February 10 Thursday 2011 Lima

We do not get our meal until around 2 by that time everyone who can is sleeping. We get orange juice around 4:30am . I get restless legs so spend my time walking the floor. We arrive in Lima at 5:30 am , after 5 hours. We clear customs and immigrations with no problems. Our leader Maricela is there to collect us. We meet all 15 fellow passengers. We are the only Canadians. It is foggy as our bus delivers us to the Jose Antonio hotel 45 min away. We check into our room and it is time for our complimentary breakfast. We have time to freshen up before a briefing on Lima and our trip. We are given a sample of Pisco sour ( brandy with lemon +sweetnerand egg whites) a delicious national drink. She explains some facts about Peru-

-3^rd largest after Argentina and Brazil

-Peru has a strong economy,-mainly mining,(gold, copper ,tin and natural gas.

#2 is construction then tourism. We are taken to lunch at the Quarter Latin.

Next we get a city tour by bus of Lima's colonial sites. . We see fuel is expensive $ 6 a gallon. Lima has no subway or rail system but many buses large and small and many taxies. We go to the National Anthropology museum. We saw some wonderful artifacts. All original not copies. We go to the plaza of Armes, Presidents palace , Jiron de la Union, Lima Cathedral and the Basilica to name a few. We are back to the hotel by 6:30. to get ready for our welcome dinner at OSE. Here we get Pisco again only a bigger glass and also a glass of wine. Back to the hotel for a good sleep hopefully.

REMEMBER-Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.