Saturday in Lima

written yesterday, but I couldn’t sent it out until today….

We had a very full day today.  I moved to the Sonesta El Olivar Hotel where we will all be staying as a group for a few days.  It is a beautiful and very comfortable hotel across the street from a 500 year old olive farm preserved and turned into a park.  I will be holding tomorrow afternoon’s yoga session in the Olive Park.  Meanwhile, Cathy and Colleen arrived late last night from Toronto.  And Doug and Debi arrived at 5:30 a.m. this morning from Seattle.  Ericka and I had a fantastic day with them.

We all met at 1 and walked around Lima pretty much all day.  We had a ceviche for lunch (the food here is outrageously delicious and fresh) and then walked over to the waterfront.  The closer we walked towards the water, the foggier it got. The fog added such a lovely atmosphere to the day.  It is summer here in Lima and everyone was out and about.  Our hotel is in San Isidro and we walked to Miraflores.  Both of these areas are ultra modern, safe, lovely, and lively!

Lima sits up above the ocean.  There are cliffs that look over the ocean.  From the ‘edge’ you look down below and see surfers and a major road leading north and south along the coast.  Our view was obscured by the fog.  The waterfront that sits above the ocean is lined with shops and sidewalk cafes.  There is a Love Park which was fantastic.   Ericka told us it used to be a bit of an eyesore, where people threw their garbage, but also where clandestine lovers came to be together.  Then the city decided to beautify the place and call it Parque d’Amor.  There are beautiful murals all over the park with snippets of love poems from Neruda and other well-known and not-so-well known poets.  In the middle of the park is a huge statue of a couple making out!  And all over the park, couples of all ages snuggling and kissing as well as throngs of people just strolling about.  Peruvians are beautiful and it is fascinating to people-watch!

Our tour/retreat officially starts tomorrow at noon with an orientation gathering organized by Ericka and me.  However, I am going to lead our small group of 6 in a yoga session tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. on the rooftop terrace beside the swimming pool.

I have put together a slide show from today.  I am certain I won’t have time to do anything like this after today, once everyone arrives tomorrow!!  Enjoy!

This digital slideshow created with Smilebox