I have about 24 hrs here before my return to England, I have decided to walk to my accomodation from the Bus station which looks simple enough on the map. I don't always have wifi so I have taken pictures of it in the hope that if I get lost I will still be able to find my way. The area around the bus station is busy and there are lots of people. I walk with purpose along the main road of Avenue Javier Prado Este for 20 minutes or so to reach the junction with Aveune Arequipa. The walk south along this road takes me over an hour and its a lot further than I thought. I pass a couple of French speaking lads also with backpacks who turn back and say "shes brave" in french to each other. Its dark, I'm alone out walking the streets of Lima, a city I do not know, on a Friday night. I stop and check with a security guard in my awful Spanish that I'm on the right track and he tells me yes, just keep going. Its an adventure. Its aproaching 8.30pm by the time I arrive at the accomodation, Pucllana Lodge, and I'm so glad to have arrived in one piece. My room has a nice double bed with four walls and a ceiling. The bathroom however has 4 walls but is covered with a material for the ceiling. But it does has hot water! I decided I'll try and take the metropolitano train to the main square tomorrow rather than walk as I had planned! There's not much in my guidebook about Lima, It was Francisco Pizzaro who founded the site of Lima on January 18th 1535. He found the site to be inhospitable, rain seldom fell, earthquakes were common and winter was a time of dreary grey skies and fog. But his soldiers saw it as the best place for a quick sea escape in the event of a native uprising. Limas open plains became the political and military capital of The New World, seeing the reign of 40 Viceroys before the "City of Kings" was declared capital of an independant Peru in 1821. I'm staying in the Miraflores Region, apparently home to Limas wealthy children, the best place for theatres, trendy boutiques and nightlife. But right now I need sleep! The next morning I wake up and go to breakfast where there are a few people. A French speaking man sits next to me, and we chat for a bit in French and English. Hes in this late 50's or 60's and is also travelling alone. After breakfast I speak to the receptionist about booking a taxi and getting to town. She lends me a travel card to use to get to town and tells me how to get there and back.... in Spanish. She doesnt speak any English and my Spanish is terrible so I ask a few times and repeat myself to her to be sure I understand correctly! I walk to the metropolitano station near the hostel and take the metro, an overground tram line, from Angamos to the Jiron De La Union stop. Whilst on the metropolitano, which takes about 20 minutes, I feel people hold their eye contact with me a bit more than perhaps they would anyone else. I'm very much in the minority at this moment, I remember the comment from the lady at the Monkey house and start to look at peoples eye colour. They are all brown. I smile back at those who look and after that people don't seem to be bothered by me. This is a city after all. There are seats on the metro as you would expect for mothers and the elderly and people are generous at letting those who might need the seat more sit down. Its busy and is probably filled with people on their way to work or shopping. I get off at my stop and after buying a fresh orange juice I walk to the main square the Plaza Mayor. Its about 10am and I have 2 hours till the changing of the guard outside the Palacio De Gobierno. Its Saturday and the square is starting to get busy with tourists like me. Theres a presence of military force here, police with guns and shields patrol the area. There are shops and cafes along the nearby streets but its a UNESCO world heritage site in the square so the original buildings have remained unchanged for years. I escape the gray morning into the Archbishops Palace Museum which is absolutely stunning. It does have a rather bizzare painting of an angel squirting breast milk into a monks mouth, but mostly its beautiful 16th century art. Upstairs the living quaters and offices have been beautifully preserved. The architecture itself is also very pretty indeed, well worth a visit. After that I go next door to the Cathedral. Its large, but not massive. The cathedral was constructed Lima in 1584 holds the remains of the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizzaro which is the main attraction. Its also very beautiful here and filled with many late 16th century sculptures, paintings and ornaments. Theres also a small catacombs and the remains of bodies, half buried or partially excavated, that seem to have been burried on top of each other. The foggy grey day is lifting to sunshine outside and by midday the weather is nice! I see a large group of colourfully dressed peruvians and take a picture. I then move over to the gates outside the Palacio de Goberino to watch the changing of the guard. The whole thing takes about 30 minutes and includes lots of high kicking as a sort of march. Theres a band of 24 who march and play and then theres a routine of soldiers who perform the changing of the guard. To me its more of a dance, a display of agility and weaponry, they throw their bayonettes between them and spin them round in such control! Some flags also come out and then after a booming request to the house the change of the guard takes place and all the other soliders leave and so does the band. I wander round the square a little more and use the walkway along the Jiron de la Union where there are a lot of shops. This looks like its one of the citys main highstreets. There are beggars and a sort of circus along these streets, there are people claiming "I can guess your weight" with a set of scales and theres a mic'ed up midget telling jokes and performing tricks. I continue to Plaza San Martin which has more large houses around it and is pleasant enough, but I feel like I'm done here in Lima. The capital here has a much more industrious feel about it that the rest of my Peru trip. It also feels a little more dangerous, but mostly dull on my own. I go into a supermarket and buy some fruit and M&M's and get some change I havent seen before, Centimos. I walk to the Central station to get the train back to the hostel and pass a larger shopping centre which is open and on seperate levels. Being a place which doesnt get much rain, just fog, I've noticed buildings with just three sides, its odd as from the metropolitano I can peer into their second or third story living/bed room which is open to the elements. I get to the Hostel, return the metro card and collect my bags, then my Taxi takes me to the airport and we drive along part of the coast line. I think in the summer the beaches would be nice here. After my flight overnight via Madrid and back to London Heathrow I reflect on the awesome adventure I've had here in Peru. Today was an exception as the rest of my trip has been really great. I wonder where I'll travel next and as I take an escalator down to arrivals, there's a huge picture of Tim Peake, British astronaught to welcoming us home. Space? Yes please!