they had poor and slow service. They ran out of spinach which is what the artichoke replaced and it was difficult to explain the substitution and tell them no mayo. After 45 minutes, I finally got my sandwich which was soggy but I was so hungry I didn't care. I just wanted my avocado sandwich which is still preferred over nasty airline food.

Overall, thank you Peru for sharing your people, culture, history, cuisine and stories with me. This has been one of the most memorable journeys I have taken in my short lifetime and will never forgot all the kindness, experiences, and yumminess you have given me. I will forever cherish every second I spent in your country.