We were woken this morning at 7 after getting to sleep around 230am. Our wooden hallway became a corridor for people with high heel shoes! I imagine it was staff, but it felt like it went on forever.....until I remembered I had ear plugs!! Popped them in and back to sleep for a few more hours then woke to a disco party somewhere around our room at 10 am! Ok ok I am sure it is not a disco party but it sure sounded like one....a sign that it was time to get this day started. We did not get a room looking out over the promenade or a window to the outside ( we have a window to the wooden hallway!) so we were excited to get out and see what the day looked like!

We headed out to find a hot beautiful sunny day out there....the dark deserted promenade we walked up last night had transformed to a bustling colourful promenade with the sounds of buskers singing coming from different directions. We were in need of coffee and food. We walked along the promenade to the Plaza Mayor also known as the Plaza de Armos. The plaza aka square is surrounded by the Government Palace, The Municipal Building and the Lima Cathedral. We happened upon the changing of the guards, we weren't sure what was happening but we thought perhaps someone ( other than us) special was in town. Turns out they do this every day at noon!

We spent the majority of the day wandering around "downtown" Lima. We window shopped and took many pictures. The buildings in Lima are very eclectic. The architecture of different buildings depend on when it was damaged in an earthquake and was rebuilt. There is a huge mix of very very old and very modern.

We joined a free walking tour and proceeded to pretty much visit everything we had seen already but this time we actually learned about it! Best line of the day was the tour guide describing the flags on the municipal building....."and the last flag is the Andean Flag..often mistaken for the gay flag".... Nat and I looked at each other and giggled....may of been our first thought when we saw it earlier today!

After our tour we wandered through a small colourful market. Neither of us eager to fill our bags yet and knowing we had many markets ahead of us we headed to find food. We settled on a restaurant with no English and no pictures on the menu. With our limited Spanish and some French interpretation we managed to each order a great meal. Our tour guide had told us that after 6 in behind the palace along the river they had these red stands that sell local favourite desserts. We headed over and found these red stands all along this promenade and different music or acts were going on as you walked along. Was a great evening, we shared some picarones which are a type of donut with some honey type substance poured over it. We sat looking at the mountains, you could see the lights of the houses all up into the hills and the cross atop the hill of Cerro San Cristobal was lit up.

We headed back to our room. Disco music still in affect!?!? An early evening hopefully, another big day of travel tomorrow.