Welcome to Lima, Peru!

Hola! Mi llamo Ferdinando... 

Allow me to introduce my Incan taxi driver that took me to many sites in Lima after work one day. He is a "horn" player...and can play many contatas on the taxi horn as he squeezes us into places that I couldn't believe we could fit.
Between all the horns, the police traffic whistles (no traffic lights), and the "calming music" on the taxi radio...it was a feast of images and sounds! Can't wait to go back....

Please see the pics of the taxi tour below. Lima never sees the sun. It is always in a coastal cloud and the relative temperature remains approximately 60-75 degrees. There are miliary everywhere....all watching patiently. I was asked to NOT to take pictures of a very nice view of the mountains. HUH? Nothing out there but a lot of dirt...but one must comply if you are in another's country. So...I made pics from the taxi!  And sometimes, I jumped out and ran to the corner when we were at a stop light.
NEXT TIME....I take a bike... We passed by many archeaological museums, art museums, incan shops, etc...  I HAVE TO SEE THEM ALL! 
I will be going to Lima every 18 days. Lots of opportunity!

Here is a pic of the Andes from Lima...the camera will not "see through" the clouds...  I will be going to the mine site into these clouds up to 4700 Meters...and will have to sleep with oxygen in the nose, because without it, the human body body struggles to breathe. Heck...you struggle to breathe in Lima because they have no emission controls on any vehicle. The CO2 level is so high that you wonder if your fingernails will turn blue before the end of the day....

Notice the bus at the front of the traffic light. There are THOUSANDS of dilapadated buses in many shapes and sizes on all the streets. They are jammed with people carrying all kinds of stuff...I even saw children sitting on top of their parents shoulders who were seated. The buses are owned by the government....and sometimes carry garbage as well. There are also buses that have destinations painted on the sides...which are the long distance ones that move people from state to state.

McDonalds at the Round About...

 This is a picture of a flowered "round about" where the traffic swirls around a central round median and then spills into many streets as you go round. They have lots of them here in Lima...

Would you care to have pappas fritas con eso?

This is the Palacio de Governmente....

Scene from the coffee shop on the plaza...another military hero.  You will notice...NO SUN.

My boss and I stopped to have coffee in a little shop on this beautiful plaza so that I could plug in my camera battery. The coffee was so thick it seemed like I was drinking grounds...and there is NO MILK to cut it with. They use a product called Parmalat....a "boxed" milk that requires no refrigeration.

Horses are used a lot in Lima. You will see military on 17 hand thoroughbreds....all walking the streets. These are military polo players...

This is the Blue Cathedral of the Nuns...a jump and run shot as the sun set in downtown Lima....

This the big Cathedral on the Plaza of the Government. It is said that the bones of Pissaro are buried in the catacombes below. They call them "Cata-cumbes."

As you can see below, the architecture of old Lima is beautiful...but most of Lima is VERY POOR....very much like Nuevo Laredo, Mexico...

More to come....as I make my way through Peru!