One of my favorite “best of” categories, the Biggest Surprise award goes to the destination that surpassed expectations or defied preconceived notions. And in 2011, Lima, Peru certainly fit the bill. As I noted in one of my posts from the trip, everything I read in mainstream guidebooks about...

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I found myself surprised by Lima. At least in the areas where we were (the historic center, San Isidro, and Miraflores), the city seemed clean and safe, and I would happily go back to explore more of the city. But that doesn’t mean that travelers to this sprawling...

After spending a long morning touring the Lima’s colonial center, we moved on to Miraflores – the city’s wealthy suburb on the Pacific Ocean – for lunch. I knew I wanted ceviche, Lima’s premier dish. But first, Roberto took us to El Parque del Amour (Love Park), dominated...

The Museo Larco in Lima has one of the most noted collections of pre-Columbian erotic pottery  in the world. Some of the pieces are so detailed that you can’t help but realize that there is truly nothing new under the sun. Don’t scroll down if you’re at work, as the pottery is pretty...

Everything I read in mainstream guidebooks about Lima, Peru’s capital city, made it sound like a place you should leave as soon as possible. Dirty, unsafe, chaotic, polluted. Definitely not a city to linger. Which is why I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed my 18 hour layover in the city...

File this under juvenile. When I called my husband from Peru on my first trip to South America, he asked me a question that I had often wondered about but never witnessed firsthand. Do the toilets in the Southern Hemisphere really flush the opposite way from the Northern Hemisphere? I was willing to...