Day 17 Lima, Peru

Bill was not feeling well yesterday when we came back from our great tour so we went to see the doctor.  He actually had 101 fever and the doctor gave him antibiotics and cough medicine.  He asked if he should go to the nighttime tour we had today and the dr said if you well good you can go if not call the office and I will give you a note (so that we would not be charged for it)

Bill was not well enough to go down to dinner last night so I had room service also.  He had soup and a sandwich and I had soup and a chicken caesar salad

since I wasn’t feeling great either.

Bill is still not feeling well I was up early and read.  Bill

decided he wanted to eat breakfast in the dining room so we headed down as we docked in Callao/Lima Peru.  We watched from the window as the crew set up the gangway and everything needed for our stay here.  As we headed into the cove there was Pat sitting by herself so we went over to say hello.  Bill headed up to lie down I we have not bought anything yet!  We headed to the Bistro for our tea break and then I left to check on Bill.  His fever we think finally broke because he was soaking wet.  We have the dinner and tour tonight and I think he shouldn’t go but he wants to try so I will let him sleep until about 5:00pm.

Bill was a real trooper.  We are in Lima but the Callao section and we are depending on traffic it could take 1 hr. to get to downtown Lima.  Traffic here is awful.  We had our tour and arrived at Casa Solar de Aliaga located in the heart of the historical center.   Don Jeronimo de Aliago, cofounder of Lima and founder of the first university in the Americas built this namesake residence.  It has also earned the recognition as being the Western Hemisphere’s oldest household in continuous occupation since it was constructed in 1535, this has been home to 17 generations of the Aliaga family.   After our tour the bus dropped us off by the government building and we had a ½ block walk.  As we reached the huge wooden doors, Bill says we were here last time we were in Lima we had lunch here.  And sure enough we did.  It is an unbelievable home with a courtyard with a huge tree in the middle.  We remembered that the lunch was good!  We arrived in and were greeted by waiters in white coats and gloves offered cocktails and canapés as we walked room to room through this beautiful Spanish style Colonial home from the 1500s. 
Dinner was asparagus mouse served with an Alfred sauce on the plate, followed with fish Bill asked what kind of fish and told them that I was allergic to shellfish they said they would make me chicken.  Everything was delicious.  There was chocolate molten cake for dessert.  Wines were flowing.  It was one mans birthday so they even had a birthday cake for him.  After tea and coffee they came out with all types of after dinner drinks.

Asparagas Mouse over Alfredo sauce wonderful.

My chicken which was so full of flavor

It was time to leave and for blocks and blocks as far as the eye could see there were fire trucks lined up with their lights going and sirens.  We didn’t see any smoke but our tour guide called to find out what was going on this was after 9pm well they were parading to the Catholic church of St. Rose of Lima to be blessed.  I certainly hope no one needed a fire truck as they were all at church being blessed!  Heading back to the ship there was traffic everywhere and this little car decided to cut right in front of the bus the women in the car was screaming and so close I don’t know how our driver avoided hitting them.  They did a u-turn on the highway and cut across 4 lanes of traffic right in front of us.  Amazing no one was killed.  Crazy drivers.  We are here till 9pm tomorrow but not sure if we will go back into downtown Lima as we want to use the free Wi-Fi at the port to face time with the kids as it is the same time zone.  When I was in third grade I read a book about an exchange student that was from Lima and I always wanted to come here being a little girl in Brooklyn I thought that would be awesome to visit Lima.  We were here in 9 or 10 or 11 can’t remember and I loved it then and I love it now except for their drivers!  Makes NY/NJ drivers look good even makes those Mass. drivers look good!  Again it reminds me how fortunate I am to be able to travel to these places.  We have been blessed. So once again good night and God bless.

Downtown Lima

Day 16 Salaverry ,Peru

Today we are in Salaverry, Peru. We were greeted on the pier by dancers.

 We took The Dragon Temple, Chan Chan and the Little Reed Horses Tour.

The Huaca  Dragon Temple is the oldest pyramids  in the valley treasure of the Chimu people who pre-date  The Incas.   This mud pyramid is one of the oldest and best preserved.

We then went to Chan Chan which dates back to 858 AD that is really old.  The paintings and writing on the walls is truly amazing.This is the largest adobe city and served as the capital of the Chimu kingdom.  This civilization and cultural hub reached it’s zenith in the 15^th century not long before falling to the Incas.

  All these different rooms used for all different things.  It is truly amazing to see how these people communicated with each other.  Heaven, earth and ocean were very important to these people and can you believe that one of the walls there was a whole scene depicting EL NINO.  That PITA has been around causing weather problems since pre Incas!!!!! Chan Chan has been declared a UNESCO Archaeological  World Heritage Site.  It was truly amazing to see this.

We come all the way to Peru to see pre Inca carvings and I find Mickey Mouse

Bill says I need this for my shoes

We then went to  lunch at wonderful restaurant Big Ben that has won all types of awards.

centerpiece for buffet table made of small reed boats

It was a buffet lunch served overlooking the Pacific Ocean there was all types of vegetables, fried calamari, scallops served on their shell with cheese, cerviche, fried shrimp, seafood paella, grilled fish, chicken with peppers and onions and more.  Good lunch.

We then went across the street to have a demonstration of the Little Reed Horses which have been in use by Peruvian fisherman  for 3000 years

These like like canoes and are made of reeds.  This was fascinating to see them ride the waves and never loose their balance  Unlike a canoe they do not sit in them but ride them like a horse.

We returned to the ship and Bill was feeling poorly. I am taking my predesone and antibiotic my lung doctor always prescribes for me when we travel and I started that yesterday.  So we decided it was time to go to see the doctor.  It seems everytime we sail on a long or world cruise out of Miami ½ the ship gets what I have now named “The Crystal Crud”.  Everyone is coughing and hacking all over the place.  In addition to my meds I bought Day Quill which did not help me sleep last night due to coughing.  Bill has whatever the hell is going around and the dr gave him a Z pack, and cough syrup.  I went back to the store and got some Night Quill ..  Tomorrow were in Lima Peru and we have a nighttime dinner at a private house scheduled.  The doctor said if Bill is not feeling up to going he will write him a note ah like being in school but he thinks he wlll be better.  We will rest all day.  Bill was not up to going to dinner and me feeling lousy also we ordered room service.  He is sleeping and I am happily typing this blog.  Not sure I will be able to get on line to post but we will see what happens.

We have an overnight in Lima so on the day after tomorrow we are heading into Lima with our Professor and classmates to find free wifi to download some more apps we will be using this segment.

I did not know what to expect from Salaverry but I was pleasantly surprised.  Lots of history here and our guide was great.  Great day was had by all.  Hopefully we both will ne feeling better tomorrow

Good night all.

Day 15 @ sea enroute to Salaverry, Peru

Today was a great sea day.  Neither of us are feeling very well so we really took it easy today.  I only worked out for ½ hour and rescheduled the extra 1 hr .  I am taking my predison and started the antibiotic and Dayquil to get rid of this cough.  Tonight was the Captain’s Reception and formal and you know that I can’t miss a party.  So resting a lot helped me to feel up to tonight.  Bill rested also as he started it and felt better and now he is coughing again.

Tomorrow we will be in Salaverry,Peru the Portal to the Past.  Our tour is called Dragon Temple, Chan Chan and Little Reed Horses.

Chan Chan is considered the  most massive pre-Columbian city in the Americas and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

So I will report tomorrow all about our tour.  Had my hair done up today for our formal night.  Here are some pictures. Not sure if I like my hair up comments please

Again I miss you all,  you can all leave comments for us 

if you want.  Good night and God Bless.

Day 14 Guayaguil Ecuador

Today we were in Guayaguil Ecuador.  We were here a few years ago and I remember that as far as the eye could see there were 18 wheelers filled with bananas was not feeling well the other day and I must have caught it because I was up all night coughing.  We had an afternoon tour thinking we would sleep in today.  At 8am I hear music so I jump up put in my hearing aid and head out on the veranda and there is a band playing New York, New York.  So much for my sleeping in.  I was debating if I was going to be able to make the tour but I rested most of the morning.  At noon I hear music again and look out my veranda again and there is the band back and playing New York, New York and this time they have dancers out there! Our tour was suppose to leave at 1:45 so we headed out around 12:15 as there was a market set up and God forbid I should miss looking at anything.  Daniel the shore excursion director came over and said that the Flowers of Guayaguil was late coming back and I might want to go back into the a/c on the ship and wait. It was really humid.  So we did that.  The bus was an hour late.  We were on the bus forever and then we turned into a dirt road and was on that almost as long as we were on the highway.  We then entered the plantation and we were escorted onto the back of a tractor on a flatbed where we sat on fertilizer bags for a long ride through the plantation.  We saw the cocoa growing, bananas and coffee.  they stopped periodically and let us try the cocao raw.  It was sweet but did not taste like chocolate at all.  We got to where they grow and package the flowers.  These flowers are all tropical no roses grown here they are grown further up in Ecuador where it is cooler.  They told us they sell these through Costco.  on their website they ship them to you within 48 hours.  They are beautiful arrangements and we were able to buy them  These arrangements are $50 in Costco which is a really cheap price and they told us Costco only takes 4% for themselves.  We bought these arrangements for $10.   We then headed back to the ship and stopped where they grow Orchids.  They also were beautiful but where am I going to put them.  We were very lucky as it was raining on and off today but it was only when we were on the bus there and back!  We were suppose to get back to the ship at 5:30 but since we left late we did not get back until almost 7pm .Bill had asked Leo if we could eat earlier tonight.  So we changed and ran down to the DR.  We had a great meal Bill is off to the cigar lounge I got a DVD and I am going to order up a pot of tea and relax.  I started my predisone just to be sure.  Don’t want to miss anything.  Another great day and I must say I love Ecuador and the people are so friendly and helpful.  Of course it could be the bar of  dark chocolate they gave me this am when we got off the ship.  Gerry we thought of you when we saw these beautiful flowers

 The dancers dancing to NY NY

 The Band

 A selfie on the back of the tractor

 They wrote Welcome with cocoa pods