Following our massive effort at Maido, and knowing that we were going to be entering the nonstop environment of the tour, we thought we would take it easy. Turns out we still managed to do quite a bit.

Walk along the coast and to the museum of contemporary art, quite small , but interesting enough and then carried on along to Barranco. Lots of Sunday markets underway , families doing family things. I checked out a supermarket and can confirm that pretty much everything is cheaper than home. Blueberries sold by the half kilo for $7. Meat and dairy much cheaper than home.

We stopped and had a beer and cerviche , which was amazing. They love their cerviche here and we love eating it!

Back to the hotel for a bit of a nap and then we dragged ourselves out to the “fountain park”. Turns out it was open as a special event for Christmas and was packed with Peruvian families having a good time. People watching at its best ! Fountains be damned. So much fun. We then went back into the city for an unremarkable meal. Noticeable that our search for vegetables failed dismally. A pisco sour later and it was off back to the hotel

Monday was check out time and time to meet the tour group.

What would they be like? Would we get on ? How many in the tour etc etc. Well here they all ate after we did the initial check in .

A fairly diverse group . 7 women 9 men , Age ranges of 16 to 61. Single people, a couple and a family. We come from the UK, Serbia, Canada, USA, Czech Republic and a couple of Australian boys too. So far, so good. Tomorrow we head deep into the Amazon.

When we were first thinking of heading to Lima we had heard it was a place of Gastronomic treats. The melding of influences that have been here with access to an incredibly diverse range of fresh produce from incredible seafood, to Amazonian forest wonders. Maido , a Japanese/peruvian restaurant was definitely on the cards. And then it won a rather significant award and was named the best restaurant in the world. Don’t ask me who gets to make this pronouncement. But they’ve named others like Nomu, El Bulli, French Laundry and frankly if they’re adding Maido to the list – then they’ve got my attention.

Bookings are extremely hard to come by, so when bookings opened many months ago I proceeded to bombard their website over and over again like a 15 year old Swifty determined to get concert tickets – and what do you know, I succeeded in getting a table. David’s 60th birthday dinner was booked.

So , settle in, there’s 12 courses and I’m going to try and recall each one. you can leave now! I get it. Truth is this is more for my own memory than anyone else’s entertainment!

So we arrived. looks pretty good from the outside doesn’t it?

Definitely not a stuffy formal vibe , and not sure what all the ropes are about. But they kinda looked cool.

As a lot of you will know,

So it’s about now, you’ll be asking questions about what the fuck are Bahuaja nuts. And if I had the time I’d google it and give you all the details. But would you remember tomorrow? Probably not, and nor will I. But this was the start of a bit of a thing. The presentation at times seemed more than the actual food. And while delicious, let’s be honest that second pic was basically a mini ham sandwich!

Now this was delicious, the pistachio hit was unexpected and really made it. You may also notice by now I have discovered the portrait mode on my phone. And as I’ve already gone on about the presentation I better show you this too.

I did enjoy this too, and no, I can’t remember all the full descriptions here. The “theme” of the menu was Tradition Location. Fairly broad if you ask me.

I was big fan of this one, reminiscent of a tartar ( one of my favs) – but wait there’s more I did a video.

This comes with a vid too, the Toro or Spanish Tuna was something spectacular, it literally melted in your mouth. it was on a base of Kina too a perfect pairing. And fun discovering the different kupu( words) for sea urchin.

may be slightly out of sequence here, but by now I’m getting full and a bit tipsy on an Uruguayan red wine. You can see the salsa on the left. Heat but not too hot. Delicious again. As you can tell they are what a friend called “ pop in your gob” style.

Definitely for me the underwhelming dish of the night. A piece of fish in broth with some sprinkled bits. Lovely but you know …

By now I am getting So Full… argh.. can I even remember? but here’s another video

So, before we move onto desert, I was fairly proud of the fact that the main outfit I will wear on planes, that will take me into the Amazon and march me up Machu Picchu also took me to the worlds best restaurant. In my 12 kg bag I managed to get some styling in. Behold !

Not sure what Edward had to do with this one , a palette cleanser but I didn’t really get the Wasabi !

This was extraordinary, probably for me a highlight. Caviar ice cream , sweet, salty textures. But I was getting so FULL!

I’m rather pleased that in the fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cultures the heated Toto toilet seats made into the mix.

AND FINALLY

AN EMPANADA and some chocolate

Followed by ..

Served in a Japanese style Okashi or Benti style box.

Enough said.

As a final treat and David’s final 4th birthday cake in a week!

Really nice touch. thank you Maido.

The restaurant had the following on the inside of the menu and maybe I should have led with this. Not sure I get it, and definitely don’t see the connection to Time and Location. But some people smarter than me sure did.

Life is movement.

Nothing is static or absolute.

No one is.

We are in a state of constant flux, just like the Earth, the tides, bacteria, light, the blood-in our bodies, colors, seeds.

Like family trees, cuisines are constantly being redefined, their identities enriched by an intense intercultural exchange which has formed the basis of all civilization ever since humans shared their first sounds, products, ideas, and customs.

So that’s most of the Maido experience. 3.5 hours and a small mortgage later we wondered out. Got stuck at the door. Could not find a handle , a button , did it slide , waving drunken hands in the air did nothing. So back upstairs to get help. Turned out we forgot to push. 🙄.

There is something special about waking up in a new country or city, somewhere you’ve never been before..

I will never tire of that anticipation of of what you’re going to discover. Today was no exception!

New birdsong, a new flower or tree, the colours and sights and sounds. Nothing can ever replace that first impression, so you just soak it all in. truely one of life’s joys.

We explored the area where the hotel is for some breakfast, came across a Christmas market went to the Coast , a Panetonne market and a playground full of cats. Yup, closed to the public for I guess maintenance, so the local feline population had moved in. It’s apparently a thing here with a park dedicated to cats somewhere too…

Back to the hotel for a bit of a swim , I suspect this maybe the only rooftop pool we encounter on this trip so better get in.

We had booked a bit of a private tour that took us to the coast to check out a Gaudi reminiscent park for lovers. Then a very old “adobe” pyramids going back to pre Inca times and then into the central city. Catholicism and Spanish influence is strong, they really did a number on this place. But I suppose they did leave some fairly remarkable architecture…

There’s a slight undercurrent of “something “ going on here too…the riot Police were obvious in the square, our guide was surprised it was open. But was staying away from ant political talk. Into a cathedral which was remarkably like being back in Alhambra , and down into their catacombs, ( which for me required a few cleansing/protecting karakia). I’m not a fan of looking at human remains!

So it’s off to dinner tonight to Maido, recently named the world’s best restaurant, the “official “ birthday dinner for you know who! Definitely be subject to its own post. But in the meantime the hotel just sent this up. How sweet! ( and bloody delicious)