2025 Year End Trip: Day 19 - Atacama Desert

Day 19 - The Amouse Bouche

The Atacama Desert is a vast expanse that so far hasn't been fully commercialized to its final extent. What I mean by this is that there are large stretches where there is not much going on at all, and instead many of the main sites that have been turned into true tourist locations are all within a 2-hour radius of San Pedro de Atacama, our home base for the next three days. Figuring out what to do each day, the logistics, which sites require pre-booking tickets, which you can get day of, which you can only get day of on site, all of it is rather complicated. Luckily for us, my Dad's random habit of watching travel vidoes on youtube on TV on Sunday afternoons paid off big time, as he found a gem - a guy named RustyPics who seems to be a more unassuming than most travel vlogger / professional nature photographer. He had visited the Atacama desert in late 2024 for four days, a half day more than what we would have. He helped us unlock the code.

In the end, the plan was to basically follow all his suggestions and ideas with some swapping of combinations of places and events (for instance, we weren't getting up at 4am for a tour of the El Tatio Geysers, no matter how much better the geysers would be at morning). But at least one day in, I can say mr RustyPics is a smart man. If anything, my complaint is he has a way better camera than most humans so his photos will look better on the video than ours will look. Luckily though, real life seems to match his photos pretty damn well.

Our first stop after the 75-minute drive from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama (which I'll call San Pedro for ease), was to Emporio Andino, a lovely little coffee shop / grab & go spot with empanadas and sanguches / restaurant. We will likely go here many times, mostly for those first two things. Lunch is a bit of an arbitrary concept in Atacama, with most being either to-go emapanadas (which is what we did) or if you're lucky a weird timed sitdown. Anyway, we grabbed some really good capuccinos, a giant, cold bottle of water (to refill other bottles), two empanadas and a sanguche and off we went to the first spot, which I do think was our friend Rusty's as well.

The Atacama is a desert, but various parts are more mountains, some more steppes, some what you would imagine when you hear "desert", and some are giant salt flats, some of the biggest in teh world. Our first tourism stop was one of these, about an hour south of San Pedro, at Laguna Chaxa, in the Sal de Atacama salt flat (the biggest in teh world). Laguna Chaxa's claim to fame is the flamingos that rest in its lakes in the middle of these salt flats - along with the incredible, hauntingly beautiful scenery (I think I'm going to use that "hauntingly beautiful" line a few times...). Truly the scenery of Laguna Chaxa is hard to describe - cool, faultless peaks around you on all sides, far enough to not be imposing, close enough that their reflection is perfectly mirrored in the lake. Flamingos were all around, most staying a bit further away from teh dedicated walking path, but enough lost their way close by to allow for some amazing sights.

Sadly, we were two months before hatching season (as I saw one time in of all places the Salt Lake City Bird Park, baby flamingos are among the cutest animals around), but still it was mesmerizing. The best might be when one flaming that was rather close to the path, did some weird little twitchy dance while its beak was fishing for the little sale water shrimp things that make up most of its diet. No idea why this one did that while all the other flamingos seemed far more steady in hunting for food, but it wss adorable and memorable all the same.

For a first impression into the Atacama, Laguna Chaxa was pretty perfect - despite its elevation (every site is between 2,500 - 4,200 meters), the flat paths, the mystic salt flat scenery and colors, it was all so intense in the best way. As was our next stop of the Valle de Arcioris (Rainbow Valley), which is located about 45 minutes north of San Pedro (so the diametric opposite direction). We were able to check in to our lovely, albeit un-airconditioned, AirBNB early as well, and on the way first back from Laguna Chaxa and then to Valle de Arcioris, we crossed first a llama farm, and then a series of llamas idling by the road, including the cutest baby with its mom, who seemed afraid but would adorably poke his head up every now and then. Llama are way less rare in Atacama than Vicuna and some birds, and even flamingos, so seeing them was a nice surprise.

As nice a surprse was the Valle de Arcioris. On the one hand, it was a bit tough to know exactly where to go as the map and gidance was fairly minimal. I guess the best way to describe it is you drive around a landscape that probably looks more like a desert than anything we've seen so far - sand, rock formations, hills, but with way more colors than sand red or brown. Hence the name Rainbow Valley. The main weird color was a green hue made up from a particular type of rock that lined many hills and ledges. So was light purple, yellow, and so much more. This whole area had some staggering landscape views and valleys and open areas, all interspersed with the colors of the rainbow (no blue, I guess...). Valle de Arcioris is more a pick your own adventure site than others - hence we even figured a couple times we probably drove a bit too far off course, but still a wonderful way to acclimate yourself to the vastness of the Atacama scenery.

Finally, a bit tired for the day, we returned to our AirBNB and then took to explore the town. San Pedro is not big in terms of its commercial center - much like an El Calafate. Everything is essentially an a 3x4 stretch, with one pedestrian only lane in its center. In there are tons of tourist offices (most people that come here seem the backpaker types who will take these group tours rather than us driving oursevles around), tons of stores and restaurants, all built into these brick buildings that look homely from the outside, but often have larger, better decorated than you think, interiors. Already a few places I've ID'd for future shopping trips. They also have a beer bar, named Cerveceria Saint Peter, which has a few local brews. No idea how local, they just said one stout and one amber (along with the normal fare like Austral, Kuntsmann, etc.), but the stout was good, they had wifi, they gave great cornbread on the house; no idea where the Saint Peter name comes from, but so be it.

After the beer, I walked down that main drag a bit with my parents checking out a few stores, before we went to dinner at La Picada del Indio. Dinner options are more multiple in San Pedro than you would think, but a lot is catered more at the heavy tourist population - meaning a host of spots advertising heavily that they serve pizza and pasta. Even La Picada, which is a more traditional Chileno restaurant, serves pizza. We didn't get that, but instaed I got a lomo (steak) main that was weird in that the steak itself was perfectly cooked with one of the better cabernet sauces I've ever had (seriously), but combined with some pretty meh sides. The drinks were nice though, and the place is super well rated - for a quick meal, not at all disappointed. 

After dinner and dropping my parents back, I headed back to downtown (e.g. that main street) and went to their other reputable beer bar ChelaCabur. Sadly, a place that only serves fairly mainstream stuff (granted, mainstream in Chile means Austral and Kunstmann - two better than Budweiser equivalents), but not sadly a place that was great in every other way. They play generally heavy metal, they have the weirdest set of movie, metal album posters, and just the coolest vibe. Great way to end the night for what looks to be a great three-and-a-half days in Atacama.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 18 - Traveling from Rio to Atacama

Day 18 - The Blank Space

The Atacama Desert is not easy to get to, specifically the place that exists as a tourist town in the middle of all the main sites, that being the city of San Pedro de Atacama. In fact, it is so tough to reach (quick note, I'm somewhat exaggerating this) sitting about an hour from the closest reachable airport in Calama, that we decided to not only spend this entire day traveling from Brazil to the Atacama, but didn't even end up reaching San Pedro de Atacama. Technically, this was more the fact our flight was scheduled to land from Santiago at 9:41pm at Calama airport, and the rental cars all closed between 9-10. So we audibled a bit last minute and got a hotel that night in Calama. I'm skipping to the end a bit because there is really not much to say here. 

We took Sky Airlines from Rio to Santiago, and then after a four hour layover, from Santiago to Calama. Sky Airlines is a low cost carrier, but I'll give them credit for having slim-line seats that while a bit hard, to offer a bit more legroom in return vs some competitor low cost airline economy seats. Also to my shock they served a sandwhich to everyone on the Rio to Santiago flight. It wasn't a good sandwhich, mind you, but something that was free, unlike awter more than a sippy cup a amount. 

Santiago Airport's international terminal is lovely, though their domestic terminal is a bit sparse. It is nice, and the new concourse area is quite well maintained, and they're actively renovating parts of it, but that is all still very much a work in progress. What Santiago also needs to focus on a lot is the staffing level of their immigration area - the cues are ridiculous. Even with my parents qualifying for "priority" lanes all over South America due to them being over 60, we had to wait about 30 minutes becuse the priority lanes were manned by one agent. A second came in maybe two families before us. The main line was no better, and in February (there I go again referencing that trip...) it took an hour arriving at a very similar time. Santiago is amazing in many, many aspects, as I will undoubtedly extol a bunch to come, but for now they really need to fix immigration.

Finally, the Park Hotel in Calama is farily basic but tries hard which is nice. They have lovely art, paintings, a Christmas decoration, a kitchen open until 11:30 (and quite well attended when we arrived at 10:15 and ordered at 10:45). The rooms have super comfortable beds and air conditioning units that blast the shit out of that thing. It's also quite basic, and the bathroom is small (though clean). In the end, it deserves its quite high rating on Google or Booking.com and worked well for what we needed it for: a pit stop on the way to bigger and better things.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 17 - Rio de Janeiro

Day 17: A Winsome Day

We had been going pretty much wall to wall in Rio the first three days. Granted, probably less so than I did solo back in February (and yes, it annoys me how much I keep bringing that trip up...), but still quite busy. My parents were a bit burnt out, and we know there is a lot to come in the next few days in Atacama (despite tomorrow being essentially a write-off travel day). So they chose to stay and enjoy the hotel spa, do some local shopping in Copa, and basically just live a relaxed Rio life until our sunset bay boat tour later in the day, which come to think of it is the definition of a relaxed Rio life.

Anyway, I would not stand for such laziness, so I ventured out towards Gamboa (our planned neighborhood of Rio for the day) to first just take in the beauty that is the Museu de Amanha from the outside (it's also nice from the inside, but probably only worth it once - had my parents come we would've done it) and then walk over to the Rio Museum of Art, which I was pleasantly surprised by as it changed all of its exhibits since I visited in February. They were still leaning towards showcasing art from the ethnically aboriginal or African side of Brazil, but doing so with great care, curation and aplomb. From some stellar modernist paintings of grief and battle, to great tapestries from the jungle, to an exhibit about the life and the art inspired by such life of Vinicius de Moraes, the legendary Brazilian poet, lyricist and writer (the guy who wrote Garota de Ipanema - what we then butchered into the Girl from Ipanema), which even though the various stills and what-not of his life weren't all that interesting, the art, paintings and sculptures accompanying them were.

From there, I headed to my other intended museum, the Modern Art Museum of Rio, which sadly was a dud because it was closed as preparations were ongoing to convert it into a event stage and then club for New Year's. We'd learned through these few days in Rio what we probably knew, that New Years is treated as religously in Rio as Carnaval - from large stage and audience areas being erected on Copacabana, to now this. Rio throws parties like no one else, but I guess it does take time to prepare for such things. Sad for me but great for the city. There were some nice views of Santos Dumont airport, various hills and nice buildings and manicured gardens adn such near the museum to still make it not a complete loss.

The last stop pre-boat tour was maybe the most valuable by the end. I wanted a light lunch given our tasting menu dinner at Oro later in the day, and was craving a beer, so found a home for both at Brewteco (where I didn't try what seems to be well reputed food earlier), and there was one in Botafogo, with a graet view of the city. The view was 100% true, as Brewteco takes up the terrace level (so roof but open sides) of the Botafogo Beach Mall, a nine story modern ode to commercialism. Somehow, Brewteco's food was nearly as good as the view, as their classic Burger por la Pobre was excellent. If anything, my biggest ask for a burger at a non fast-food joint is that they don't over sauce / oil it to where the bun starts getting soggy. Nothign wrose. Here, despite having quite a nice local spin on mayo, the bun held firm. The beer was also good, the view even better. Even if you aren't a beer person, you should make a stop here.

In a similar vein, as I would soon find out, even if you aren't a boat person, you should do the lazy three hour sunset boat tour of Guanabara Bay. For about $40, we got three hours on a fairly well sized boat (held the 15 guests and three crew easily), with an open bar (granted mostly just various versions of Cachaca based cocktails, but still good) and endless views. The boat leaves from Urku (so essentially the neighborhood at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain) and steers leisurely for about an hour out fairly close to the full other side of the bay, near Niteroi and the Adam and Even beaches, where it drops anchor for another hour, where you're free to jump into the brilliantly warm Rio bay waters, splash around and be merry. Then the tour concludes with one final hour heading back taht coincides with the sun starting to descend and then ultimately get hidden behind the various hills that make the backdrop of Rio from this angle. It's run at perfect pace from 3:30 to 6:30, so technically ending before the actual sunset, butgiven the sun is not visible by the end, it might as well be. All of it was great, but the views were something special.

At this point, I've extolled the views of Rio from the top of Christ the Redeemer, from the top of Sugarloaf, from flying out of Santos Dumont if you're lucky to snag a window seat (only relevant for the last trip) and now from Guanabara bay, and rightly so. They are all great, but honestly I don't know if this isn't the best one. This is the msot classic image, from ground level, far enough to see the city splayed out. Yes, you dno't really see Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon from this angle, but you see everything else - the full range of hills, peaks and mounds, Sugarloaf in all its regality, and of course Christ the Redeemer lording over the city. It was stunning, and a great way to end the tourism aspect of Rio.

Similarly, we ended the culinary part of Rio in a great way as well, going to Oro for their tasting menu. I'll detail it later, but I will say the sad element is that they had largely unchanged their menu from when I went in February apart from say three of the eleven snacks, and two of the four mains. Now, there are michelin starred spots that change less than that over a ten month span, and the dishes that remained also remained really tasty. My parents loved it, but I was dismayed a bit more that I couldn't get a table at Lasai at a reasonable time (they had one 10pm seating on Friday) as I do think my parents would've equally liked it and they probably would've switched up more of the menu. Anyway, Oro is still very good and reasonably priced for a two-star Michelin spot.

After that, my parents went home (we do have to get up for a 7:30 taxi to the airport tomorrow after all...) but I wasn't going home early on a Saturday Night in Rio. In the end, I only went to two places. The second was to D-Edge again, which while in some ways it is quite corproate, the acts are good, the drinks are cheap, the setting is excellent, and it is always at minimum a good time. I don't think it will rise up my EDM club rankings, but not fall either.

What may rise is the other spot, going to Liz Cocktail, a short walk/drive from Oro. It was more crowded than before so I had to sit outside, but with teh cool air settling in that was fine. The cocktails here are just great - so well mixed where you can definitely feel the alcohol but all the o ther flavors they are trying to add in, like Sesame into a martini, or Hibiscus or Apricot or Endive (yeah, that was a weird one... but still worked). My only quibble is their rather early 1am closing time, saying that being this is Rio de Janeiro (where people eat late) and a Saturday. I could've tried at least one more of their new styled menu (they went away from the weird music thing from last time) and been a happy camper. In the end, that little quibble can't overcome how good their drinks are, and can't dampen what has been another great four days in Rio de Janeiro. I'd never been to Brazil before 2025, and now spent eight days in ten months in the same city, and somehow am still not really bored by any of it, which is probably the best compliment I can give it.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 16 - Rio de Janeiro

Day 16 - Coisas Novas

Coming back to Rio for a second time in ten months was not really on my cards, or to put it better, I didn't really think through what that really meant. It was exciting to send my parents to Brazil, a place that my Dad for years wanted to travel to. My mom was more hesitant on the need or desire to visit Brazil, but nevertheless, it was a knew country, a new flag. Over the first two days, despite most of what we did being the same as my trip earlier this year, they were in some ways better - less crowds to be sure on both Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer; also somehow not as hot. Anyway, day three was going to be a tour of the Centro neighborhood, where the most prominent, let's say, sites are located. In the end, what I learned was that it included far more sites than I remembered.

We left the hotel around 10:15, with roughly three hours for this walking tour through Centro, ending with a lunch on Santa Teresa hill at 1:30 at Aprazivel. The idea I had in mind was to end at the Selaron Steps, which sits at the base of Santa Teresa hill. It was a hot day, and most of these sites were outdoors or semi-outdoors; this was going to be an issue, but I think the power of the sites carried us through for much of the day.

We started at the far end of Centro, at the Portuguese Library, a three story floor to ceiling of books, maps, paintings and joy - I found it fun in February, but saw it as more glamorous and awe inspiring this time around, as did my parents. I think I did well to not really explain any of the sites - they weren't surprise sites, they had all come up in our various trawling of "4 days in Rio" type blogs, but without pictures, they were able to go to these places without any prior knowledge, which worked out to all of our advantage.

From there, we walked through Centro over to a new site, something that I somehow missed despite walking these very some roads, but it was the Museo San Francisco mini-hill / buildings that contain an old church turned museum (the namesake Museo San Francisco) along with a side church of Sao Thomas. It was a bit tough to find how to actually access these things without walking up a bunch of steps, but did eventually find an elevator and then got ready to be astounded. First, was a nice amouse bouche of a side exhibit of various cribs made from various types of things from various countries, from one made from a favley artist of cut up newspaper, to one made of rocks from Peru, to so many others. This was a small, seasonal, exhibit but put an early smile on our face.

The two churches kept that smile, if not expanded it. The first church was active and prepping for mass, with some nice colorful side altars and such. The real beauty though was the San Francisco church, which was smalla but astounding. Gold leaf everywhere from floor to ceiling, with beautiful painting over the inverse of a ship hull on top. The gold leaf was incredible - slightly audacious I guess, but it worked so well to draw out the darker color sculptures, paintings and medallia. On the whole, the Museo San Francisco was an incredible little stop.

The next on our tour went from old school small church to large-scale modernism / brutalism, with the Cathedral of Sao Sebastiao (Saint Sebastian). Before we got there, we did cross a few roads and intersections and squares that again somehow I missed despit4e walking these self-same roads between sites ten months earlier. The main one being the square that holds the grand National Theatre on one side, built in a purely baroque style that would not be lost anywhere in Europe, to the National Museum of Fine Arts (haven't done), National Library and other government buildings. Despite its contemporaneous age with European cities being built in this style, Rio is a style of its own - aside from this one square which is right out of Lisbon, if not better.

The Catedral de Sao Sebastiao was as beautiful as ever, with some added Christmas festivities from another nice crib with local fauna, two decorations lining each pew and hanging from the ceiling. The stained glass on each side of the rectangular cone glimmering with the bright sun, in a way that again I don't remember being so bright and beautiful ten months back. I don't know how much of my changing view of these sites were seeing them a bit through my parent's eyes, but they loved each of them, and I too saw my appreciation for each grow.

The final stop was the Selaron Steps, around the exact time it needed to be. My parents at this point were too tired to climb any further than the second set of stairs, and it was also packed, but what is nice is somehow inside of that maw, you do get these 30 second windows every say five to six minutes that the steps clear out enough to get a really nice picture of the tile-work. My parents also loved the side / wall tiles that are less renowned but just as beautiful. My mom even found deep inside one of the wall frescoes two pieces of actual roof tile, which are of the same style and making of her father's tile factory in Mangalore (a Portuguese settlement), which was a nice piece of familial history to weave into this.

From there, we took a cab up to Aprazivel, well up the side of Santa Teresa hill, one of the few hills in Rio that has housing and is built up but is not a favela. Santa Teeresa is best known for its bohemian culture, art scene, shops, etc., and we did do a bit of walking tour of that aspect getting a few wares in as well, but the real reason to head here was to visit Aprazivel. Cut into the cliff face with various semi-open roofed dining areas, Aprazivel specializes in old school Brazilian recipes, ingredients, etc., much of it from the North of Brazil or the Amazon. We ordered a few different plates, all quite good and two of which were spectacular. For the more normal ones, we got a seabass croquette which was cooked just perfectly. Fried balls/cylinders of meat/fish are so everpresent in Brazil, but often done just so well. The other was a tucupi-broth ceviche of fish and squid, which was probably not as good as my similar squid tucupi soup from February, but still tangy and nice. The other two were just outstanding - the first being a corn and shrimp bisque with pieces of shrimp that was so fresh, nutty and aromatic. The final was a pressed lamb shoulder with farofa which was so tender, juicy and sweet. The final piece was a Brazil Nut ice cream dessert, which also was great. Aprazivel is a bit expensive (in Brazilian terms) but worth it for consistently just excellent food and an amazing view of Rio below.

After lunch it was bout 3pm, and my parents were still a bit tired from teh walking (and this includes I guess the 20 minutes or so traipsing around Santa Teresa Hill), and were ready for some R&R at the hotel. I was jsut tired enough to be fully on board with that idea, which got us some needed horizontal time before the final piece of the day that would also be rewriting an opinion I had coming out of the Feb trip, which was Copacabana beach. Mainly my thinking was Copacabana is the superior beach to Ipanema, as the latter gets too crowded, but ironically the neighborhood of Copacabana if you go a block off of the beach is worse than the neighborhood of Ipanema. I still think that is largely true, but my conclusion coming out of that was a resolution that if I were to come to Rio again, to stay in Ipanema or Leblon and not Copacabana. Well, be it the hotel and its rooftop view of the beach, to our upcoming walk on it, but I no longer think this - Copacabana beach truly is something sepcial.

This is probably just due to the fact that 95% of the time I spent in Copacabana was on the beach or the beachfront promenade off of it (the tile steps). We had walked up and down the tile pathway and the quioscas and what not, but now it was time to get into the beach, and that just was another great exprience. The sand is great, the waves are great, teh water is fairly warm, the waves come a t aperfect height to be fun to walk through (or wade in). The sightlines in both directions are great. The line of hotels and life on the promenade glitter at the pre-sunset time that we came. All of it was just an experience, the height of which was jsut dipping my feet into the beautiful Atlantic.

Dinner was a big one, our time at a churrascaria, which we've semi-starved and worked up the appetite- for through a whole bunch of steps. I chose Assador Rio for this (vs. the original Fogo de Chao, or Churrascaria Palace) because of its great setting on Flamengo beach with a nighttime view of the bay, Sugarloaf and planes taking off from Santos Dumont airport flashing over the moonlight. Of course, the meat is great too - and they know what sells with picanha, filet and sirloin coming around 3-4x any other cut. The salads are nice, the wine is great (picked a Brazilian bottle, which given it is not a fancy wine country, probably underprices it given the quality I thought of it). But damn that picanha, that fatty, crunchy, juicy bit of brilliance. I think with the view, the meats and the wine, we got our moneys worth.

To dance off some of the meat sweats, we then headed to my last "new" thing of the day (if not my time in Rio) heading to Lapa, a buzzing nightlife area, to visit Carioca de Gema, and oldschool live music bar. Lapa itself is a scene, and probably not one for my taste, a bit too mainstream club and dance bars (think Miami or something) - a bit too loud, too flashy. But Carioca de Gema is, no pun intended, a gem in this maw - a brilliant little spot that showcases true old school Brazilian live music. Today's event was a performance by Dani Coimbra a carioca star singer, dancer mostly in samba music, with some bossa novo added in. She was mesmerizing, as was her band, the energy, the dancing of the crowd. This little spot was perfect for what I think my parents wanted from their one "nightlife" scene in Rio, and good for me as well.

The night continued to two spots taht defined my late night Rio experience last time and held up well this time as well, the first being Canastra Rose in Botafogo, a great DJ-led lounge where the DJ this time played a series of 2000s-2010s hits remixed with a bit of house overlay that was just amazing to people watch, sip their great house negronis and live a Rio life. The last spot was D-Edge, a warehouse club way north in Gamboa, that seemed to have opened a new stage area on its top floor (vs normally the second floor), which was bigger, had better acoustics, if not also better airflow and was jsut a great scene even if the music was less melodic a version of EDM than I normally like - but still for what I wanted my Friday night in Rio to be, this was a great capper, along with just a great day overall in the marvelous city.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 14-15 - Rio de Janeiro

Day 14 - A Christmas in Rio, Pt. 1

This trip centers around Christmas in many ways. It is the midpoint of the trip (though in its earlier half from me being off of work). It is the biggest holiday of the year, both in my family and in basically any given country in South America (though I guess in Brazil you can argue Carnaval-time is bigger). It also created some logistic complications, namely not knowing what would be open on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. There was a whirlwind trying to find answers.

The answer for Rio seemed mix, in that at first I read Christmas Eve is the bigger holiday and that Christmas Day isn't really kept up. Well, while Eve is probably bigger in Rio than Day, Christmas Day is absolutely kept up in teh sense most things are closed and everyone is off and having a good time. Few restaurants are open Christmas Eve, and the ones that are, are selling upcharged buffets or set menus and the like. Not surprising I guess, but again creating some logistical hurdles. We reviewed multiple buffet menus at the top hotels (that's basically the other option for Christmas Eve dinner). Some were luxurious but stupid expensive (Grand Hyatt), some cheaper but also clearly more budget (a local boutique hotel). Some annoyingly gave no real information on what was included in the menu (Sheraton), and then there was our hotel, the JW Marriott, who had a price right in the middle, and a decent spread - not as good as the Grand Hyatt, but affordable enough to still make it reasonable to do a tasting menu to conclude our time in Rio on Saturday night.

Anyway, I'm skipping ahead. We landed fresh off the redeye with less sleep than we would like, and a weird hotel situation where by Brazilian law they were forced to upgrade us to a suite (seems to be true, and at no extra charge), but also then the one suite that would come available wasn't available until the evening. Not ideal, as we were hoping on a quick nap. Instead we took a quicker nap in the lounge, had a coffee (or three) and omelet, and we were off to see the city. Going in, this first two days were mostly going to be things that I had seen before - and not only before, but quite recently (ten months ago), but having been through the wonder of Rio, I was more than happy to showcase that to my parents as well.

Our first stop was the Jardim Botanico (Botanical Garden) located in that same neighborhood of Rio. The downside was there were not many flowers blooming - for instance the Orchid greenhouse had maybe five actual orchids. The upside was with my horticulturist Mom, I actually probably took in and experienced more of the garden this time around, from learning about the cannonball tree, to the jackfruits (omnipresent all over Rio but something I missed completely the first time). The laneways of gigantic palm trees, some with a peek of Christ the Redeemer in teh back, astounded them as much they did me ten months ago. The botanic garden one the whole was a good time and nice introduction to some of Rio's defining features - the searing heat, and the lovely lush greenery.

We took a quick lunch at Braseiro de Gavea, the much reputed quick steak spot, which was nearly as crowded today as it was when I came on a Sunday Night (weird comparison, but it was hopping basically but not to the point it needed a 45-minute wait). The picanha set with farofa and rice and what-not is normally portioned for two. I had to pony up and order it last time and finish half. This time, we ordered it and between the three of us still finished half. Not sure what that says about our *collective appetites, because the steak was incredible - fatty, tender, juicy; everything you want from a steak in Brazil.

The final stop of the day was the Christ the Redeemer. This was not as crowded (a graet thing) as it was when I came last, so uncrowded at the bottom we were able to take the tram scheduled 20 minutes earlier than our booked one. If anything, I found Christ the Redeemer more impressive, in both teh statue itself and the incredible panoramic view of Rio it gives you, this time. My parents were astounded, by Rio's sheer size, the beauty of its curves, hills, lagoons, beaches, etc. We also came at the perfect time of the day, as the Sun was starting to descend right behind Jesus's head, creating this amazing halo effect from a heads-on view. He came out to paly on his birthday.

I guess I lied, the real final stop of the day was the rooftop bar/pool of the JW Marriott, to take in sunset and watch Copacabana beach down below. Friom this aerial angle, Copacabana beach is truly stunning, with the hills on either end, the lines of Quiscas (beach shacks / kiosks), the wavy tile print. All of it was a scene for the senses.

The night ended with the dinner buffet, which was a mixture of things. The food was like most buffets at upscale restaurants - there were a handful of truly great items (in this case, most of the cold appetizers including squid and white beans, cod fish salad, heart of palms, and then nearly all the desserts) and then some taht sound gerat on paper but are just not ideal for mass, bulk preparation, like duck leg confit or filet mignon. But on the whole aside from the food, they had wine included which were mostly all from Argentina and very good, along with great decorations, a live bossa novo band playing Christmas classics (and then for the second half, random songs but still quite good), and a jolly old santa. Wasn't the most traditional Christmas, but I guess a fairly traditional carioca one.

Day 15 - A Christmas in Rio, Pt. 2

As mentioned, I had initially Christmas Day wasn't really kept up. That was dead wrong. Nine out of Ten restaurants I looked up were clsoed on Christmas Day (the general theme seemed to be open for lunch on Christmas Eve, and then closed thereafter). Same with bars. We woke up lazily, catching up on sleep after the red-eye the day earlier. The idea for the day was mostly lazily stroll on some of the most famous beaches in the World and then visit the other incredible, awe inducing set of views that is Sugarloaf mountain to try to time it up with sunset. On the whole, this mission was accomplished.

To begin we just took a stroll on Copacabana, mostly on the wavy tiled sidewalk running parallel with the beach, which is a vibe of itself of street vendors, quioscas, and a throng of humanity, probably 80% locals. The beach wasn't nearly as full now as it would get later in the day, but it definitely seems the Carioca way to celebrate Christmas is very much like the Carioca way to do most things I imagine - by going to the beach. We are firmly not a beach-going or beach-loving family and still found it enticing.

This was the morning prelude to mass at noon at the Basilica Imaculada Conceicao (Immaculate Conception), which is a grand regal old church built into what is now an urban maw of Botafogo. The church was shockingly empty given until I realize there are dozens of churches in Rio proper, each with 4-5 masses. Also, luckily for us, it seems clear people in Rio realize just how hot it is and threfore a lot of shorts, sundresses, t-shirts in church without anyone batting an eye (India, please take note). The mass was quick, efficient, and even afforded us a few moments to take some pictures of what is still a lovely basilica afterwards.

We headed back for lunch which was yesterday's leftover Picanha and Banane Farofa, both still quite good the day after. I think it shows just how damn good the picanha at Braseiro de Gavea is that it remained incredible juicy and tender despite being blasted in a microwave for 30 seconds. It wasn't planned this way, but meal solution #1 for a day where most stuff is closed was a success.

After lunch we headed to Ipanema beach, Copacabana's slightly less well reknowned neighbor. It was throbbiing with people, as expected. As we walked along Ipanema, it became pretty clear to my parents what it was to me - that as far as a beach goes, Copacabana is supreme. Ipanema however seems the one that is always more crowded. Both have similar set-ups, with the beach apportioned lightly into sections with a tent renting chairs, towels, etc., in each section, each tent the master of their slice of sand. This system seems to work very well, along with the vendors on the street selling caiparinhas, beers (chopp - their term for a cold as hell draft beer), various wares, etc. We didn't go into the water (saving that for tomorrow in Copacabana), but did grab a beer at one of the quioscas and just watched life go by. We aren't beach people, but Brazil is trying its best to convince us otherwise.

Then it was time to go to Sugarloaf, again timed up well to do the visit of all the cable cars, all the views, all the pictures, etc., and then end it with seeing the sunset. I still think the views from  Christ the Redeemer are better (higher up, central to allow you to see basically every part of Rio) but I do think from a "where can you get the best picture of what Rio is?" perspective, Sugarloaf is probably better in that you can get that one picture of Botafogo, Flamengo, Centro areas (the more modern part), with Christ the Redeemer int eh background, and a peek of Copacabana appearing as well. Not sure if my parents agreed, but they did found it all as amazing as I did, from the views, to us happening upon a marmoset, to the shops, to their ice cream they shared, to my craft beer, to it all. Sugarloaf is just a great experience (which si good, since the ticket for foreigners is roughly $35-40). But all of that doesn't even begin to explain how magical sunset is there. The sun sets over the mountains behind Rio, and gives this most amazing glow to all parts of the city. Pcitures hardly do it justice, even when the pictures are pretty incredible. I would maintain my favorite single viewpoint in the world is seeing Cape Town from Signal Hill (also an amazing sunset spot), but Sugarloaf might be #2.

Now it came the real challenge, which was finding a dinner spot, but the solution ended up better than expected, and allowed me to check off one of the few things I didn't do on the first trip. There's a Boteco chain (basically a bar that serves appetizers or steak type place) called Boteco Belmonte, that has kept its spirit despite now having high-single-digits number of locations strewn around Rio. It is almost always packed, as it was when I attempted to go for food last time. Well, as one of the few places open Christmas night, it was still crowded but we got a table after about a 10 minute wait, and then got to experience a true Rio experience.

My dad had his first Caiparinha. I got to say "choppe" a couple times. And above all taht, the food is quite good also. Their starters of various open pies, empanadas and bolinhos with various fillings come served by servers rotating around the room with a plate full of them - almost like a dim-sum type set-up. They were all great, with a really good food to bread/farofa ratio. Way too often these bolinhos come with it being 80% breading, but these were the opposite, adn so good for it. After that we also had a serving of linguica, which was close to the type we get in Mangalore, and a heart of palm soupk which was the only miss in that it was just above average. The experience though of Boteco Belmonte was excellent, and even for a place that is something of a known tourist spot, a quick scan had it like 80% locals (or at least people speaking Portuguese). 

Parents night ended there, but I didn't want to sleep just yet, so I headed back to Gavea to visit Brewteco, a craft brewery Boteco style, which is another chain that has done well but kept its spirit. This place was throbbing, again mostly with locals. It seems the locals that do stay back in Rio for Christmas do want to get their energy out on Christmas night, and it was jsut a great scene of people largely between 25-40. The only hiccup was this system where you can't order at the bar, but have to order through one of seemingly three waiters for a place that probably had 300 at that point. Many people were annoyed by this, seemingyl some locals. This extended to me, who was sitting at the bar, but in the end I enoyed my three half pours and left near their Christmas Day close of 1:30.

Rio at Christmas is what I expected in all the good ways - it's a time to visit the beach, it's a time to enjoy the outdoors and stuff that doesn't close. It's a time to get some sun. It's a time for afamily and santa and red and green, sure, but also picanha and heart of palm and all those other things. I guess what I'm saying is in the very best way, Rio at Christmas is also Rio in February (when I went) and probably Rio in October as well, in taht it is still great. Just maybe ensure you check all establishments instagram to figure out what is open and what is not.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 13 - Arequipa

Day 13 - The Reset

This is roughly the halfway point of the trip if we're counting the four working days in Cuenca where I was only a part time tourist while managing being a (75%) full-time worker. We should count those days, as they were great and cool as hell. Anyway, for the halfway point, the main goal was to see as much as there is in Arequipa before we had to head to our flight back to Lima (leading to a flight to Rio, which is the real start of the second half). There isn't a whole load to see in Arequipa, meaning that this task wasn't all that crazy and eminently realistic. At the end of it, I think we checked all of it off our list.

**quick aside, saying there is but one day of tourism to do isn't a knock. Many places have one day of things, plus Arequipa's primary value from a tourist concern is the access to the Colca Canyon, which isn't something you can just brush aside**

After having to take my second to last call of the year at 9:00am, we left to walk down to the old town, which is really nice, essentially flat 15-min walk. I call out the flat part because the city is definitely not flat. I don't know what contortions of the land allow for this area to be so, but bless it. Walking into the main square, we were greeted with more or less as much life and merriment as we saw the night before, if less glitzy. That all these smaller Latin American cities have a main square like this (some, like Oaxaca have multiple) is one of the better lasting leave-behinds from Colonialism.

Our first step on the tourist circuit was the Cathedral that lines the north end of the square - interestingly oriented with the entrance on one corner of the square and the alter roughly on the other end, but the two columns being essentially going north/south within the church (I realize I butchered this explanation... let's move on...). The church is open 7-10am for prayer (and morning mass) but then closes 10-5 other than guided tours every thirty minutes. This all seemed a bit annoying but in the end, the tour was well worth it. The basilica was lovely by itself in its simplicity at times (no fancy frescoes and paintings in the main area) but brilliance at others, from the giant organ, to one of the more ornate, wood carved pulpits. There was also a fascinating little back room or two with old sconces, chalices, crowns, etc., made of real gold, silver and tons of jewels. One wonders both what the true value of those pieces were, and how profligate Catholicims is if this basilica in Arequipa is so loaded.

The final part of the tour was checking out the roof, ringing the bells, and seeing from probably the best vantage point in Arequipa proper the double peaks of Chachani and Misti. I've been to cities with prominent peaks in the backgrund, be it Salt Lake City, Calgary, otehrs, but for some reason I don't know if any have worked as well as Arequipa did.

Anyway, after that fun start we headed over a few blocks for some shopping and walking and pictures, to our lunch spot of ceviche and chaufa at Puente 92, a fairly reputable middle-scale spot in Arequipa that serves super fresh seafood at super affordable (for foreigners) prices. This was maybe our single most rustic joint meal during our trip so far (e.g. not stuff I rodered on uver eats) and it was still quite good. Both dishes weren't as good as their version at Lobo De Mar two days back in Lima, but Arequipa is not Lima. This was still really nice, including some chewy old seafood thing that didn't fit nicely into any traditional seafood slots, but was still quite excellent.

From lunch we walked another ten minutes or so to the Santa Catalina Monastery, which is a weird place - it for sure is a great tourist site, but also one that is easy to underlook in case you have either a map or an ability to get lost there for a few hours. The monastery held cloistered nuns for hundreds of years before being essentially shut down, before being opened as this museum in the 1970s. The first few couryards were painted with bright pastels, tons of beautiful flowers and some standard-fare depressing as hell cloister rooms. That all seemed like an ok site, but one that I had a hard time believe anyone would spend hours. Well, then down one alley off the third some courtyard, you get lost into a sea of cobblestone lanes, more interesting living quarters, more vibrant colors and great gardens. The monastery becomes effectively an old city at some points, with named streets, tunnels and more. They offer guided tours, which we passed up, but to be honest not sure how a guided tour could take the one hour they claimed, when our unguided "let's just roam around, take photos and read every other plaque" took an hour itself. Whatever the answer is, this was a great site.

Nearly as good was our last bit of tourism, at Mundo de Alpaca (Alpaca world). Run by the Michell group, and old pioneer in the Alpaca game, Alpaca world is a deft way to eventually sell you some quite pricey alpaca stuff by disarming you with facts and cuteness. First, you walk down a laneway with a few expositional posters on say the difference between Alpacas, Llamas, Vicunas and Guanacos (super helpful) or the migration of these types of animals, starting with their common ancestors (also the common ancestor of camels). Then you reach a courtyard with an area with basically one of each of the types we jst saw there to feed, pet and take pictures of. They were all cute, but especially so two of the eight, one being a truly brilliantly fluffy alpaca (though a bit moody, the only one that didn't come over to get food) and then a baby alpaca or llama that was just the cutest thing. Given admission is free, and feeding teh animals is free, it almost compels you to buy something, to which I did.

That was our last stop, getting back to the AirBNB in time for me to take my final call, us finish packing, saying goodbye to our brilliant view of Chachani and Misti and head to the busier than I expected airport (though I shouldn't be - again, this is the second biggest city in Peru, with a population of 1.2mm). The flight sadly took off after it was too dark to really see the mountains, but also was able to give us incredible views of sunset and the last rays of purple as it descended into darkness. 

The layover in Lima was quicker than a four hour would make you think, what with LATAMs one-hour early boarding process and having to do immigration. There are surprisingly few restaurants in the large new Lima airport, but the food was actually quite decent at one called copper, which served a fairly good pork belly sanguche (for an airport), but anyway, that and one last craft beer from Lima (not sure which one) got me full and tipsy enough to get as good a sleep on the redeye as possible. Brazil, and the second half of this trip awaits, but what I expected to be a fairly low key day in Arequipa ended up exceeding expectations and closing out the first half quite well.

2025 Day Trip: Day 12 - Colca Canyon

Day 12 - The Fright of the Condors

The Colca Canyon is the primary reason to visit Arequipa from a tourist perspective. Much like Cusco (the 3rd biggest city in Peru) is the entry point to Macchu Pichu, Arequipa is the entry point to the Colca Canyon part of the Andes, extending up from the 9,000 ft elevation of Arequipa, to about 20,000 in the canyon. To continue the comparison between Arequipa and Cusco, they are both quite far away from the cities they are meant to be the entry point to. This is why the Colca Canyon is usually advertised as a multi-day trip (two day tour, or 4-5-6-7 day trek). To do it one day is not fully a fool's errand, but does come with one significant catch - the tour starts around 3am.

For a couple days, maybe you think this is a joke and it will be revealed tehre is a typo or something, but no it was "you will get picked up between 3:10 and 3:20am". Indeed, the larger-than-a-sprinter van picked us up on the quiet main road at 3:19, where we were snuggled into the back row (limited window access) as we were the last people to be picked up. Luckily for us, three of the people on the van were starting a multi-day trek and were using the van more as a transport, so by the time we needed window access, they were gone.

Anyway, 3am is rough, but it helps that the tour proper begins three hours away, with a 6:30am breakfast in a little house / hall of a quecha woman and family. The food was basic (intentionally so) of inca-style prepared bread and truthfully really good scrambled eggs. There was also some really interesting warm juice. Overall, it was a nice pit stop as daylight just starts to break, even if there was another hour or so of driving until we really started the tour. That hour, though, had some amazing scenery - this part being the Colca Valley, where we are driving about halfway from the lower plateau of rivers and farmland below, and the peaks above. The mountain-faces were mostly all converted into supremely well manicured terrazas (small farms), it was all just a stunning sight that I had to contort my phone behind the sliver of window available to capture.

Anyway, after that hour drive, we left the Colca Valley for the Colca Canyon, the main difference being the level the road is at, now well above the river / gorge below, with teh terrazas being replaced by clean rock faces and crags. Canyon, for an American, evokes the Grand Canyon, and while the Colca Canyon probably wasn't as awe-inducing as the Grand Canyon, it was certainly close and probably more interestingly laid out (e.g. not just a long cantilevered walkway). The only real hike part of the day then commenced, weirdly about five hours into the tour but still 8am (unrelated: after this I am further convinced those "I get up at 4:30am to crush, bro" types are just insane). The hike was about two km, mostly flat with just stunnign view after stunning view.

The only real disappointment of the tour was taht the Colca Canyon is the home to hundreds of soaring, awesome Andean Condors, birds so ominous and impressive that they retained their place as one of the primary god figures for those ancient peoples. We were told early on by our genial, humorous, supremely billingual (if a bit too much given the pace he switched back and forth from English to Spanish) that this part of the year is when the condors usually leave for slightly cooler areas for mating and what-not, and that there are probably only a handful instead of the normal ~200. This was definitely disappointing to hear, but then allowed for a fairly uplifting communal moment when we did see one of those giant beasts soaring through the air.

Anyway, after the hike, we took the drive back towards the valley (us getting better seats with teh three trekkers now gone), and the views continued to just astound - to be honest, the valley is the more memorable, picturesque part of the tour scenery - even if not as awe-inspiring as the canyon was. The next real stop was the hot springs deep in an offshoot of the valley, a river with a natural spring heated up to 70 degree C, creating little pools of 30/40/45/50 C. That all was fun, and I'm sure for a few of the tourgoers was the real highlight of the trip, but the little accoutrements made it all the better. The first was on the ride there, where we stopped at stand where we could taste sankey, a sour cactus fruit taht visually looks like a kiwi. More than taste it, we could have "Colca Sours" which is a Sour made of sankey-based liquor rather than Pisco, and if anything it was better - though the elevation and tiredness may have been a part of that opinion.

The second added bit of fun was my Dad and I doing a zipline down to the hot springs (while all the other cowards just took the van down). The zip-line was in two parts, one 600m, the other 450m - they were both fast and thrilling, but also far higher from ground than any zipline I had done. Not against admitting the fact I was terrified, but it was still a thrill. The hot spring pools were a nice way to calm the nerves down however.

From there, the tour became a series of pit-stops on the four hour (extended to five because of those) drive back. First we had a stop at the highest lookout in the Colca Canyon National Park, at 4,910m (16,108ft, slightly higher than the lodge on Cotopaxi), which was interesting to be that high but to be honest the views from slightly lower (e.g. the main canyon hike) were better - being too close to the top of the higher peaks makes everything feel a bit smaller I guess. Then was a stop at an alpaca and llama preserve, meaning more pulling over to the side of the road where a farmer let his alpacas and llamas roam free a bit. They were incredible adorable - truly some of the most picture-perfect fluffy alpacas I have yet to lay eyes on. In the middle there was also lunch, which was a more impressive than I expected buffet at a simialr type stop to where we had breakfast, including three different preparations of alpaca, one of them being the Arequipa staple of stuffed pepper. All in all, the Colca Canyon tour was a crash course of an area that probably justifies further exploration than we were able to give it, but nonetheless a great time.

Back at the AirBNB, we were fairly well rested given the amount of sleep you can accrue on this tour, and therefore headed fairly quickly into the old town after watching teh glorious sunset from our AirBNB - with a perfect view of the two main mountains of Chachani and Misti that provide Arequipa cover. Truly, this was a mesmerizing view, going through all teh sunset shades are reflected and enhanced by these peaks.

The old town also was quite nice - maybe not as Christmas-y as Cuenca, but not too far away from my self-titled "Christmas Town, South America". Their main square had two LED christmas trees with some lovely graphics on either corner, and the main cathedral that takes up the north side of the square had one of the best cribs I've seen, both reverent to what the holiday is but adding a whole host of local flourishes in fauna, and flora (the offerings / gifts were real potatoes, tubers, corn, etc.). The whole square had a really nice energy - a town Arequipa's size has far more locals taking this in than tourists and you can tell they are living a good life at this Christmas time of year.

Dinner was at Chicha, a Gaston Acurio restaurant, which means something as Gaston Acurio is still the Godfather of modern Peruvian cuisine, from his namesake restaurant in Lima (still hanging on the Top 50 lists) and the whole host of other restaurants he's brought to life, and of course the chefs he's inspired or built the foundation to succeed off of (i.e. Virgilio Martinez of Central credits Gaston, his former boss, for still making Peruvian food be taken seriously). The food lived up to his reputation, graet presentation without being overly tweezery, and just amazing taste. We split five dishes, probably 0.5 too many, but better try it all.

The highlight was probably little cuy (guinea pig) taco that was a starter / amouse bouche for my dad and I, the guinea pig being the best form of pork belly in crunchiness, fat and taste. Other highlights included a great "Alpaca Frites", with Alpaca cooked in a way that far mroe resembled a high quality steak than the more gamey (if still tasty) preparation last night, and a tiradito - the only one we got in our time in Peru (I'll admit, still don't 100% know the difference between tiradito and ceviche). Even the desert of a lucuma ice cream adn creme brulee encompassed by a chocolate sphere that gets deconstructed at your table was exceptional - even if it was the same dessert I ate at a Gaston Acurio restaurant in Cusco in 2016. To be honest, it might have been Chicha (which exists in Cusco), but if anythign this was a credit to his legacy. Chica was great - there is a tasting menu if you are so inclined but it is just selections from the alacarte. In the end, we were happy with our five dishes, including my favorite which was a duck confit with red curry sauce, but the elements of red curry switched to Peruvian equivalents (their main pepper vs. thai pepper). The sauce was truly incredible, adn the duck cooked just right as well.

I did force my parents to visit the 7Vidas taproom a block away, mostly a combination of us needing to get down to business and plan a bit our time in Rio (which was currently way too lazy for my liking) and wanting to try craft beer in Arequipa. We did go there, and the place was lovely, if a bit empty on a late Monday night. I tried half pouts of a double IPA (really great), a mango IPA (too much fruit flavor - my mistake more than theirs) and a porter (excellent). From my various trails at craft beer in Mexico or South America, it is clear to me that they consistently do stouts incredibly well. 7Vidas was a nice way to end a day that started at 3am, ended at midnight, with a whole lot of amazing in between. This is why we travel.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 10 - Lima

Day 10 - Lobos de Mar

The last time I traveled internationally with my parents was our trip to Victoria Falls and Cape Town in 2023, a wonderful trip where I got the great fortune of seeing them experience Cape Town and all its brilliance for the firs time, me being the proud parent in a way showing of my child, Cape Town (yes, I know that analogy broke down a bit). The rest of the trip (Victoria Falls, Chobe Park) was great as well, but there was a certain pleasure in seeing them fall in love with Cape Town. Despite them having been to Lima, as mentioned it was twenty years ago. This is a changed city, one I'm far more familiar with from my trips, so once again it was a lot of fun seeing them start to love Lima the way I do.

That all said, most of the day was taken up by something neither of us have done, taking a yacht tour of the Palomino Island (and other islands) that lie off the coast of Lima, the main draw being swimming with the Sea Lions. These half-day trips are very well run adn coordinated, starting with a check-in process in the port of Callao (technically it's own city where the airport is housed and the main port of Lima lies). In about twenty minutes we were on the main boat, a nice yacht taht can comfortably seat probably 20 (we were 12 with two crew), off on our leisurely boat ride out towards the islands. The main island, closest to Lima, is visible from every part of Lima's coast (including our hotel bedroom), and is deserted given no vegetation grows on it - currently it is used by the military. But after that we ride around it to its back side, where the other islands in this area lie, and the real fun begins.

The first real island of note is covered in white, covered in guano (bird shit) which the main tour guide didn't dance around. The smell wasn't awful, but notable - but the birds of all types from cormorants to gulls to a few vultures, made up for it. Wave after wave of gulls took off from the island, hugged the water and back, in coordinated routines. On that island sat also a couple Humboldt penguins, the real star bird of the tour. As always, those flightless fluffballs were amazingly cute, though on the first island all we saw was one juvenile by itself (with I hope its parents close by). The next island had a few more penguins, including groups of 4-5, hopping up and down the craggy edges of the island. Soon though, the attention turned to the sea lions.\

Loud, boisterous, smelly, the sea lions were everything and more. There are hundreds if not thousands of them on tow to three islands. A few were swimming far away from their main home island (Palomino Island - the island giving the tour its naem), bobbing their heads up above the water a few times for our pleasure. When you get closer to Palomino you see that the waterline to about 10 feet above is just filled with them and their lound noises. Gneerally more adorable than not, the biggest issue was teh smell. Well, when you get into the wetsuit, jump off the yacht and go into the water, the smell becomes less of a concern.

The real MVP of the tour was a lady back on shore who was selling waterproof phone cases for like five dollars. Yes, there was a huge risk the five or so of us that bought one and went into the water took but by God did those cases work wonderfully - not only keeping the water out (the minimum expectation) but also had light enough plastic that there was no issue touching and using the screen. It allowed for some great pictures fo the sea lions up and close. In the water, they're just adorable, inquisitive, half coming close to understand what the hell we are and half jumping, splashing, diving and rolling to impress us. I think the actual swimming with Sea Lions part of the tour lasted like fifteen minutes, but it felt like forever in a great way.

The ride back to shore was less eventful apart from a few last stray sea lions to lead us back, but soon enough we reached the shore promptly at 1:30, three hours after the tour began. On the whole, the Palomino Island tour ran like cloclwork, gave us such amazing views, a dash of penguins (not expected on this trip) and then an exprience of a lifetime to swim with sea lions. That said, I've called them sea lions, but beacuse of their constant howl, in Peru they're known as sea wolfs (Lobo del Mar), a name that at first didn't mean much, but coincedentally the name of the Ceviche spot we went to for lunch.

Cevicheria Lobo del Mar is in Miraflores, a fairly mid-size ceviche spot with normal prices and crowded lines of locals and foreigners. I found it actually on Google Maps trying to find a place to get takeout yesterday (Friday), but couldn't figure out how to use their main delivery ap (PedidosYa). The name, and its reviews, stuck and I'm glad I took us there, as for once this wasn't Lima at its most expensive, it was Lima at its local cuisine best. The line moved quick but was still indicative of the quality. We split a Ceviche Mixto where the seafood was incredible softly cooked and brilliant from squid, octopus, shrimp and sea snail (oddly, the best), and a scallop chaufa which had just amazingly cooked scallops and flavorful rice. I wish I knew what categorized Chaufa as so uniquely different than just standard Chinese fried rice - it's probably the chilies and maybe a more ginger-focused sauce combination with that and soy sauce, but it was amazing.

Following a little R&R at the hotel, we set out for the last touristy bit of the day, which is a walk down the Malecon, this time starting at the Larcomar and walking southwards towards Barranco. We started at the Larcomar, which had a nice craft fair on its road-level, and the requisite amazing pictures. Lima is notable cloudy all the time (though never really rains), but we got amazingly lucky today with n early cloudless skies - this was amazing for the boat ride, but equally meaningful now with clear sky photoes of the Pacific behind the Larcomar, or then multiple angles on the Malecon.

Once again, there had been some upgrades in two years, this time the "Puente de XXXX", a new bridge connecting the Malecon in the Miraflores area spanning over one of the crevasses that has a roadway connecting Lima proper with the beachfront highway. In past, this required about a 20 minute walkaround to get back on teh Malecon, but now that was cut to five picturesque minutes on their modern pedestrian bridge. On the other side as we head into Barranco, my parents got slack-jawed at what I had in past, which were the amazing cliff-face front apartment complexes, all modern, sleek and assuredly expensive, but super impressive nonetheless. 

After a requisite pause at Dedalo (somehow avoided the urge to buy anything, but did get a nice coffee & hot chocolate, and another place my parents were impressed by), we continued down the Malecon ending the Puente del Suspiros and headed in to Barranco proper at effectively dusk, getting similarly great views of the bohemian neighborhood at its best. They left back for the hotel as I picked up a couple half-pours at Barbarian, which remains my favorite Lima craft brewery (an underrated aspect of Lima is its strong craft beer scene). I was able to get back to the hotel in time for a shower and then we headed out to the main event.

I talked about enjoying normal-priced Lima food for lunch. Well, Lima is still great when you go a few steps pricewise above that. Dinner tonight was at Maido, the restaurant just named the World's Best by the Top 50 folks after a solid decade being in the Top-10. Is it the best restaurant in the world? Probably not, but it is damn good and remains absolutely brilliant. To be perfectly honest, I think the meal I had at Maido in 2023 was better, but that's not all a knock on Maido, but a credit to them for changing every single course in that timeframe and still being truly excellent. More than me still liking it, seeing my parents love it also was agreat. This was actually their combined birthdays and mothers/fathers day gift (that was actually at first supposed to be a concert at MSG, which got cancelled). They loved Maido, I love Maido. Yes, it is expensive, but I don't think you leave feeling like you paid too much. No, you feel damn content with some amazing Nikkei food that each time I come becomes more and more Peru focused and less traditional Nikkei focused (to its credit).

After the three hour dinner, my parents were too tired to join me for my nights events, which fair enough. I headed back to Carnaval, after thiinking of a quick dalliance with another San Isidro cocktail spot that I'll save for an almost assured future trip to Lima in teh next 18-24 months. Carnaval was even more crowded than yesterday, but luckily had a spot at the bar available, and I enjoyed my 2.5 hours there trying a few different cocktails from their old classics to new ridiculous ones, to one off of their limited Christmas menu served in lovely santa/snowmen cups. Ending a night at Lima with a night at Carnaval is never a mistake. Truly, nothing today was, about as good as our one full day of tourism in Lima could have gone.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 9 & 11 - Lima

Day 9 - A Lima Crash Course

I've been to Lima three times prior, in 2016, 2022 and 2023. I love the place, as I've written about a few times, more than just a tourist destination, but just a place to get lost in. My parents have been here once previously, but it was in 2005, on a trip with their friends - without my sister and I. Because of this, they had seen Lima, but really hadn't - for two reasons. First of which, not really sure what Lima itself was in 2005, and also they were there as very tourist-focused tourists, staying nearer to the old town and far away from Miraflores and Barranco and the places that make Lima sing these days. Suffice it to say, as we woke up in the AC Hotel in Miraflores, with a view of the Larcomar, the Malecon and the foggy Pacific (as always in teh morning), they realized this would be a new Lima.

As they felt that the 20 year gap made the places they did see the first time around places that they really didn't see all that much, my parents spent that first day mostly in the historic district, touring the Plaza de Armas and various churches, monastaries, cloisters and government buildings surrounding it. I was even able to get them to visit the Larco Museum, one of my favorites. All of this occured when I was working, my last real working day of the trip. 

The plan was for me to wrap up work around 3:30 (ended up being 3:40) and meet them at some point on the Malecon north of the Larcomar Mall (where the hotel was), and walk back towards it. The Malecon is one of those things that really just defines modern Lima. In the end, that plan worked out perfectly, as they took longer at the Larco Museum than I expected (enjoying it fully) and we met at Red Cerveceria for a quick half-pint, and then walked back on the Malecon about 1.5 miles from the edge of Miraflores and San Isidro towards the Larcomar.

The Malecon, as mentioned, just well defines modern Lima - taking a natural advantage, these beautiful cliffs that separate the city from teh beach, and turn it into something amazing - a glorious mini-park every few hundred meters, some more sculpture heavy, some more flower heavy, one area with clay tennis courts, others with little cafes and crepe shops (random). All of it is excellent, with the glorious Pacific just staring you in the face on the other side, and few visuals of paragliders above and surfers below. I've walked even more of the Malecon than this, but I too found the experience fun trying to ID what new they had built, primarily upgrading the concrete paths in many parts of the Malecon, and adding even more flowers and greenery. As you approach the Larcomar at the end, it becomes even sad that we leave this untouched parkland for a fairly touched / commercialized mall - even one that is beautifully carved three levels down into the cliff face. As always, the Malecon hit the spot, and greatly impressed my parents.

What impressed my parents even more (and me as well) was our dinner at Merito, the one super high rated Lima tasting menu spot I hadn't been to before. Nestled in Barranco, a block away from Central (talk about a crazy two-block area), Merito is Central in style, featuring Andean ingredients and brilliance but doing so with I would say more sour / citrus forward dishes that match the head chef's background from Venezuela (the head chef was at Central for years). Merito worked perfectly, an amazing first impression for them (and me, in this case) to Lima gastronomy.

After a quick walk through Barranco to give them some experience of the vibrancy - from busy streets, to old houses turned bars/clubs/lounges, to a lovely nativity scene and tree in Barranco's main square, the bohemian area of Lima was out in full force. We left then to Carnaval, my favorite cocktail spot in Lima - and I still think fair to say Lima's favorite. Carnaval does a lot of things similar to Cause Effect, one of my favorite cocktail spots in the world, and a spot I know my Dad enjoyed. Figuring so, I assumed he would enjoy Carnaval, with the zaniness of the drink preparations combined with teh great drinks themselves. They did enjoy it, until they got tired and retired back to the hotel for the night, leaving me to get a couple more at Carnaval, and then head to Miraflores to Bizarro.

If any place didn't hit the higehst of marks on the first night, it was Bizarro, which had its one room playing techno and the other playing reggaeton - the techno room not as good this time as it was in 2023. It wasn't bad - it was actually really well sized, crowded adn the drinks were cheap and flowing, but for all of Lima's greatness, EDM clubs may be outside its strengths still. I didn't get the perfect cherry on top with how the night ended, but god damn the sundae itself was great.

Day 11 - The Old and the New

There is one sight in Lima that eluded me to date - the Huaca Pucllana ruins in the heart of the city. Why I haven't been able to do it before is a bit of a mystery, only made greater so by how easy it was to go this time. I think on my 2023 trip I went there one day and was told it was sold out and I should've bought tickets online. Fair enough, I guess. Except I remembered that and then found it impossible to actually buy tickets online in advance prior to this trip. That little bit of uncertainty was not ebbed by it being really hard to find anything certain online. Luckily, though, in the end, it seems you just walk up and buy a ticket for the next available tour, which they run an English one once an hour, and Spanish twice an hour.

In the end, we waited about 10 minutes for the tour of about 30 of us to begin. The Huaca Pucllana is a fairly large temple complex dating back to the time of the Lima people of the 500s or so, a good millenium before the Inca. It takes up about a 5x3 city block of what at first seem like randomly strewn aroudn walls, stones and open areas. Apparently, when the Incas showed up there were dozens of these types of temples that were strewn around Lima, some in complete ruin that were largely further destroyed, and some, like the Huaca Pucllana, that were abandoned as previous dynasties were chased away. It's nice that this complex dated to a time well before the Inca, and even the little areas where they have some figurines molding clay tiles, working on textiles, working on the farm, etc., were all from the Inca, Huasca or other peoples prior to the Inca.

The tour of the Huaca Pucllana took about an hour, it was well paced going around the various areas, with nice tours of Andean flora and fauna (in more detail than normal - got to see what a Huacatay plant actually looked like after eating it a bunch), climbing up to the various pedestals of the temple, getting a sense of Lima around you. Hard to believe I hadn't done this before, but also glad I did. Given so much of the sites in Lima, or in Peru in general, or from the time of the Incas or later, it was nice to go to a site like this that memorialized and celebrated the pre-Inca people that roamed these lands for a millenium.

From there, we took a walk from the Huaca Pucllana with the end destination of the two parks in the middle of Miraflores, the Parque 7 de Junio, and adjoining Parque Kennedy. Before those, we went throuhg a large street that housed mega-complexes of souvenir and handicraft stalls. Most of theme were fairly normal street-fare level souvenis, similar to the La Mariscal market in Quito, or many others. But deep inside some of these complexes you get some interesting stuff, like for me at least a store selling wooden home goods (serving dishes, spoons, etc.), some stone-ware shops, some art shops. Having been to Lima muleiple times in past, and having picked up random wares, I wasn't planning on getting anything, but from a little stone llama that can fit in our crib, to a couple butter-knives from the woodworking store, you always find a few useful things if you know where to look.

Lunch was a ten minute walk from Parque Kennedy, at Xoma, an up and coming restaurant in Lima's ever growing fine dining scene. They offer a tasting menu for dinner, along with a-la-carte for both dinner and lunch. Given no one was in the mood for another tasting menu, we sampled three dishes at this fine establishment. The best was probably their take on cabrito (baby goat) which was so perfectly cooked smothered in a mixture of orange and green sauces - well that or their play on Chinese duck tacos, with an amazing duck leg confit, more great sauces and little masa crepes. The place was fantastic, and if I do make it back to Lima in the coming years, will definitely check them out. The place also looked quite magical and thoughtful - as you would expect from Lima. This was effectively the last thing we did in Lima, before heading abck to the hotel, checking out, and making our last goodbyes on teh drive out to the airport.

We were met with the departure end of Lima's new terminal, which was quite nice but takes also the modern trend of having no shopping or restaurants in the gate area, only all in one large common area upfront. Not that I wanted anything before our quick flight to Arequipa, but it still feels a bit hollow. The flight however, did not feel that way, as I snagged a window seat which was great as most of it was over various levels of Andes valleys and peaks. Arequipa is situated just to the West of the largest / highest parts of the Andes (as is Lima, further West) so it wasn't a bunch of snow capped peaks, but more just brilliant contours.

We landed at Arequipa as the sun was setting, which was perfect timing to see the purples and reds and oranges of the sunset shine on the two large mountains that look over Peru's second largest city, in Mt. Chachani and Misti. As it was Sunday night, it was a bit of a quiet drive from teh airport to our really nice AirBNB in the Yarahuana neighborhood (just west of the historic city area), and after a quick check-in and unpack, we were on an uber into the old city to grab dinner and try to sleep as early as possible as our tour starts with a 3:10am pickup the next day. 

There was enough time to enjoy a really nice dinner though at a really nice spot - Victoria Museum Picanteria, a block north of the main square. Picanterias are the names of the eateries in Arequipa, but Victoria takes it to an upmarket level. They offer 4/5 course set menus, but its just a selection of their classics, of which there are a lot. They split their menu by time period, from prehistoric recipes, which are mostly grilling meats or fish on a slab of rock along with tubers with just the most insane charcoal flavor - for this we got Alpaca, which istself isn't the greatest cut of meat but with that smokey flavor it worked. As did our other dishes of a graet langoustine (river shrimp being a delicacy product of Arequipa) and a fillet of beef cooked perfectly and served over this strange but awesome aji amarillo based rice, corn and potato mixture that looked kind of nothing but tasted amazing. Even the drinks were excellent - all being inventive creations of local flavors. This is the type of place I wish we tried a bit more, but if anything was a great introduction to Arequipa, along with a reminder that the great food of Peru doesn't end in Lima.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 5-8 - Cuenca

Day 5-8: Christmas Town, South America

Ecuador was added to our trip for a couple reasons. As I explained earlier, it was somewhat due to cost that there would be this extra week. Why that week became Ecuador is because it is a place that my parents went to right before Covid started, in the Feb of 2020, and loved it. They went on a lark, on the suggestion of their financial planners who have some financial investments in the country (yes, fairly random connection from my perspective), but they sang Ecuador's praises, and more than that, Cuenca's praises quite a bit.

As mentioned in my previous post, the arrival into Cuenca was a nice little amouse bouche of what was to come. It was late on a Sunday Night so barely anything was open but we went for a little walk near our AirBNB, which is situated nicely a block away from a row of cafes and a giant park (with a supermarket on teh other side), a block away from the main thoroughfare cutting through the Southern (more modern) half of the city, and a ten minute walk away from the Centro Historico (old town) area of Cuenca. That first walk of idyllic bliss, with a calm breeze befitting Cuenca's 8,000ft elevation, without a care in the world proving right the cab driver who told us repeatedly how safe and peaceful Cuenca is, and you can tell this was indeed a special place.

I was working during the day, so I don't think I really saw everything of Cuenca to make a real determination - certainly other than walking around and taking in the life, I didn't do any proper "sightseeing." Not that there is a bunch of traditional sights - some of the best seem to be some small, but well curated archaeology museums, the Cajes National Park (a day trip) and their multiple churches and cathedrals, that all close way too early. Anyway, despite that, I too can't really sing Cuenca's praises enough after spending about 3.75 days here. 

First off, my word do they take Christmas seriously, in teh best possible way. There are lights and trees and deconarations and everything else everywhere. Now, there is a sad tinge to this because it seems part of the reason is that the mayor of Cuenca really loves Christmas, and took it as some personal mission that he make Cuenca into the best Christmas town/city in South America. Having not seen the rest of them, I can probably still say he is at least medalling in that competition. The more modern part has lights and mroe stores have done some decorations (many going full out snow animals and snowmen and stuff that will never appear naturally here), and the main thoroughfare has rows of Christmas Trees lit up in its center. But that's nothing on the old town.

The main square in teh middle is basically South America's rockefeller center. The large face of the cathedral on one side is lit up. The middle has a giant Christmas tree and a gazebo that is playing carols roughly 80% of the day. Every three has lights strung on it. The northern face of the square has large department store style buildings with Christmas decorations all over their facade, includ9kng a saks-type store in the middle with LED screens of santas and gnomes and what not. From that stores rooftop you get a glorious view of the square below you, the lights everywhere, and also the breadth and magnitude that is Cuenca. Each alley too off of the square similarly has lights and lit snowflakes, and little courtyards with more trees. It is a bit overwhelming, but you can't help how charming it is.

The old town as a whole is like that, with just pleasantness and joy radiating outwards off of its main square. My only knock is they don't have the best handicraft game in Cuenca (or really Ecuador in general), as a couple of the boutique stores I looked up were either too clothing forward or expensive (still, give Cafe Yongoe a try) and then the rest were markets that were probably a notch fancier than the Mariscal one in Quito. In the last one, on our last night, before we had to head to dinner, I finally, randomly found a remarkable stone statue of a turtle leaping from a rock for 20 bucks. Like an oasis in a dessert, I found what I wanted.

The old town is lovely, but its the newer South side that really showcases Cuenca's strengths. It's amazing how modern some of the areas of Southern Cuenca are. The street surrounding our dinner spot the second night (Dos Sucres, will come back to it) was glistening with modern cafes, restaurants, bars, built in a way you could be in a Nashville, or Melbourne. There were 3-4 of these little stretches of commercial areas in the Southern half, mixed in with modern office buildings, banks and a ton of college buildings. Cuenca's town is teeming with education.

Truly the Southern half of Cuenca had anything you would want for a place to live - including a great craft brewery Golden Prague, which despite the name didn't only sell Czech-inspired pilsners. In fact, I don't know if they had a true Czech beer on tap. I had a mix of a Belgian dubbel (awesome), and IPA (good, not great) and a blueberry porter (shockingly great). The place was also decked out to the nines for Christmas, and was fairly full of locals on both Monday evening and Wednesday. Golden Prague, a five minute walk from our AirBNB), is just a perfect little microcosm of what makes Cuenca awesome.

A macro-cosm (if that was a word) of the same effect is the food. Cuenca is a foodie paradise in what i'm learning is an underrated foodie country as a whole. I should've realized something special was ahead when my first meal was fairly good versions of staid dishes in a hotel setting. That could've been a 3/10 meal, and it was a solid 6.5/10 or 7/10. The other meals where all considerably higher, even the lunch I uber-eats'd from a local Peruvian, which served an excellent chaufa. But really, these were about the dinners (whose leftovers begat my other lunches).

Each dinner I think showcased a little bit of different aspects of Cuenca brilliance, the first being a mom-and-pop seafood spot (Capitan&Co), the second a tried adn true mainstay of Cuenca brilliance (Dos Sucres) and the last being something similar, but a little more upmarket with some European influence (El Mercado). All three were great in the end.

Capitan&Co started auspicously with the mom of the mom and pop taking about 30 minutes to take our order. She expressed apologies through her older daughter (who is part time cook, part time student) saying that they make everything to order and right before we came in had a party of ten put in their mains. As we got our food about twenty minutes later, three fish or seafood dishes cooked in a kitchen helmed by the pop ("El Capitan") it was clear how true that freshness statement is amazing. The sauces were rich and heavy (and amazing, in general) but that seafood was out of this world. The freshest langostinos charred so beautifully. A giant loin of robalo (a South American version of snook) that was just incredibly flavorful and soft despite being thick to the point I would butcher it into a rubbery mess. The sea bass cooked as good as I've had it. This place knows seafood. More than that, with it being literally mom-and-pop (and two daughters), and its loud red and green colors, it truly was the South American version of Cape Town's Miller's Thumb. Cuenca a place after my heart in ways it probably doesn't even realize.

Dos Sucres was in one of those trendy eatery areas, but it itself was built into a house and served some great stuff, from a truly wonderful octopus starter, an insane lamb croquette dish, and two just unreal mains. One was a "lamb curry" which more than that was a large piece of lamb braised for seemingly a week in a beautiful sauce of apple, rosemary and lamb stock. The other was even better, a chicken leg served confit in another unreal sauce - marrying crispy of crisp skin with juiciest of juicy skin. Again, just marvelous. Dos Sucres was excellent.

And then, arguably, El Mercado was even better. Housed in a spot right at the end of the old town, with the back of it being a large floor to ceiling window overlooking the river (and the more modern south Cuenca behind it), El Mercado was special from a vibes and ambience perspective. The food met that challenge as well. Our starters were a really great amberjack crude with a brilliant emulsion sauce, and then a really inventive crab roll, with the roll being sliced avocado, all in a delicious coconut and corn broth. Our mains were maybe the best tongue dish I've ever had, another great fish dish (seafood is excellent here it seems, despite Cuenca not being near any real source of seafood), and then a mind-blowing pork rib dish where they, much like Dos Sucres did with the chicken the day earlier, combined a deep fried / crispy outside with ridiculously fall-off-the-bone middle meat, all with some great pickles and sauces. On the whole, El Mercado was a brilliant way to go out.

At the end of it, I was quite sorry to be leaving Cuenca, leaving Ecuador. I will be back - I don't know when, but whenever I do, I will make sure to come to Cuenca when I'm either off, or on a weekend, and can at least get to experience the sites. In some ways, Cuenca is very much like the Ecuador version of Oaxaca - lovely old town, streets and lanes of brilliance, culinary excellence, all in a plateau town that doesn't have nearly the problems and challenges that much of its country around it do (drug-related crime, essentially). I know some may not think "the Oaxaca of Ecaudor" is a complement, but it damn sure is. Goodbye Cuenca, and see you again soon - and can't wait to see what you replace all your Christmas decorations with in other times in the year.

2025 Year End Trip: Day 4 - Quito

Day 4 - Quito in a Flash

This day would end in Cuenca, a charming little town (I kid, it's the third largest in Ecuador, but is quaint on all the right ways). There was a lot of internal debate (e.g. my talking to myself the pros and cons) on whether we should take an early flight to Cuenca so I could see the city during the day (which I won't be able to do given I'm a gainfully employed adult working Monday through Thursday while there) or should we take a later flight so I get the day in Quito. When we decided to do the Cotopaxi tour on Saturday, which would basically take the entirety of that day, the decision became easy.

That said, I didn't see everythign Quito has. Yes, maybe that is partially because I only got up at 9:45 and left the hotel at 10:10, but also because there is quite a lot to see, most things close by 4 or 5, and it's always nice to leave a few things to see on a second visit. Yes, there will be a second visit. Don;'t know when, because as good as Quito has been I would still rank Lima, Rio and Santiago ahead of it when it comes to great South American cities - but Quito vs. Buenos Aires is definitely a debate in my mind. Let's get back to today though, and worry about rankings later.

My first stop was halfway between our hotel in the northern half of downtown Quito (the more commercial, professional area) and the historic city center. The place was teh National Museum of Ecuador, which is a fascinating building still very much in construction. Basically there lied an old brick and stone museum that they are turning into a glistening modern building, with still the old stone floors of the old. It's about ahlfway complete, so half the museum was closed and it was free. That said, the part I did see was quick, efficient and excellent, first three rooms focusing on pre-colombian art from 10,000 BC through the Incas. The second floor was all art from a famous Ecuadorian artist Irene Cardenas. Her art was modern, with bold colors, sharp angles and geometry - the type of art I adore I've come to learn.

That was a quick stop, allowing me alos some time to walk through the large park next to it - this area of Quito is open, green and lovely. Other parts are lovely too, but this is so unexpected in what is a city defined by narrowness and hills to have an area so relatively flat, open and pristine.

That said, let's not say that openness is better, as I would learn. It took a while for an uber to take me into the historic city center, my first stop being teh Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy, a chirch first built in the 1500s. In the end, I got out of my uber about five blocks away and walked the rest (eight minute walk vs. 12 minute drive - some one-ways skewing that slightly). The alleys and life turned from caucophony where I was dropped up to pristine old-world charm by the time we got to the plaza around the Basilica. The Basilica itself is painted a white of a brightness that is hard to describe. I would soon learn this seems to be just a thing in Quito. The inside however was stunning in its oldness, paegentry, gold - it was typically South American as i've learned from visiting other old main cathedrals in Lima, Santiago - but this one might be my favorite. There is a large, giant gothic Basilica in Quito as well - but I saved the relative newness of that one (1800s) for this old gem.

Didn't hurt that two blocks away is the main square / plaza - like all great Latin American cities. The Quito one is notable to me as it was easily the best combination of grandeur and life - the grandeur aided by that same shade of white that was painted on every buikding from another church & convent, to the Presidential Palace (sadly, closed), and the life aided by the bustle of people, christmas decorations, music and general merriment. Sime places like Lima only have the former. Others like a Oaxaca are only the later. Santiago I guess comes close. Random aside, but I do dislike the fact I so quickly turn to these comparisons. 

My next plan was a quick walking tour of the historic city center, from teh Plaza Grande to the equally impressive, equally white Plaza San Francisco, which houses the Church & Convent of San Francisco. Sadly, the church and adjoining museum closes every day from 12pm - 3pm, which wasn't ideal when I shwoed up at 12:15. Either way, I had other things on my list, from walking through a few of the more ntoable alleyways in the old town, to the final stop of this visit - a trip to the Casa del Alabado Museum of Pre-Colombian Art. 

The museum is housed in an old house (hence the name) which has been converted into a really great museum showcasing Ecuadorian artifacts, art, statues, and beauty from the same 10,000 BC or so up to the Incas. Much like a very similar museum in Santiago, it is also similar in style, with the galleries being the sides of the house with a lovely open courtyard in the middle. The museum isn't as large as the Santiago one, but then again - Quito is smaller, narrower and quainter than Santiago. For this place, it fit - and it raelly had some unique pieces in what seemed to be a really well curated museum - mostly some of the more intricate, ornate and lovely figurines of old gods, shamans and priests.

This took longer than I expected, so really after that only had time for a quick lunch, to which I went to Casa Warmi, a notable restaurant in the Floresta district (which, to once again dip into my comparisons, could easily be a neighborhood in Lima or Santiago) known for its seafood-focused sharp cuisine. 

Before we get to lunch, a quick look back at the city center. it is bustling, and the roads are packed and crowded leading up to it, but in a weird way, I find that whole area better than say Lima's. There is a sense of life, of common people just living their lives and having fun. Even the lanes aroudn it are paragons of middle class-ness in a way you don't feel in Lima where their Plaza Mayor is arguably prettier and more well built up, but also more staid and lifeless, or targeting the bottom of the barrel, rather than Quito, where I feel I was almsot intruding on real world rather than visiting a place built for people like me.

I first got a starter of fish corviche (little manioc balls with fish inside, this time topped with other fish and onion) which were excellent, if too many (six of these little croquette-type things), and then a truly inventive as hell ceviche of octopus, squid and fish, with the leche being guayabo, which as a perfect combination of funk and tart for a ceviche. It was just excellent - as was the setting of Casa Warmi, which doubles as a handicraft store on the side. This was more or less my last real thing in Quito, but a good one (this was a late lunch).

From there, headed back to the JW Marriott and went off to the airport - a drive that was quicker than we had mentally anticipated leaving us more time in the airport than we wanted. But not really, since Avianca boards 60 minutes ahead of departure for domestic flights. This is the last flight of the year for me on a Star Alliance carrier - so in other words the last flight where I have any sort of status. Tough life for me I guess.

After a 45-minute flight, we descended into Cuenca. I'll ahve way much more to say about Cuenca, but as a way of knowing how much of a smaller place this is than Quito, it was a relative ghost-town. Granted, many places are come 8:30pm on a Sunday. For dinner, I had picked out one of the few places near our AirBNB that was open late on Sundays - this being the restaurant in teh Tryp hotel named Zircus. It has quite good reviews for it being a hotel restaurant, and the food showed why. We split a "Bisque de Mariscos" which was more just a seafood soup, but it had a ton of seafood and the brilliant idea to put plantain chunks in the soup (inspired!). For my main, I got a Ribeye with a onion, tomato and pepper sauce, which was way, way better than I expected from a hotel restaurant on 9:30pm on a Sunday. Cuenca may be quiet, but made a great first impression. Adding to that impression was the safety of the place letting us go for a little walk after dinner, adn the christmas tree lights dotting their main road.

As mentioned, I'll have more to say on Cuenca, but to wrap up Quito, I don't think I could've had a better experience. Cotopaxi as the centerpiece tourist element was unbelievable, and the weather Gods really shone on us on that one. The city itself met its mark in every way as well - from the restuarants (the cheap lunches to Ukro as a great tasting menu spot) to the craft beer to the cocktails. The sites were good and there's still a good days worth at minimum I've yet to cross off for my next trip here. I don't know when that will be, but I continue to be drawn to this continent, and Ecuador's capital added to that draw tremendously.