<b>Potosi, Bolivia</b>
What a splendid and memorable meal we had in Potosi at El Meson, Plaza 10 de noviembre at the corner of Tarija and Lineares. Potosi is cold and this restaurant is WARM. Warm in temperature and coziness. Remember... we are traveling in Bolivia´s summertime. In winter, Potosi must be very, very cold.

Let's see if I can explain the ambiance. Think white linen, blue napkins, white plates on tables in small rooms with vaulted brick masonry ceilings. The walls are either the same brick, or painted dulled, earthen colors of Bolivia's flag: yellow, red or green. Some of the walls are painted white to match the mortar of the bricks. These white walls are graced with sepia line drawings (floor to ceiling) in clustered murals which depict scenes from daily life. The colored walls are graced with Potosi or Cusque&ntilde;o school oil paintings depicting arch-angels or Madonnas in highly carved gold frames. A large bellows leaned up against one of the walls. We enjoyed warm, friendly and attentive service.

And the food was terrific! I had Saice el Meson which was a large bowl of diced meat served in a wonderful soupy chile-spiced sauce. My dish came with rice. Ray enjoyed Asado Borracho which was steak with tomatoes and onions in a red wine sauce.

70 Bolivianos, not bad. Maybe we should have ordered wine. .... next time, perhaps.

<b>Best Restaurants, continued: Sucre, Bolivia</b>

We did order wine at Maxim´s. Calle Arenales 19, just about 1/2 block from Sucre´s main plaza and directly across from San Miguel church.

Maxim's is upstairs from street level. It is quite elegant, so you might want to dress a bit. (No dirty jeans and t-shirts here, please!) The tables are graced with white linen, plates have a floral border of sorts and artwork hanging on the walls is impressionism. The cozy restaurant is divided into small rooms.

I ordered Trout (Trucha) Rochefort and Ray ordered Pollo Maxim, a cordon bleu. Of these dishes Ray made a better choice. Although my meal was delicious, Ray's was out of this world wonderful! The meals came with salad. Yes, lettuce salad. We both ate the salads and had no tummy or intestinal problems. (WHEW!) Another good meal, tremendous service. Cost: 135 Bolivianos. See what a difference adding a bottle of wine to the meal does for pricing?

Not that chocolate shops are restautants, but you should know the best chocolates in all of Bolivia are to be found in Sucre at a little shop called 'Para Ti'. Calle Arenales 7. www.chocolates-para-ti.com If you don´t like Para Ti you can find another chocolate shop on the corner of Arenales and the main plaza called Taboada.

Are you still with me? I have more food to write about, but not too much. (I promise.)

Sharon

<b>Best Restaurants, continued: Jztun Yampara, Bolivia</b>

Well, this place is way off the beaten path in a little Quechua village about twenty or thirty minutes highway drive... then dirt road outside of Sucre.

Here we had Cjoko de Pollo, an indigenous version of Coq au Vin. Rather than wine, chicha is used. The giant-sized bowls of soup came with large cut-up pieces of chicken still on the bone, a whole potato, plenty of tasty broth, some vegetables and was served over fettucine noodles. Homemade bread accompanied the meal and both Ray and I were too stuffed to enjoy the fresh peaches and/or bananas which were available for dessert.

I will write more about our special visit to this village. A bit of a preview.... we saw three Andean Condors in spectacular landscape! But, that´s later. Much later. Remember, I still have to write about Oruro's carnaval.

- Sharon

<b>Best Restaurants, continued: Pizza!!!</b>

You can find wonderful pizzas in Bolivia &amp; Peru which are baked in fantastic wood-burning ovens. Here are our favorites.

Our third place award goes to Lago de Flores in Puno, Peru. 38.30 Soles with no beer. We shared a giant 3-litre bottle of water.

Second place award goes to Chez Maggy in Cusco, Peru. Plateros 348. 41.50 Soles with beer for Ray &amp; I had water. One big extra for Chez Maggy was the street musicians who came in and played for 30 minutes (8PM until 830 PM) Rating is on food only.

First place award goes to 16 de Julio in Uyuni, Bolivia. The restaurant is located on the main plaza. Here we had the ever so fabulous tomato and garlic pizza. YUMMMMY! And, Ray had one of those giant-sized...probabably a liter or more bottle of beer. (I helped a little and otherwise drank my Fanta.) 72.50 Bolivianos.

- Sharon

That's all for now. I suspose siesta is over. I better go see what Ray is up to.

My best,
Sharon

Sharon, I do have more questions. I will post them under new threads (in hope that I will get a couple of responses.)

Kelly

Hello again, KNJ, I'll click on your name to look for your other questions.

Sharon

Home in OKC now. On with the trip report! The work-a-day routine begins tomorrow.

Spelling correction for above: Should be &quot;Jatun Yampara&quot; for the small Quechua Village.

And, one more note about llama meat or beef in Bolivia. Beef on a menu in Bolivia often refers to llama meat. Bifsteak will be beef. &quot;Beef&quot; is often llama.

<b>Best Restaurants, continued: Cusco</b>
MAP Cafe, Museo de Arte Precolombino, Plaza Nazarenas 23. Nice food presentation, service and convenient before, after or as a break to the fine museum.

I already described the yummy alpaca appetizer each of us enjoyed. I ordered the red trout with shaved potatoes. The shaved potatoes were crisped into round, flat shapes and stacked between the trout. It was served on a plate of yummy golden mild yellow chile sauce.

Ray ordered a lamb shank served with green barley. His dish was served on a plate of wine enriched sauce, which Ray didn't care for too much. If you love French cooking, this preparation would be divine! If you do not like saucy food preparations, this might not be the restaurant for you. Dinner price included a 1/2 bottle of wine. 135 Soles


Chez Maggy, Plateros 348, for pizza, already mentioned in the pizza section. And, what a wonderful Andean band performance we enjoyed here! Chez Maggy is an institution not to be missed!

<b>Best Restaurants, continued: Lima</b>

La Rosa Nautica, right on the Pacific. Espig&oacute;n 4 Circuito de Playas

http://www.larosanautica.com/

The view simply can't be beat! This place is very popular with tourists. Get reservations. Sit by the windows and enjoy the surfers, gulls, waves and sunset! The bread served with dinner was good. For a starter I ordered the grilled octopus, Vasco style, with a sauce served with saut&eacute;ed peppers and asparagus. Ray ordered cerviche. Each of our appetizers was good; however, the combination of flavors presented in each of our main dishes did not do that much to please our palates. I ordered the steamed sea bass wrapped in spinach leaves served with mashed potatoes and sheets of sweet carrots. The sea bass was overdone and a little dry or tough-ish. (Quite a shame). My sweet carrots were way too sweet and also drenched in way too much olive oil. Ray had ordered swordfish. Again, his accompaniments seemed to conflict with the fine flavor of the swordfish.

La Rosa Nautica receives the most expensive meal of the trip award at 218 Soles. (I had a single glass of Chardonnay and Ray had a Pisco Sour. We each had a cup of cappuccino after dinner.)

<b>A Quick Note on Our Pricing</b>
All meal prices include a 10-12% tip with the exception of La Rosa Nautica, which charged a 10 Sole cover charge per person and clearly stated on the menu that tips and taxes were included. Adding, of course that we could leave more tip if we chose to; but, that it was not necessary.

<b>Restaurants to Avoid:</b>
We are members of the South American Explorer's Club. And, even though the Pachacutec restaurant on the Main Plaza of Cusco has two stickers on their front door advertising discounts for members of the South American Explorer's Club, we were told, &quot;I am sorry, but we cannot give you a discount.&quot; We had no other coupon or special. I asked why, and was simply told it could not be done. The middle part of the kingfish I ordered was still raw and Ray's alpaca steak was quite unevenly cooked. The Andean band which played was mediocre compared to the fabulous Andean band we heard at Chez Maggy. When I say mediocre, every thing they played at Pachacutec was at top force and there was no contrast with something more powerful being contrasted with a controlled execution of something less. In general their music was loud and the musicians seemed to be competing against each other for highest decibel rating rather than performing together as a band. 100 Soles, included wine. Here we also left a lesser tip.

All this talk of food has me hungry. More later. It's time to refuel.

Sharon

Sharon,
I've been reading your reports with great interest since we'll be in Peru for two weeks in May. I know now,for sure, that we'll be eating pizza at Chez Maggy in Cusco; but in Lima I'd be interested in finding out in what other restaurants you ate. Also in Lima, is Pier 4 of the Lima beach in Miraflores or some other section of town? I pulled up the website you listed, and saw how it sits right at the end of the pier--and it sure does look inviting-- but where is it, exactly?

Also in Lima, which of the historical sites did you enjoy the most, and which, in your opinion, are not to be missed?

Your report is wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Kathy

Hi Kathleen!

Glad to hear you are enjoying the report. The only other place we ate in Lima (this trip) was sandwhiches at the Museo de le Nacion cafeteria. These were basic and nothing special.

We were also in Lima 5 years ago and ate a wonderful meal at Las Brujas de Cachiche, Jr. Bolognesi 460.

http://www.brujasdecachiche.com.pe/ibien.html

Both La Rosa Nautica and Las Brujas de Cachiche are in the Miraflores district. We ate at a nice Chinese restaurant in 1999, but I don't have the name or address.

For other sites in Lima, the Larco Herrerro Museum is a phenomenal collection of ceramics.

Lima takes great pride in maintaining the center city and the grounds and boulevards are lovely. You will see many fine examples of box balconies and of colonial architecture. In the city center see St. Francis' Convent and the Cathedral.

A visit to St. Francis Convent and the historical center of Lima, which UNESCO has named a 'Cultural World Heritage Site', is time well-spent. At the convent, the construction (bamboo), artwork, catacombs and history are all quite interesting.

One of the Pisarro brothers is buried in Lima's Cathedral. The paintings and statuary in the Cathedral are magnificent examples of Spanish Colonial art. Don't miss the art museum at the cathedral!

Oh, and along the coastline is a Gaudi-inspired Parque de Amor. Interesting to stop by if you are in the area, but not necessarily a destination. It's also interesting to drive through the Barranco district and look at the architecture. And, Lima also boasts some very old olive trees which are lovely.

All these tips are from our 1999 Peru trip. Add to this the Museum of the Nation which we visited on 2005 trip.

When I get home tonight I'll check through our 1999 trip report and see if anything else comes to mind.

Sharon

Hi again, Kathy,

There was a handicrafts market near the Miraflores district that was neat. Not sure what this is like today 2005 vs 1999. Maybe someone else will know about it. It had handicrafts from all over Peru and fairly good prices. This trip we found Peruvian prices to be a lot higher for textiles, food &amp; etc.

You can also time things to see the changing of the guard in Lima at the Governor's Palace, if you like those ceremonies.

Lima Sunday traffic is very light, so distances are not as much of a problem.

You might enjoy reading Ray's description of Lima from his 1999 trip report...

<i>The City of the Kings

&quot;As far as I can tell, no kings ever lived in or visited Lima. Even in Pre-Columbian times the Lima area was only one of a dozen or so oasis of the Pacific Desert, fed by the Rimac river and not especially prominent. The moniker was assigned because the city was founded by the Spaniards on the Catholic feast of the Epiphany, or the three kings. It was the primary administrative center for Spanish colonial power in South America from the 15th through the 19th centuries and thus represented the Spanish king there.&quot;

&quot;Sharon and I woke up at 9:30 AM and scurried down to the kitchen just in time for breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, tasty toast, orange juice and my first taste of the muddy Peruvian coffee. It was always served with a small pitcher of cream, and I soon discovered the custom was to create a 50/50 mix of cream and coffee. After breakfast, I decided to take a walk through the streets of Miraflores, my first Peruvian adventure.&quot;</i>

(While Ray explored, I went back to the room so our 15-year old son, Patrick, would not wake up alone.)

<i>&quot;Miraflores is an upscale suburb of Lima, and we were staying in a residential area not far from the city center. The woman at the desk recommended I turn left outside the gate and head north to Ave. Jose Prado. I followed my instructions and walked up past an art gallery, dog shampoo shop, and several restaurants, including one that was sporting something vaguely resembling a northwest American Indian totem pole. It is always interesting how pop icons from home are translated in other cultures. Avenue Prado was a busy main street, one of the main arteries between Miraflores and the western portions of Lima. Busses and cars competed for scarce space in the streets (by the way , they do drive on the right here.). Also present were the collectivos, minibusses operated by 2 people. One drove while the other leaned out the window, yelled out the busses destination to passersby and collected fares. Down the avenue’s center was a median with trees and a pair of sidewalks. I crossed the street to the median and steered a course to the left.&quot;

&quot;The part of the street I emerged on had several banks on either side. Standing prominently outside the banks were armed guards wearing flak vests. A block further down the street was the Santa Isabel supermarket, not unlike a modern U.S. supermarket. I hiked down 4 more blocks to a traffic circle and headed towards the ocean to the southwest. Nearby was a picturesque black and white painted lighthouse, something of a city symbol for Miraflores. The city is perched on a high bluff above the ocean, 200-300 feet tall. The bluff consists of loose eroded dirt, but the annual rainfall in Lima is so low erosion isn’t much of a problem. The sky was overcast and the ocean gray, and I could spy no boats on the water. After walking through a park on the lip of the bluff I headed back down a street that paralleled Ave. Jose Prado. On the way back I walked by the Miraflores chapter of the Star Trek fan club.&quot;

&quot;When I got back Sharon and Patrick were in the mood for a stroll, so we all headed back to the Ave. Prado, where we changed some money at one of the banks. Next, we stopped at the supermarket where I bought my first Inca Kola, another life milestone. Inca Kola is a popular soft drink made in Peru. The color is a fluorescent greenish yellow and it tastes like liquid bubble gum. We decided to head the other direction on the Prado and after 6 blocks came to the central traffic oval of Miraflores. From there, we struck north 2 blocks to discover the Canadian embassy. Working south we walked through Parque Kennedy. Sharon stopped in a couple of shops but bought nothing. On the way back to the hotel we stopped in a nearby commercial art gallery to see what artists were currently doing in Peru. The art, like the buildings in Lima, were painted in bright colors, filling large spaces of canvas with single bold colors and patterns, something like Matisse. In other words, it was wonderful art.&quot;

Then, from later that same day... in Ray's trip report...
&quot;The bus waded into the river of morning traffic on the Avenue Prado, and drifted in the general direction of downtown Lima. Lima traffic was more intense than anything I have encountered in the USA, with the possible exception of New York City. Gridlock on the major avenues was quite common, and whenever possible, the bus driver used side streets. The rules of the road seemed reasonably simple:

1. When a space appears ahead of you in traffic, fill it before someone else gets there first.
2. Pay attention to the traffic lights when it’s convenient.
3. Keep your left arm and hand free for gesturing.
4. Honk at anything that moves or looks like it might move.

&quot;The din of horns was constant once in the main traffic area. All the vehicles used them for almost any situation. The sound was so incessant it seemed to be difficult for drivers to gain the attention of other vehicles. Vehicle operators have resorted to installing custom horn noises on their cars to distinguish their audible signals. I heard cars that sounded like Star Trek phasers, among other weird sounds. I observed a police car trying to make its way through the traffic jams to some emergency, pathetically sounding its siren, and flashing its lights to no avail. I would not like to have need of an ambulance in this town.&quot;

&quot;Lima has the same sort of attractions and problems of most other large metropolitan areas. I’ve gone over the traffic. Automotive exhaust is noticeable. The streets are crowded and noisy. On the positive side, the city is blessed with beautiful and well cared for boulevards and plazas. They are planted with exotic flowers and trees, and are a great antidote to the traffic problems of the city. Statues of notable men sternly observe the colorful collage of traffic and pedestrians from their pedestals within the parks. There are also many cultural sites to visit, of which we only had time for a few. We stopped first at the main cathedral at the central Plaza de Armas. It was a dark cavernous place, partly because there was a show of art created about the time of the conquest there, and the light had to be dim to protect the works of art. We saw the casket where the bones of Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conqueror of Peru, lie. The other remarkable sights in the cathedral were the statues of the saints and the blessed virgin, on their ornate litters.&quot;</i>


Sharon

Sharon and Ray,
Wow. Thanks for two wonderful reports full of good information. Since we'll have two and a half days in Lima, we thought we'd spend time in two areas, El Centro with a half day tour and tons of exploring on foot, and Miraflores where we're staying. Since I'm a big fan of architecture and museum, we thought of going to the exact same sights as you mentioned along with one more museum, the National Museum of Art. Is seems a bit of a walk away from the majority of sights, but in reading about it

Sorry, hit the wrong key.

To continue...in reading about it, I realize how much it would add to our understanding of the country. The other museum we'd like to visit is in Miraflores. It's called Museo Amano. Anyone, have you been to either of these museums?

I pulled up the other restaurant website that you listed and it too looks great. Thanks for both of these. They're also listed in the Fodors travel guide, along with their locations. We won't have a car in Lima as you did, but if our hotel is within reasonable walking distance of either, I'm sure we'll be eating there.

Since we'll be in Puno and Cusco too, I thought of doing some shopping there, as the prices might be better than in Lima. I could be mistaken, of course.

Thanks again. Kathy

Sharon,
I certainly appear to be rambling on today, but I just looked up one other museum that you mentioned, Larco Herrera Museum, and the nearby National Anthropology and Archaeology Museum. How did I overlook them? We'll probably have to get there by taxi, but I think I need to revise my Lima itinerary to include them both. Glad you suggested the one. Kathy

Hi again Kathy,

We hired a taxi in Lima and made quick friends with Elvis Estrada who ended up driving us all around. The fare seemed to always be 15 Soles, no matter the distance. Some of the trips were 15 minutes others were 35 or 40. His family has a tradition of naming family members after famous people. His father named him &quot;Elvis&quot; after Elvis Presley and Elvis named his son, &quot;Omar&quot;, after Omar Sharif. You can contact Elvis in Lima at 990-80602 (his mobile phone, so 8 digits is correct). Elvis speaks limited English.

Depending on where you are staying in the Miraflores area you might be able to walk to Brujas de Cachiche. For La Rosa Nautica, you will want a taxi: it is not a place you would walk to because of the constant fast traffic up and down the coast.

I have not been to the other places you mentioned, but it certainly looks like you are doing your homework!

-Sharon