Lima, Peru

In June, Bonnie and I visited Leah who was wrapping up her 10 month stay in Lima. I had never been to South America before and it was such an awesome trip! Leah was the best host - she knew the city so well and planned the perfect trip for us. We had lots of fun exploring her neighborhood of Barranco - tons of great cafes (like La Bodega Verde and Dedalo Arte), shops street art and art galleries. 

One of the major highlights of the trip was dinner at Astrid & Gaston - an incredible experience! We got the tasting menu with wine pairings and were there for 4 hours - shut the place down! Everything was incredible especially the staff - it was such an amazing way to kick off our time in Peru. 

One night before Bonnie and I left for Machu Picchu, we took a night tour of the city center. The tour took us to Lima's Magic Water Show (aka Circuito Magico del Agua) and around downtown Lima with all these cool old balconies. 

Lima architecture was beautiful with colorful buildings and cool old doors. It made walking around so fun - especially looking at all the old casonas. Many of the casonas have now been turned into clubs/restaurants that are packed at night. 

This trip was one of my favorites - fun city with great friends! Definitely a highlight of 2017. The only downside was when I showed up at the airport and was told that Virgin America accidentally cancelled my flight home when they adjusted a flight on the way down. After some tears, an expensive last minute ticket and the night spent in the Lima airport, I made it home so it all worked out. After recovering from the jet lag, I reached out to Virgin and they have the BEST customer service! They repaid me for the cost of the last minute ticket (almost $2k!!) quickly and gave me additional money for my trouble.