Lima, Lima, Lima, Lima, Leeeeeeema
I have so much to say about this city, it is so difficult to fit into a few short blog posts (well, arguably short).
My second day in Lima was another adventure in it’s own. I woke rested and ready to take on the day. I took care of some marketing responsibilities in the morning, then set out to walk around the city, with my first stop being an ATM.
So here’s a story:
As I was crossing the street at a crosswalk, out of no where, a man on scooter turned the corner with an outstretched hand and reached for the camera around my neck. He was driving so quickly that when he grabbed the camera, the force pulled my neck along with it and I plummeted, head first, into the pavement. Thank goodness for my huge noggin and thick hair which trapped the camera strap, so he was unable to pull it off over my head in the drive-by. He sped off, unsuccessful, without even looking back.
A million thoughts raced through my head as I lay there in the middle of the street, trying to collect myself and wrap my head around what happened. People stood nearby, but the the incident happened so quickly that there was really nothing anyone could have done.
I brushed myself off, got up and walked to a sidewalk. There, I did a quick check of my body and saw that my shoulder was badly scratched up and finger was bleeding. My head hurt, too, from the direct impact with the asphalt, so I headed to a pharmacy to get some bandages. I was a mix of angry (and I am NOT an angry person) and grateful that he didn’t get away with anything. The incident could have been so much worse — he could have taken my camera, wallet, phone, passport, etc. or I could have been seriously injured…or worse. But luckily, I wasn’t hurt badly and I still had all of my belongings.
After my trip to the pharmacy, I headed back to the hostel. I needed to check out anyway so I could move to my next location. Still disheveled from the run-in with the thief, I checked in with my parents and had a relaxing cup of tea. Then I packed up, called a cab, and set out for my new hotel in Miraflores.
I was shaken by the morning’s events, but I wasn’t going to let that ruin my day! After a short cab ride to Miraflores (the more developed, touristy district in Lima) I made it to my new hotel, Hotel Nobility. Oh. My. Gosh. Y’all. This was listed as a 3-star hotel but seriously is the nicest hotel I’ve stayed in (probably because I’m young and broke and can’t afford nice hotels). The service was incredible. I don’t think my hand touched a door knob the entire two days I was there. The food was exquisite (don’t get me started on the breakfast buffet).
I settled in, which was easy to do because I still didn’t have my luggage from the airport, and jetted off to walk around this new district of Lima. If anyone hasn’t noticed, I’m annoyingly partial to water — if there is a view of a lake, river, ocean, sea, etc. — I need to find it; thus I found my way to the Miraflores side of la Coasta Verde, and there, happened upon el Parque del Amor (the Love Park), a small and neatly landscaped park overlooking the water with a statue of two people embracing, entitled The Kiss.
The park nearly mirrored el Parque Güell in Barcelona in that a long, winding wall covered in colorful mosaic tiles set the perimeter. I sat in the park for a while and watched the sunset. From where I sat, I could see down the shoreline to where people were parasailing off the cliff. How I would have loved to join, but I’m sure it was costly, and I didn’t have time. Even watching, though, was a thrill.
Soon it grew dark and I headed back to the hotel to do some more work.
Monday had been a long day to say the least, but as always, the eventfulness simply added to the adventure — it’s all part of the story.
