Pete
Incredible
Changing of Guard
So here we are at Lima, capital of Peru. There's a lot to see and do here, however Pete is finally leaving us, and after numerous farewell bashes, this is the final one. Himself and Kirsten understandably disappeared off for their final day together, instead we met up at 3pm for farewell drinks a few hours before he had to go to the airport. Ken managed to get Geoff to down a glass of whiskey and Geoff returned the favour in kind by buying Ken a triple whiskey and daring him to skull it. Thankfully Ken was not to be taken in, instead he downed half the glass and offered the remainder to Geoff, who obligingly downed the remaining half. Five o' clock came, and damn if Pete's taxi didn't arrive as well - there were a lot of tearful farewells, and well let's just say, it was emotional. We returned to the bar and the drinks kept flowing. At 7pm a subgroup of us headed off for food. On making our way back to the hotel around 9pm we found Ken still drinking whiskey. The man is a machine - like all true Irishmen! At 11pm, after two lost battles with gravity, he admitted defeat and headed for bed. Eight hours of non-stop (mainly) whiskey drinking, incredible!!
Did a bit of sightseeing around the city the next day. Checked out the beautiful Plaza de Armas which is the main square and houses the cathedral, government palace, and city hall. Really enjoyed watching the goose-stepping changing of the guard outside the government palace. The brass band were amazing and they made my hair stand on end with their rendition of Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries' - simply sublime. I could have listened to them play that all day. We also visited San Francisco Monastery and checked out a few Artisan markets to see what same-same wares were on offer.
Sadly our time in Lima was too short, another day or two would have been handy. However I have this similar complaint with every other town and city that we visit. Just one more day......
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